NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Returning to Iowa

Some of the nation's best men's college basketball teams will be coming to Iowa on their way to what they hope will be an NCAA college basketball championship.

Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines announced today that the venue has been chosen to host first and second-round games in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament in 2023.

2023 will mark the third time in eight years that the Des Moines venue will host tournament games. There were first and second-round tournament games held there in 2016 and 2019.

Iowa, Iowa State, UNI, and Drake all hope they'll be able to play tournament games in Des Moines in 2023. So far, no "local" squads have played in tourney games held there.

In 2016, top-seed (South Regional) Kansas, along with Austin Peay, Colorado, and Connecticut all played in Des Moines. Kansas would end up losing in the South Regional final to eventual national champion Villanova.

In 2019, the site hosted Michigan, Nevada, Florida, and Montana in first-round games of the West Regional. Michigan won a second-round matchup with Florida in Des Moines that March, before losing in the Sweet 16 to eventual runner-up Texas Tech.

The 2020-21 college basketball season can begin the day before Thanksgiving, on Wednesday, November 25. Iowa and Iowa State schedules have not been released. UNI and Drake will each begin their 2020-21 seasons on December 30. The Panthers open at home against Missouri State, while the Bulldogs will take on Loyola in Chicago.