James Jahnke, and John Gallagher

Detroit Free Press

The yet-to-be-built Detroit Red Wings arena has landed a major event: first- and second-round games in the 2018 NCAA men's basketball tournament.

The games will be March 16 and 18.

The Wings' new arena is scheduled to be completed in 2017.

Dan Gavitt, vice president of basketball operations for the NCAA, said Detroit is just one of several cities hosting NCAA games where the host facilities are yet to be completed. But he said the NCAA does its due diligence and always has a backup plan in case of unexpected issues.

"I think they were excited about taking it to the new Detroit arena," Gavitt said during a conference call with reporters today. He noted that the track record of host cities is important, too, in demonstrating that it can handle a major NCAA event. Detroit has hosted multiple major sporting events in recent years, including the NCAA Frozen Four at Ford Field and basketball tournament games at the Palace of Auburn Hills. "A proven track record of having a sold-out venue is what makes March Madness special for student athletes," he said.

Asked in September about the new Detroit arena possibly hosting the Big Ten basketball tournament, maybe in 2018, Olympia Entertainment president Tom Wilson said he had not yet met with conference commissioner Jim Delany.

"We haven't had discussions with him, but we have had some conversations with some of the college (athletic directors)," Wilson said. "We're going to line up a conversation on that. We had to get the building out of the ground. You have to at least have a facility that is underway -- that if you commit to 2018, you have a place to play."

The 2016 tournament features two new hosts, as Brooklyn and Des Moines join Providence, St. Louis, Raleigh, Oklahoma City, Denver and Spokane as first- and second-round sites. The East Regional will be played in Philadelphia, the Midwest Regional in Chicago, the South Regional in Louisville and the West Regional in Anaheim. Houston will host the 2016 Final Four.

The committee selected Salt Lake City, Buffalo, Greensboro, Milwaukee, Orlando, Tulsa, Sacramento and Indianapolis as second- and third-round sites in 2017. Kansas City, which has hosted more tournament games than any other city (128 in three different venues), will be the site for the 2017 Midwest Regional. San Jose will serve as the site for the West Regional, Memphis will for the South Regional and New York City for the East.

Charlotte will host first- and second-round games of the 2018 championship, joined by Pittsburgh, Detroit, Nashville, Dallas, Boise, San Diego and Wichita, which is hosting for the first time since 1994. The committee selected Boston as the East Regional host, Omaha for the Midwest Regional, Los Angeles for the West and Atlanta for the South.