What to know about the NCAA Tournament in Philly: Who’s playing, ticket prices, and more

The road to the Final Four for eight teams in the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament will go through Philadelphia.

Xfinity Mobile Arena will host four first-round games on Friday and two second-round games on Sunday from the East and Midwest region, as March Madness returns to Philadelphia for the first time since 2022.

Connecticut, Virginia, Tennessee and UCLA, among others, will tip off on Friday.

Here’s everything you need to know before the NCAA Tournament makes its return to Philly:

Xfinity Mobile Arena will host four first-round games across two sessions on Friday.

Session 1 will feature two first-round games in the Midwest region. Third-seed Virginia will play 14th-seed Wright State at 1:50 p.m.

Sixth-seeded Tennessee and the winner of a First Four game between Miami of Ohio and Southern Methodist will follow Virginia-Wright State at approximately 4:25 p.m.

Session 2 will feature four teams from the bracket’s East Region. Seventh-seed UCLA will tip off against 10th-seed Central Florida at 7:25 p.m.

Second-seed UConn and 15th-seed Furman will be the second game of Session 2, beginning at approximately 10 p.m.

Xfinity Mobile Arena will host two second-round games on Sunday. Times for the games will be determined after the first round is complete.

Fans interested in buying tickets can do so through Ticketmaster. Each session will feature two games, with two first-round sessions on Friday and one second-round session on Sunday.

» READ MORE: Wildcats out West: Villanova gets a No. 8 seed, opens NCAA Tournament Friday vs. Utah State

Philadelphia hosted the East Regional in 2022, which featured one of the tournament’s most memorable Cinderella stories, 15th-seed Saint Peter’s University.

After pulling upsets in the first and second rounds, the Peacocks upset Purdue in the Sweet 16 in South Philly.

Though it lost to North Carolina in the Elite Eight, Saint Peters became the lowest-seeded team to advance to the regional final in tournament history.

Here’s a look at the seven teams starting their tournaments here, plus a look at the two teams playing in the First Four for the right to play at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Friday:

UConn will return to the floor at Xfinity Mobile Arena for a second time this season. The Huskies defeated Villanova 73-63 in their first trip to South Philly this season.

It will be another return to the area for assistant coach Mike Nardi, a former Villanova guard who joined Dan Hurley’s staff in 2025 after spending eight seasons on the Wildcats’ bench.

Coach Ryan Odom has Virginia back in the NCAA Tournament in his first season at the helm. The Cavaliers finished second in the ACC and advanced to the conference title game, but they lost to Duke, the top overall seed in this year’s tournament.

» READ MORE: Penn to open NCAA Tournament in the South Region against No. 3 seed Illinois at Greenville, S.C.

Tennessee is in the NCAA Tournament for the eighth consecutive season under coach Rick Barnes. The Volunteers reached the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament but were ousted by eventual tournament runner-up Vanderbilt.

Mick Cronin has the Bruins in the dance for the second year in a row, but injuries could limit UCLA.

The Bruins’ leading scorers, Tyler Bilodeau and Donovan Dent, suffered injuries during the Big Ten tournament, but both players are expected to play in South Philly.

After being picked to finish 14th in the Big 12’s preseason poll, coach Johnny Dawkins guided the Knights to a seventh-place finish in the Big 12 and a tournament berth.

Dawkins played nine seasons in the NBA, including five seasons with the Sixers from 1989-94.

His staff has some local connections, too. Dwayne Anderson, a former Villanova guard, joined UCF as an assistant in 2025 after spending seven seasons on staff with the Wildcats.

The RedHawks completed an undefeated regular season, but were beaten by UMass in the quarterfinals of the MAC tournament and thrust onto the NCAA Tournament bubble.

» READ MORE: Perkiomen School’s Brant Byers helped Miami of Ohio go on a 31-game streak

If the RedHawks advance past SMU on Wednesday, their first-round game at Xfinity Mobile will be somewhat of a homecoming for Brant Byers and Ethan Wright. Byers is from Chambersburg, Pa., and played his senior year at Perkiomen School. Wright is a native of Philadelphia, but played high school basketball in Centerville, Ohio.

Andy Enfield has Southern Methodist back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017. Enfield is from Shippensburg, Pa., and is in his second season as coach at SMU. As one of the last four teams in, the Mustangs will need to beat Miami of Ohio in Dayton to advance to a first-round matchup with Tennessee.

The Raiders won the Horizon League’s regular season title and the conference tournament to secure Wright State’s first NCAA tournament berth since 2022.

» READ MORE: Penn wins Ivy League tourney and punches ticket to NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018

After a fifth-place regular season finish in the Southern Conference, the Paladins won three games in three days to win the conference’s tournament and secure their spot in the NCAA Tournament. It will be the first tournament appearance for Furman since 2022, when it upset fourth-seeded Virginia as a No. 13 seed in the first round.