NCAA Tournament will return to Milwaukee in 2022

Milwaukee's new downtown basketball arena may still be under construction, but its schedule is already open and includes a marquee event coming in five years.

On Tuesday, the NCAA announced its future sites for first- and second-round games of the Division I men's basketball tournament for 2019-'22. A joint bid between Marquette and the Milwaukee Bucks was among those accepted, with Marquette serving as the official host for the opening-round games on Friday, March 18, and Sunday, March 20, 2022.

Those games will be the first NCAA Tournament games played at the new arena, which is scheduled to open in the fall of 2018.

“This is fantastic news for the state of Wisconsin and another important milestone in the progress of this world-class arena in Milwaukee,” Bucks President Peter Feigin said in a statement. “The BMO Harris Bradley Center was a tremendous host for NCAA basketball for many years, and we’re thrilled to continue partnering with Marquette to ensure that tradition continues in the new building."

The Bradley Center, with Marquette as the host, was the venue for the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament this past season, marking the seventh and final time since the arena opened in 1988. The tournament was also held at the Bradley Center in 1992, 1996, 1999, 2004, 2010 and 2014. The MECCA Arena hosted NCAA Tournament games in 1984.

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The Wisconsin Entertainment & Sports Center, a 714,000-square-foot arena that has yet to be named, will be the home of the Bucks. The Marquette men's basketball team will also call that arena home, signing on as a tenant as it currently does with the Bradley Center.