My two cents: McKale Center perfect for NCAA Tournament games

The NCAA Tournament won’t be back in Tucson any time in the near future. Next year’s first-weekend sites in the West will be San Diego and Boise. This year it’s Salt Lake City and Sacramento.

McKale Center has been a host-site for 12 NCAA Tournaments, from 1974 to 2011. This is the longest period in which Tucson hasn’t been in the rotation.

Some insist that first-weekend games in Tucson put Arizona at a greater risk of being sent to a faraway site and that it is a competitive disadvantage.

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But is it really?

The last two times Arizona played host, 2005 and 2011, the Wildcats reached the Elite Eight. When McKale was a host site in 1997, they won the national championship.

The $30 million makeover at McKale, with improved fan amenities, makes it a perfect place to play Round of 64 and Round of 32 games. I’ve gone to first-weekend NCAA sites 40 times in my newspaper career, and the ambiance and collegiate atmosphere of Tucson and McKale rank near the top.