Coach Identifies Exactly What Makes First Four Arena Special for March Madness

Sean Miller knows March Madness, and he knows the University of Dayton Arena. 

So when the University of Texas coach, who is in Dayton for the 2026 First Four, identifies what makes the place the NCAA Tournament starts every year special, it’s best to listen. 

Why Sean Miller knows UD Arena 

Miller grew up in Western Pennsylvania, but he qualifies as a Southwest Ohio expert after coaching Xavier University in Cincinnati from 2004-09 and again from 2022-25. (He was also at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and an assistant at XU before becoming a head coach.) 

As the coach of the Musketeers, he was part of a long-time rivalry with the University of Dayton, so Miller coached at the arena annually as a visitor, but that’s not all. 

His younger brother, Archie, was the head coach of the Flyers from 2011-17 so that gives him another connection to the program and the building. 

“I’m very comfortable soon as I walk in the building,” Miller said Monday during interviews to preview the First Four. “I know there's a ramp. I’ve gone up and down it who knows how many times. 

“Look, I said this every time that I've ever been here: I don’t know if there's a building, an arena in America that's any better than UD Arena on game day. It's amazing. I just think, like, the sound is — it's just prevalent. It's not like some of the new buildings where it's so spacious and so new that you can't hear the loudness as much. Here, you do.”

The reverberation of sound has survived multiple renovations to a building that opened in 1969. 

Most recently, it received a major facelift completed in 2019 in efforts to make sure the NCAA continues wanting to call it home every season. 

“The seating, the renovations, and then most importantly the love for college basketball that exists in Dayton,” Miller continued. “My brother obviously was the head coach here for a number of years, and he loved being here, had a lot of success. Then obviously being in the area and just being in this arena.

A year ago we scrimmaged Dayton and were here in the First Four, and just every time you walk in here, you’re reminded of what a great basketball venue this place is.” 

The History of UD Arena and the NCAA Tournament 

The University of Dayton Arena has hosted more NCAA Tournament games than any other arena (141 and counting heading into this year’s games). 

That connection was cemented when it was picked to host the original play-in games when the tournament expanded to 65 teams in 2001, but its history goes back much farther than that. 

Notre Dame beat Ohio University 112-82 and Jacksonville topped Western Kentucky 109-96 in the first NCAA Tournament games held at the arena March 7, 1970. 

March Madness returned to the big building on the shores of the Great Miami River many times after that, including multiple regional semifinals and finals. 

Every First Four has been held in Dayton since that event was created in 2011 with the exception of the pandemic years. 

It is scheduled to remain in Dayton for at least two more years after this one.