Everything to know about the First Four: What is it, where is it played, and more

The kickoff of March Madness is always a cause for celebration for college basketball fans. Many offices expect a dip in productivity during the first week of the NCAA Tournament as people either call out from work or take extended lunch breaks to check out some of the action.

While the NCAA Tournament visits many great cities over the years, one constant is the inclusion of Dayton, Ohio. The University of Dayton has been the site of the First Four nearly every year since its invention and Dayton has been tied to the start of March Madness for nearly a quarter century.

How the First Four started in March Madness

Prior to the Mountain West gaining an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament in 2001, there was never a need for any sort of opening round game with the field locked at 64 teams. The Mountain West's inclusion raised the number of automatic bids to 31, so instead of shrinking the number of at-larges by one, the NCAA opted to expand the tournament to 65 teams, using Dayton as the site for the opening round matchup.

That contest would traditionally feature the 64th and 65th-rated teams in the field, creating a matchup of 16-seeds that allowed smaller schools to get a stage of their own and the opportunity to earn a win prior to the start of the regular tournament. This format was staged through 2010, when the NCAA decided to expand to 68 teams in the field and create what we now know as the First Four.

What is the First Four and where is it played?

The First Four games are split up into a pair of doubleheaders played on the Tuesday and Wednesday after Selection Sunday in Dayton. Two of the games model the classic opening round game, where a pair of 16-seeds face off for the right to play into the main draw, while the other two games pit the last four teams into the field against each other for the right to dance.

Playing in the First Four can serve as a momentum builder for the at-larges, who usually land on the 11 or 12-line, with at least one at-large participant earning at least one win in the main tournament in all but two renditions of the NCAA Tournament (2019 and 2020, when the tournament wasn't held due to the COVID-19 pandemic). Two teams have also gone from the First Four to the Final Four, with VCU doing so in the first year of the First Four's existence in 2011 and UCLA duplicating the feat a decade later in the NCAA Tournament bubble.

2023 marked the first time a 16-seed First Four participant earned a win in the main draw when Fairleigh Dickinson stunned top-seeded Purdue to advance to the Round of 32. While the odds of a 16 advancing from Dayton to the Round of 32 again are slim, it's important not to forget about the First Four participants from the at-large pool when you fill out your bracket.

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