Pac-12, Golden State Warriors and Chase Center bringing NCAA March Madness to San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO - For the first time since the inaugural NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament in 1939, March Madness is coming to the city of San Francisco.
The NCAA announced on Tuesday that the Pac-12 Conference will serve as host of the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship West Regional on March 24 & 26, 2022 at the Golden State Warriors' new Chase Center, the state-of-the-art sports and entertainment complex being built in San Francisco’s Mission Bay neighborhood that is slated to open for the start of the 2019-20 NBA season.
It marks the first time the NCAA Tournament will be played within the city of San Francisco since the West Regional was staged at the California Coliseum on Treasure Island in March 1939.
"We’re excited to work with the Warriors and Chase Center to once again stage one of the NCAA’s premier events," said Pac-12 Conference Commissioner Larry Scott. “The Pac-12 and Warriors are both champions in competition and stand for excellence. We look forward to joining forces to bring postseason college basketball at the highest level to San Francisco.”
"Chase Center and the surrounding area are going to be a destination for the entire Bay Area and having the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship West Regional at Chase Center in 2022 is great for not only the city of San Francisco, but the entire Bay Area to come see some of the best in college basketball," said Warriors President and Chief Operating Officer Rick Welts. "This is one of the most exciting events on the calendar for sports. We have nine people on our current roster and coaching staff fortunate to have advanced to the Sweet Sixteen during their college career and we’re excited for this to be the first event officially on our Chase Center schedule."
Daly City's Cow Palace (1955, 1958-60), Oakland's Oracle Arena (1990, 1995, 2006) and San Jose's SAP Center (1997, 2002, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2017) are among the other Bay Area venues to host the tourney, most recently the 2017 West Regional at the SAP Center in a partnership by the Pac-12 and San Jose Sports Authority.
However, not since the Oregon Ducks defeated the Oklahoma Sooners, 55-37, on March 21, 1939 during the Golden Gate International Exposition - a World's Fair celebrating the opening of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay and Golden Gate Bridges - has the event been staged inside "The City" lines.
"With our Pac-12 Conference offices and Pac-12 Networks studios based in SOMA, we are proud to call San Francisco our home and eager to share the madness of March with the city’s and Bay Area’s passionate sports fans," added Scott.
The 18,000-seat Chase Center, which broke ground on January 17, will anchor a district of 11 acres of restaurants, cafes, offices, public plazas and other amenities the neighborhood currently lacks, along with a new five-and-a half-acre public waterfront park. Chase Center will be located on a major Muni Metro rail line with easy links to BART and other transit options. When complete, it will be the only privately financed facility of its kind built on private property in the modern era of professional sports.
About the Pac-12 Conference
The Conference has a tradition as the “Conference of Champions,” leading the nation in NCAA Championships in 51 of the last 56 years, with 496 NCAA team titles overall. The Conference comprises 12 leading U.S. universities: The University of Arizona, Arizona State University, the University of California-Berkeley, the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), the University of Colorado, the University of Oregon, Oregon State University, Stanford University, the University of Southern California, the University of Utah, the University of Washington and Washington State University. For more information on the Conference’s programs, member institutions, and Commissioner Larry Scott, go to www.pac-12.com/conference.
About the Golden State Warriors
The Golden State Warriors organization, currently in its 71st season, is a charter member of the National Basketball Association. Founded in 1946, the Warriors called the city of Philadelphia home for 16 memorable years before moving to the West Coast in 1962 to become the San Francisco Warriors and ultimately, in 1971, the Golden State Warriors when the team moved to its current home in Oakland. The team’s storied history includes four NBA Championships, NBA-record 73 wins during the 2015-16 season, six of the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players and 27 members of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. For more information on the Golden State Warriors, please visit warriors.com.