The NCAA men’s basketball tournament is coming back to Seattle.
The University of Washington will host the second and third rounds of the 2015 NCAA men’s basketball tournament at KeyArena, the NCAA said Monday.
It will be the 16th time the tournament has been held in Seattle, but the first since 2004. KeyArena also was the site of tournament games in 1999.
The Final Four was held at Seattle’s Kingdome in 1984, 1989 and 1995.
Hec Edmundson Pavilion was the site of the 1949 and 1952 Final Fours.
“Bringing March Madness back to Seattle has been a priority for the Seattle Sports Commission, so we are absolutely thrilled to host the NCAA tournament at KeyArena in 2015,” said Ralph Morton, Executive Director of the Seattle Sports Commission.
The NCAA tournament also is returning to New York’s Madison Square Garden.
The last time NCAA tournament games were played in MSG was 1961.
The building that proclaims itself “The World’s Most Famous Arena” will be the site of the East Regional in 2014.
Spokane and Washington State University will host the second and third rounds also in 2014.
Apart from Madison Square Garden hosting the East Regional, the other regional sites in 2014 will be Anaheim, Calif., Indianapolis and Memphis, Tenn.
First-round games will continue to be played in Dayton, Ohio, both years.
AP TOP 25 STAYS STILL
There wasn’t a lot of movement in the poll after the opening weekend of the 2012-13 college basketball season.
Led by Indiana and Louisville, the first seven teams in the initial regular-season poll were the same as the preseason Top 25.
The Hoosiers (1-0) were again a solid No. 1, receiving 46 first-place votes from the 65-member national media panel. Louisville (1-0) was No. 1 on 18 ballots.
Kentucky (1-0), which received one first-place vote, was third, followed by Ohio State, Michigan, North Carolina State and Kansas.
Syracuse and Duke swapped places at eighth and ninth and Florida again rounded out the top 10.
UConn was the only newcomer. Michigan State (0-1) dropped from 14th to 21st and Florida State (0-1) dropped out from 25th.
DUCKS BEAT VIKINGS
Freshman point guard Dominic Artis scored 16 points, including four of the Ducks’ nine 3-pointers, to lead Oregon over Portland State, 80-69, in Eugene, Ore.
Carlos Emory added 15 points and Damyean Dotson had 12 points and six rebounds for Oregon, which made eight of its first 11 3-point attempts to build a big lead and never trailed in the game.
FASTBREAKS
The Carrier Classic will return to the USS Yorktown in 2013 to open the college basketball season despite last weekend’s canceled contest between Ohio State and Marquette. ... Cody Zeller scored 22 points and Remy Abell added a career-high 14 to lead No. 1 Indiana past North Dakota State, 87-61. ... Trey Burke scored 22 points and Glenn Robinson III added 21 to lead No. 5 Michigan over IUPUI, 91-54, in the NIT Season Tip-Off. ... Baylor is again the unanimous No. 1 choice in The Associated Press women’s college basketball poll.
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