Kevin Johnson, mayor of Sacramento, said Tuesday that the city could lose the Kings if efforts for a new arena aren't stepped up.

"If we don't have a clear path to an arena in the not too distant future, then we as Sacramentans need to know that (the Kings) very well may look elsewhere," Johnson said.

The mayor made his statements after finding out the NCAA had bypassed Sacramento's bid to host the regional round of the men's basketball tournament.

Johnson said last week he'd like to see an arena proposal at Cal Expo take more solid form by the end of this year.

On Tuesday, however, he expressed a greater sense of urgency, and a desire to look for other sites and ideas for getting a new arena built.

"I don't have all the answers right now, but I will tell you this: When you look at Cal Expo as an option, the clock is ticking," he said.

"I've got to be more aggressive, and I've got to move the timeline up in terms of the arena," he added. "The timeline has to include an Option B, an Option C, and I haven't quite determined what we're going to do."