The home of the Nebraska basketball team is working hard to eventually be the part-time home of some NCAA Tournament games. If the people running Pinnacle Bank Arena can achieve that goal, it will mean big money for businesses around the arena, and could even have Husker fans dreaming of a tourney game on a home court.
It may strike some as odd that PBA hasn’t already hosted an NCAA Tournament game. But the man in charge, General Manager Tim Savona spoke on KLIN Radio's Drive Time Lincoln with Jack Mitchell on Monday and cleared that up.
Nebraska basketball arena could host NCAA Tournament
One of the requirements for all locations, and what has been an issue for Lincoln landing a bid, has been the number of full-service hotels. That's something that Savona said isn't an issue now. And that could mean that Nebraska basketball’s home court could get a ticket to the big dance, even if the Huskers don’t.
"The full-service statement, it's kind of loaded," Savona said. "It kind of depends. As long as you're close to (full-service) or a tier from that, and you can protect the amenities that are similar for everybody, then you're OK."
Nebraska basketball arena moves one step closer
Lincoln put in a bid to host in 2027 or 2028. Unfortunately, it wasn’t among the cities chosen as those were Charlotte, Pittsburgh, Minneapolis, Omaha, Louisville, Fort Worth, Sacramento, and Spokane in 2027 and Tulsa, Brooklyn, Orlando, Des Moines, Columbus, Birmingham, Salt Lake City, and Seattle in 2028.
This year, first- and second-round sites for the men's tournament are Lexington, Providence, Seattle, Wichita, Cleveland, Denver, Milwaukee, and Raleigh.
Lincoln hasn't hosted a men's NCAA Tournament round since the Bob Devaney Sports Center was the site of the first two rounds for the Midwest Region in 1988.
Now the home of the Nebraska basketball team is poised to make another run, knowing full well that acceptance means it won’t come along from at least four years.