Vegas 16

{{Infobox Sports league

| title = Vegas 16

| current_season =

| logo = Vegas 16 logo.jpg

| pixels = 160px

| caption = Vegas 16 logo

| sport = College basketball

| founded = 2016

|inaugural = 2015-16

| venue = Mandalay Bay Events Center, Paradise, Nevada

| teams = 8

| country = United States

| champion = Old Dominion

| most_champs = Old Dominion (1)

| folded = After 2016 tournament

| website = http://www.vegas16.com/

| singles =

| ceo =

| TV = CBSSN

| related_comps =

| Founder = bd Global

}}

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.{{cite web |title=Las Vegas adds another March college basketball tournament |url=http://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/basketball/las-vegas-adds-another-march-college-basketball-tournament |website=Las Vegas Review-Journal |date=15 November 2015 |publisher=GateHouse Media |access-date=26 November 2015}} Debbie Antonelli, John Balistere, Brooks Downing and George Raveling were on the selection committee.{{cite web |title=Vegas 16 announces Men's Tournament Committee |url=http://bdglobalsports.com/?p=2170 |website=Vegas16 |publisher=BD GLOBAL |access-date=11 February 2016}} 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.{{cite web |title=bd Global announces new 16-team postseason tournament in Las Vegas | date=13 November 2015 |url=http://bdglobalsports.com/?p=2033 |publisher=bd Global |access-date=26 November 2015}}

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 (in which the home arenas of higher-ranked teams hosted most of the games), all games in the Vegas 16 were intended to be held in a single location (Las Vegas, Nevada).

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 (two weeks after the NCAA and NIT fields were set) 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.{{cite news |title=Vegas 16 postseason tournament won't be played this year |url=http://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/basketball/vegasmadness/vegas-16-postseason-tournament-won-t-be-played-year |newspaper=Las Vegas Review-Journal |access-date=9 March 2017}}

Television

The following is an overview and list of the announcers and television networks to broadcast the Vegas 16 Tournament Championship.

class="wikitable sortable"

! Year

Network

Play-by-Play

Analyst

Sideline

Champions

class="wikitable sortable"

style="background: lightblue;"

! Year

Champion

Runner-up

Most Valuable Player

2016

Old Dominion

Oakland

Trey Freeman, Old Dominion

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.{{cite news |url=http://wtop.com/ncaa-basketball/2016/03/new-postseason-vegas-16-tourney-only-features-8-teams/ |title=New postseason Vegas 16 tourney only features 8 teams |work=WTOP |agency=Associated Press |date=March 14, 2016}}

The following eight teams participated in the inaugural (and as events would prove, only) tournament:

2017

It was announced on March 9, 2017, that the Vegas 16 tournament would not be held that year.

References

Category:Recurring sporting events established in 2016

Category:Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2017

Category:College men's basketball competitions in the United States

Category:Postseason college basketball competitions in the United States