Vegas 16


The Vegas 16 tournament was a postseason men's college basketball tournament. The tournament was managed by Lexington, Kentucky-based sports marketing firm bd Global. CBS Sports Network was announced as the television partner for the quarterfinal, semifinal, and final rounds. Former UNLV and Arizona athletic director Jim Livengood was the chair of the tournament. Debbie Antonelli, John Balistere, Brooks Downing and George Raveling were on the selection committee. The field and seedings were announced after the NCAA and NIT tournament fields were revealed. The tournament featured eight teams not selected for either the NCAA or NIT tournaments. The lone offering took place March 28–30, 2016, at Mandalay Bay, in Paradise, Nevada.

Concept

The Vegas 16 was inspired by college bowl games, in which the destination was considered as much of a draw as the game itself. In contrast to other unofficial postseason tournaments such as the College Basketball Invitational and CollegeInsider.com Tournament, all games in the Vegas 16 were intended to be held in a single location.
The Vegas 16 struggled to gain attention and fill its bracket throughout its existence. A number of high-major schools instituted policies automatically declining invitations to all postseason tournaments other than the NCAA and NIT; the tournament's timing also worked against it. Unwilling to fill its field with subpar teams, the Vegas 16, contrary to its name, only filled eight slots in its field in its 2016 tournament and opted not to hold a 2017 tournament at all.

Television

The following is an overview and list of the announcers and television networks to broadcast the Vegas 16 Tournament Championship.
YearNetworkPlay-by-PlayAnalystSideline
2016CBSSNDave RyanJordan CornetteDebbie Antonelli

Champions

2016

The inaugural tournament planned on having sixteen teams; however, due to many teams forgoing participating in post-season tournaments, only eight teams were selected.
The following eight teams participated in the inaugural tournament:
It was announced on March 9, 2017, that the Vegas 16 tournament would not be held that year.