Arena hoping for NCAA basketball return in 2023

Sooner rather than later, the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship should return to Times Union Center, and other NCAA events, as well.

That would be good news for Capital Region residents who planned to attend the NCAA basketball or hockey regionals, which were scheduled for back-to-back weekends last month but ultimately canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Arena general manager Bob Belber said Friday that bids are in for future championships in a variety of sports, and he got word that the NCAA is retaining its schedule to award those.

“The original plan for the NCAA is that the bids were due in February, and the awards would be in late October,” Belber said. “They’re not changing that, from what I understand. They did extend the deadline for the bids for a short period for any of the markets that would have hosted the 2020 men’s or women’s basketball. We had already submitted bids to host in the future bid years, so it didn’t make a difference for us.”