March Madness Arrives In Portland, Bringing Economic Boom With It

PORTLAND, OR — Just follow the bouncing balls right to the cash register. March Madness is here and while it may certainly help keep Portland weird, it will definitely help keep the city afloat.

The NCAA is returning here for the first time since the 2019 women's regionals.

It's also the first time since 2019 that the NCAA has teams playing across the country for the tournament. The 2020 games were canceled in the early stages of the pandemic while last year's games were played in a centralized location.

Number one seed Gonzaga leads the eight teams that will play first and second round games at the Moda Center on Thursday and Saturday. They are joined by Boise State, Memphis, Georgia State, Saint Mary's, Indiana, UCLA, and Akron.

The first game is Thursday at 10:45 a.m. as Boise State and Memphis play.

The full line up is:

• (8) Boise State vs (9) Memphis/10:45 a.m.
• (1) Gonzaga vs (16) Georgia State/1:15 p.m.
• (5) St. Mary's vs. Indiana/4:20 p.m.
• (4) UCLA vs. (13) Akron/6:50 p.m.

While there are still tickets available to some games, around 3,200 rooms at seven designated hotels in the area are already booked up.

As the teams get ready to play, people are hard work at getting the city and the arena ready.

"This is what we do on a daily basis, but it's great for us to be able to show off the Northwest and everything that Portland and Oregon have to offer," the assistant athletic director for faciiities at Oregon State, Sam Koken says. OSU is the host school for these games.

"W know how many eyes are on this tournament, so the more times we do this right, the better it looks for the city overall."

Amanda Mann, the senior vice president and general manager for Moda Center operator, Rose Quarter Operations, agrees that putting the best face forward is very important.

"These events put us on a televised national stage and every detail matters at the end of the day," she said.

"What we do and how we perform from the venue to the hotels to the city as a whole will prove to the NCAA that we are capable of hosting bigger events."

This is the fourth time that that the Moda Center has hosted Men's March Madness games. They were also there in 2009, 2012, and 2015.

They will be back here for a fifth time in 2026. Oregon State will again be the host school.