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Summary
South Dakota's play-in round between region champs and the state tournament. 16 teams per class play single-elimination games hosted by the higher seed; eight survive to the state tournament. Plays out the Tuesday before state weekend.
What makes this tournament distinct
Unique to South Dakota — a formal play-in round between region tournaments and state, with home-court advantage as the reward for seeding.
Who it fits
Best for: Region winners and runners-up who need to win one more on the road to reach state.
Tradeoffs: Sites only confirmed days in advance once seeding is set; difficult to plan travel for.
Rapid City. South Dakota's largest-class boys state finals moved to The Monument complex in 2026, ending Sioux Falls's 65-year hosting run for that one year. Returns to Sioux Falls in 2027. Class A also at The Monument (Summit Arena), Class B in Aberdeen.
Alaska Airlines Center on the UAA campus. Two weekends — 1A/2A first (March 11-14), then 3A/4A (March 18-21). NFHS Network livestreams every game. Branded as ASAA March Madness, hosted by ASAA and Anchorage School District.
Hot Springs. Arkansas Activities Association state finals, classes 1A through 6A boys and girls, all played at Bank OZK Arena over three days in mid-March. Free live streaming through Arkansas TV makes this one of the easiest state finals in the region to follow.
Alaska Airlines Center on the UAA campus. Two weekends — 1A/2A first (March 11-14), then 3A/4A (March 18-21). NFHS Network livestreams every game. Branded as ASAA March Madness, hosted by ASAA and Anchorage School District.
Hot Springs. Arkansas Activities Association state finals, classes 1A through 6A boys and girls, all played at Bank OZK Arena over three days in mid-March. Free live streaming through Arkansas TV makes this one of the easiest state finals in the region to follow.
Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, two-day final weekend. The Open Division boys final is the most loaded state title game in the country most years — you have to win your CIF section first, and the Open bracket pulls eight teams from those section champs. Eastvale Roosevelt won the 2025 Open over Archbishop Riordan; Brayden Burries dropped 44 in the final.
Denver. Colorado state finals for both boys and girls, classes 1A through 6A. Great 8 round opens the week, all six championship games run on the final Saturday at Denver Coliseum. Every game streams on NFHS Network.
CIAC moved finals to Mohegan Sun Arena and runs both boys and girls D-I through D-IV champion games over a single weekend. Public + private all together (CT doesn't separate them). Ellington won D-IV 2025 — their first state title in 53 years. Greenwich girls took D-I.
The Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association crowns boys, girls, and unified basketball champions each March. The 2025 boys final saw No. 6 Sanford School upset No. 1 Dover 37-34 — typical of a small-state bracket where seeding doesn't carry as much weight as program continuity.
National Prep Tournament in Fort Walton Beach, Florida takes both high school and post-grad programs. Applications stay open through October 31. If you want a competitive early-March slot without invitation-only barriers, this is the one to apply for.