The road to the Final Four crisscrosses basketball sites throughout the county, and in 2016, for the first time ever, that road will begin in Des Moines for a handful of teams.

The NCAA announced Nov. 17 that Wells Fargo Arena and the ISU athletic department will play host to the nation’s premiere Division I men’s basketball talent March 17 and 19, 2016, for The Big Dance’s first and second rounds.

Iowa State, as the host school, will not be allowed to compete at the site, per NCAA rules. Iowa, Northern Iowa and Drake would be eligible to partake in Des Moines’s edition of March Madness if they made the tournament.

While Iowa’s capital has hosted NCAA events for track and field, wrestling, women’s basketball and volleyball, this will be the first time the city has hosted the men’s tournament.

Wells Fargo Arena has a seating capacity of 16,000, even greater than the capacity inside Hilton Coliseum, making it more than equipped to handle events like the tournament’s opening round.

NCAA spokesman David Worlock said in a press release that sites are chosen based on an arena with a 10,000 seat minimum capacity, ample travel and hotel accommodations and the potential attendance draw.

Only the final piece of this criteria is not precisely measurable but that did not sway the NCAA, which expressed faith in basketball fans in and around Iowa by selecting Des Moines as a game site for the first time in the tournament’s history.

Worlock told The Des Moines Register that the NCAA is fully aware that “the Midwest loves its basketball,” and the NCAA is “excited” to host games in Des Moines.