According to the press release, there is a "need" for this Tournament
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For the first time, a season-ending college basketball tournament will be played in Las Vegas when the new “Vegas 16” tips off this upcoming March. The new 16-team event serves as the finale of a busy college basketball season in Las Vegas and will be managed by Lexington, Ky.-based sports marketing firm bd Global, which also manages two events currently at the MGM Grand Garden Arena: the Men Who Speak Up Main Event, an eight-team Thanksgiving week tournament, and the MGM Grand Showcase, which is played each December and benefits Coaches vs. Cancer.
The new Vegas 16 tournament, similar to the Postseason NIT, features 16 teams playing a single-elimination tournament on March 26-30, 2016 at Cox Pavilion on UNLV’s campus. All 16 teams will be housed at resort properties on the Las Vegas Strip. The tournament field and seeding will be announced shortly after the NCAA Tournament announcement on Selection Sunday. The action then tips 13 days later to give teams and fans ample time to schedule travel to Las Vegas.
“While the NCAA Tournament continues to rule Madness, there’s been a real need to create an affordable, attractive event at a destination location for teams who have had a terrific season yet were unable to qualify as one of the top 68 programs on Selection Sunday,” said Brooks Downing, President and CEO of bd Global. “Our research indicates we will attract high-quality programs with this simplistic approach. This will be a premium event in one premium location.”
While there are seven men’s and women’s postseason conference tournaments held in Las Vegas on an annual basis, this will be the first true post-conference tournament event held in the city. Current NCAA Bylaws prohibit NCAA-sponsored events from being held in states with legalized sports gambling. However, there is a proposal from the Mountain West Conference under review now by NCAA membership to remove that provision. Las Vegas has become the unofficial “capital of basketball,” as multiple basketball events are played there annually, including premier high school and summer AAU events, college basketball in-season events, USA Basketball training camps and exhibitions, and the popular NBA Summer League.
“The Vegas 16 offers an intriguing new opportunity for postseason college basketball,” said Jim Livengood, former NCAA athletic director for nearly 30 years at Arizona, Washington State, UNLV and Southern Illinois. “The destination of Las Vegas is so powerful because fans want to be here that time of year and it will only enhance the playing experience for the student-athletes and all those involved with the programs. This also makes sense for many of the schools financially as hosting home games this time of the year can become a fiscal burden. We’re excited to see this become a reality for so many different reasons.”
Livengood, who is a former chairman of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament selection committee, recently retired from UNLV and spends time consulting in college athletics. One of his focuses is on growing the footprint of college athletics in the Las Vegas market. “There are so many things this great destination can do to support college athletics and the student-athlete experience,” said Livengood about Las Vegas.
Go Gophers!!
