NCAA’s First Four stays in Dayton for 2012-13

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - The NCAA tournament’s opening round will stay in Dayton, Ohio, for at least the next two years.

The NCAA said Monday that the First Four will be played at the University of Dayton in 2012 and 2013.

Last year was the first one for the so-called First Four games in the newly expanded 68-team men’s tournament. Two games match the lowest seeds, Nos. 65 through 68, with the winners advancing to play a top seed. The other two games match the last four at-large qualifiers.

Gene Smith, the Ohio State athletics director and chair of the Division I Men’s Basketball Committee, said the panel decided Dayton should host the First Four at least through the tournament’s 75th anniversary in 2013.

The 2012 First Four will have two games on March 13 and two on March 14.