The NCAA announced a number of sites for future championships on Wednesday.

The Times Union Center in Albany was selected to host the 2015 Division I Women's Basketball Regional and the 2016 Division I Men's Hockey first round.

"We're going to put on two excellent events for local fans in men's hockey and women's basketball," Times Union Center general manager Bob Belber told The Record.

Belber announced in August that the arena would be bidding for these events

The arena announced back in May that the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament is returning to Albany in 2015.

The women's tournament will be the first NCAA event in women's basketball to be played in Albany and will be hosted by the MAAC and Siena.

.@SienaAD: "I know #SienaSaints basketball fans will enjoy seeing NCAA Tournament basketball played in Albany on our home court next March."
— Siena Saints (@SienaSaints) December 11, 2013

"The 2015 NCAA Women's Basketball Regional is a landmark sporting event for the Capital Region," said Siena College director of athletics John D'Argenio, in a release. "The bid process was more competitive than ever. The NCAA selected Times Union Center because of the great fans in the area, and first class job Siena, the Arena and MAAC have done hosting NCAA Championships in the past. I know Siena basketball fans will enjoy seeing NCAA Tournament basketball played in Albany on our home court." 

The event should be a big one, as the team to emerge from Albany, will be headed to the Final Four.

Congrats to Albany, Greensboro, Oklahoma City and Sacramento on hosting the 2015 Regionals! #ncaaHost pic.twitter.com/ca6LAGNBrB
— NCAA Women's BKB (@NCAAWomensBKB) December 11, 2013

Full lists of the sites selected for NCAA competitions can be found here. 

ALBANY – Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference basketball is coming back to Albany.

On Tuesday, the MAAC Council of Presidents voted unanimously to return the league’s men’s and women’s postseason tournaments to the Times Union Center in 2015, for a three-year stay.

“We’re going to flourish as a school, as the league flourishes,” said Siena President Fr. Kevin Mullen, who was delighted with the decision to return to the Capital District.

Since the tournament departed Albany in 2011, the attendance figures have suffered significantly. In 2010, a record crowd of 53,569 crowd watched Siena capture its third consecutive tournament title. In the three years following, the total crowd has been just 55,261. Last year, at the MassMutual Center, in Springfield, Mass., the tournament drew just 14,394 fans, the lowest number in three decades.

“The bigger question is – do MAAC fans travel?,” said MAAC Commissioner Rich Ensor. “They travel to here, as well as anywhere.”

The tournament will still be held in Springfield, as planned, in 2014, but then will be held at Times Union Center from 2015-17.

“It’s huge,” said Times Union Center General Manager Bob Belber. It’s enormous.”

Albany was one of two finalists, along with Bridgeport, Conn., which hosted in 2011. The other two proposals came from Springfield and the Izod Center, in the Meadowlands.

The arena has guaranteed $250,000 per year to the MAAC, a number much smaller than the millions the tournament has produced for the city in previous years.

The city of Albany has hosted 15 of the past 24 tournaments, dating back to 1990. Siena has won the tournament four times when it has been played on its home floor. Even when Siena wasn’t strong, the tournament has still produced sufficient attendance totals.

“The Capital Region fans have proven they will come out and watch college basketball,” said Siena Athletics Director John D’Argenio.  

The biggest reason the league decided to leave in Albany was the idea of playing on a neutral court, but as the league found out, that came at the cost of having more fans in the building.

“It hasn’t worked particularly well,” said Ensor.  

Only three times has the overall attendance of the league tournament topped 50,000, and all three of those came in Albany (2010, 2009, 2000).

“There is something special about this city and it didn’t take me long to realize that,” said Siena women’s basketball coach Ali Jaques.

The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference announced today that four bids have been submitted to host the postseason men's and women's basketball tournament in 2012-2014.

Albany, which will host the tournament in 2010 and drew a record 50,820 during last year's tournament is one potential site.

Siena College's home arena in downtown Albany also held the previous record high of 50,620.

The Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, Conn. is another. The 2006 MAAC Tournament was held in Bridgeport as it be again in 2011.

The other two spots are the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. and the MassMutal Center in Springfield, Mass.

The bids will be examined in late October and awarded in December.

This year's Citizens Bank MAAC Championships will be held March 4-8.