This year's Final Four was canceled by the NCAA due to the coronavirus pandemic
The 2020 NCAA men's Division I basketball tournament, was canceled on Thursday by the NCAA due to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. That includes the Final Four, which was scheduled to take place in Atlanta.
The announcement was part of a larger decision made by the NCAA to cancel all winter and spring championships, including basketball (men and women's), baseball, softball, tennis (men's and women's), and outdoor track and field. The NCAA's decision was preceded by the cancellation of 15 men's basketball conference tournaments by 15 conferences.
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The NCAA Tournament, also known as March Madness, will reach its usual conclusion at the Final Four. This year the Final Four will take place in Atlanta with the games being played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
After starting out with a field of 68 teams, the champions of the four regions (East, Midwest, South, and West) will meet in Atlanta on April 4 with the winners advancing to the national championship game on April 6.
This will be the fifth time that Atlanta has hosted the Final Four, the most recent coming in 2013 when Louisville cut down the nets. This, however, will be the first time the Final Four will be held at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The multi-purpose venue opened in 2017 and has a normal capacity of 71,000 that can be expanded to more than 78,000, depending on the event.
Mercedes-Benz Stadium previously hosted Super Bowl LIII in 2019 and this past December was the host for the College Football Playoff Semifinal/Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl between LSU and Oklahoma.
The NCAA has already announced the dates and locations for the next six Final Fours, a stretch that's bookended by stops in Indianapolis.
Future Final Four Locations: Date, Venue, City
- April 3 & 5, 2021 – Lucas Oil Stadium (Indianapolis)
- April 2 & 4, 2022 – Mercedes-Benz Superdome (New Orleans)
- April 1 & 3, 2023 – NRG Stadium (Houston)
- April 6 & 8, 2024 – State Farm Stadium (Glendale, Ariz.)
- April 5 & 7, 2025 – Alamodome (San Antonio)
- April 4 & 6, 2026 – Lucas Oil Stadium (Indianapolis)
