No March Madness in Memphis: 2021 NCAA tournament regional relocated
March Madness won’t be coming to Beale Street this season.
FedExForum will no longer host an NCAA tournament regional after the NCAA decided Monday to move all preliminary rounds of the 2021 men’s basketball tournament to a single site, likely Indianapolis.
Memphis was one of 13 cities formerly designated as a host site. The South Regional was set to take place March 26-28 at FedExForum.
But with the coronavirus pandemic continuing to ravage the country, the NCAA decided it would be safer to play all preliminary rounds at one location. Indianapolis is already slated to host the Final Four on April 3-5, and officials are in preliminary talks to hold the entire tournament there.
“We have learned so much from monitoring other successful sporting events in the last several months, and it became clear it’s not feasible to manage this complex championship in so many different states with the challenges presented by the pandemic,” Dan Gavitt, NCAA senior vice president of basketball, said in a news release. “However, we are developing a solid plan to present a safe, responsible and fantastic March Madness tournament unlike any other we’ve experienced.”
Memphis was recently selected to host the first and second rounds of the tournament in 2024.
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Memphis Tigers Basketball FedEx Forum 2021 NCAA Tournament March Madness College BasketballDanielle Lerner
Danielle Lerner covers Tigers basketball for the Daily Memphian. She previously covered college hoops at The Athletic and the Louisville Courier-Journal, where she also wrote about professional soccer, horse racing, college football and, occasionally, tacos.
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