For the third time in six years, Washington, D.C., will be one of the sites for first- and second-round games of the NCAA men’s basketball championship.

The NCAA announced yesterday that the Georgetown Athletic Department and Verizon Center will host games on March 17 and March 19, 2011. It will be the third time since 2006 that Georgetown has hosted the NCAA tournament, in which the arena served as one of the sites for the regional rounds.

The Hoyas last hosted first- and second-round tournament games in 2008, when No. 2 seed Duke provided most of the drama, almost losing to No. 15 seed Belmont in the first round before bowing out to No. 7 seed West Virginia in the second round.

Should Georgetown earn a berth in the 2011 NCAA tournament, it would not be permitted to play its early-round games at Verizon Center.

Seven other first- and second-round sites were also announced. Tulsa, Okla.; Charlotte, N.C.; Chicago, Ill.; Cleveland, Ohio; Denver, Colo.; Tampa, Fla.; and Tucson, Ariz., round out the list of early-round hosts.

The regional sites in 2011 will be Anaheim, Calif.; San Antonio, Texas; New Orleans, La.; and Newark, N.J., which will be hosting its first-ever NCAA tournament games at Prudential Center. The Final Four will be held at Reliant Stadium, the home of the Houston Texans of the NFL.

No information has been released regarding ticket sales.”