| Season | 2015–16 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teams | 26 | ||||
| Finals site | Levien Gymnasium, New York City, New York | ||||
| Champions | Columbia (1st title) | ||||
| Runner-up | UC Irvine (1st title game) | ||||
| Semifinalists |
| ||||
| Winning coach | Kyle Smith (1st title) | ||||
| MVP | Maodo Lo (Columbia) | ||||
| Attendance | 43,125 | ||||
| |||||
The2016 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) was a postseasonsingle-elimination tournament of 26NCAADivision Ibasketballteams. The first round was played March 14–16, 2016. The second round March 18–20, Quarterfinals March 22–24 the semifinals March 27, and the championship game was played on March 29[1]
Participants who belonged to "mid-major"conferences, not invited to the 2016NCAA Tournament,National Invitation Tournament,College Basketball Invitational or theVegas 16 made up the field. An experimental rule allowing players six personal fouls instead of five was used in all 2016 national postseason tournaments except for the NCAA Tournament.
Originally set to include 32 teams, the 2016 tournament consisted of 26 participants. After all 26 teams played in the first round, the top-three highest rated teams based on thePomeroy College Basketball Ratings regular season rating automatically advanced to the quarterfinals.
Columbia beatUC Irvine 73–67 in the championship game to give theIvy League just its second postseason tournament title in conference history (Princeton won the1975 NIT).
The following teams received an invitation to the 2016 CIT:
| Team | Conference | Overall record | Conference record |
|---|---|---|---|
| Army[2] | Patriot | 19–13 | 9–9 |
| Ball State[3] | Mid-American | 19–13 | 10–8 |
| Boston University[4] | Patriot | 18–14 | 11–7 |
| Central Michigan[5] | Mid-American | 17–15 | 10–8 |
| Coastal Carolina[6] | Big South | 18–11 | 12–6 |
| Columbia[7] | Ivy | 21–10 | 10–4 |
| Fordham[8] | Atlantic 10 | 17–13 | 8–10 |
| Fairfield[9] | MAAC | 19–13 | 12–8 |
| Furman[10] | Southern | 18–15 | 11–7 |
| Grand Canyon[11] | WAC | 25–6 | 11–3 |
| Jackson State[12] | SWAC | 19–15 | 12–6 |
| Louisiana–Monroe | Sun Belt | 20–13 | 15–5 |
| Louisiana–Lafayette | Sun Belt | 17–14 | 12–8 |
| Mercer[13] | Southern | 19–14 | 8–10 |
| New Hampshire[14] | America East | 19–12 | 11–5 |
| NJIT[15] | Atlantic Sun | 17–14 | 8–6 |
| Norfolk State[16] | MEAC | 17–16 | 12–4 |
| North Dakota | Big Sky | 17–15 | 10–8 |
| Sam Houston State | Southland | 18–15 | 12–6 |
| Savannah State | MEAC | 16–15 | 9–7 |
| South Carolina State | MEAC | 19–14 | 12–4 |
| Tennessee State[17] | Ohio Valley | 20–10 | 11–5 |
| Texas–Arlington | Sun Belt | 23–10 | 13–7 |
| Texas A&M–Corpus Christi | Southland | 25–7 | 15–3 |
| UC Irvine | Big West | 25–9 | 13–3 |
| UT Martin | Ohio Valley | 19–14 | 10–6 |
The CIT uses the old NIT model in which there is no set bracket. Future round opponents are determined by the results of the previous round. After all 26 teams played in the first round, the top-three highest rated teams based on thePomeroy College Basketball Ratings regular season rating automatically advanced to the quarterfinals.[citation needed]
The CoachJohn McLendon Classic was televised March 14, onCBS Sports Network as part of the CIT. The Classic will feature at least onehistorically black college/university. The winner of the John McLendon Classic advanced to the second round of the CIT.[18] This will be the first time in NCAA Division I Basketball history, that a "Classic" has been part of a postseason tournament. Previously the John McLendon Classic was played during the regular season.
| Date | Time* | Matchup | Television | Score | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First round | |||||
| March 14 | 7:30 pm | Jackson State at Sam Houston State | 81–77OT | 376 | |
| March 14 | 10:00 pm | South Carolina State vsGrand Canyon (Coach John McLendon Classic) | CBSSN | 74–78 | 7,315 |
| March 15 | 7:00 pm | Mercer atCoastal Carolina | 57–65 | 940 | |
| March 15 | 7:00 pm | Louisiana–Monroe atFurman | 57–58 | 806 | |
| March 15 | 7:00 pm | Ball State at Tennessee State | 78–732OT | 1,013 | |
| March 16 | 7:00 pm | Texas–Arlington at Savannah State | 75–59 | 1,192 | |
| March 16 | 7:00 pm | Boston University at Fordham | 69–66 | 1,264 | |
| March 16 | 7:00 pm | Norfolk State atColumbia | 54–86 | 1,037 | |
| March 16 | 7:00 pm | New Hampshire at Fairfield | 77–62 | 2,479 | |
| March 16 | 7:00 pm | UT Martin at Central Michigan | 76–73 | 832 | |
| March 16 | 7:30 pm | Army atNJIT | ESPN3 | 65–79 | 855 |
| March 16 | 8:00 pm | UC Irvine at North Dakota | Midco SN | 89–86OT | 1,263 |
| March 16 | 8:00 pm | Texas A&M–Corpus Christi atLouisiana–Lafayette | 72–96 | 1,205 | |
| Second round | |||||
| March 17 | 10:00 pm | Jackson State atGrand Canyon | Cox7 | 54–64 | 7,015 |
| March 19 | 2:00 pm | New Hampshire atCoastal Carolina | 62–71 | 847 | |
| March 19 | 2:00 pm | Louisiana–Lafayette at Furman | 80–72 | 1,308 | |
| March 20 | 6:00 pm | UT Martin atBall State | ESPN3 | 80–83OT | 1,203 |
| March 21 | 7:30 pm | Boston University atNJIT | ESPN3 | 72–83 | 1,134 |
| Quarterfinals | |||||
| March 23 | 7:00 pm | Ball State atColumbia | 67–69 | 1,397 | |
| March 23 | 7:00 pm | Grand Canyon atCoastal Carolina | 58–60 | 1,302 | |
| March 23 | 8:00 pm | UC Irvine at Louisiana–Lafayette | 67–66 | 1,901 | |
| March 24 | 7:30 pm | Texas–Arlington atNJIT | ESPN3 | 60–63 | 1,383 |
| Semifinals | |||||
| March 27 | 6:00 pm | NJIT atColumbia | CBSSN | 65–80 | 1,249 |
| March 27 | 9:00 pm | UC Irvine at Coastal Carolina | 66–47 | 1,204 | |
| Championship | |||||
| March 29 | 7:00 pm | UC Irvine atColumbia | CBSSN | 67–73 | 2,603 |
| *All times are listed asEastern Daylight Time (UTC-4).Winning team inbold. | |||||
Bracket is for visual purposes only. The CIT does not have a set bracket.
| First round March 14–16 | Second round March 17–21 | Quarterfinals March 23–24 | Semifinals March 27 | Championship March 29 | |||||||||||||||
| UC Irvine | 89* | ||||||||||||||||||
| North Dakota | 86 | UC Irvine | |||||||||||||||||
| Bye | |||||||||||||||||||
| UC Irvine | 67 | ||||||||||||||||||
| TX A&M–CC | 72 | Louisiana–Lafayette | 66 | ||||||||||||||||
| Louisiana–Lafayette | 96 | Louisiana–Lafayette | 80 | ||||||||||||||||
| Louisiana–Monroe | 57 | Furman | 72 | ||||||||||||||||
| Furman | 58 | UC Irvine | 66 | ||||||||||||||||
| Jackson State | 81* | Coastal Carolina | 47 | ||||||||||||||||
| Sam Houston State | 77 | Jackson State | 54 | ||||||||||||||||
| South Carolina State | 74 | Grand Canyon | 64 | ||||||||||||||||
| Grand Canyon | 78 | Grand Canyon | 58 | ||||||||||||||||
| New Hampshire | 77 | Coastal Carolina | 60 | ||||||||||||||||
| Fairfield | 62 | New Hampshire | 62 | ||||||||||||||||
| Mercer | 57 | Coastal Carolina | 71 | ||||||||||||||||
| Coastal Carolina | 65 | UC Irvine | 67 | ||||||||||||||||
| UT Arlington | 75 | Columbia | 73 | ||||||||||||||||
| Savannah State | 59 | UT Arlington | |||||||||||||||||
| Bye | |||||||||||||||||||
| UT Arlington | 60 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Boston U | 69 | NJIT | 63 | ||||||||||||||||
| Fordham | 66 | Boston U | 72 | ||||||||||||||||
| Army | 65 | NJIT | 83 | ||||||||||||||||
| NJIT | 79 | NJIT | 65 | ||||||||||||||||
| UT Martin | 76 | Columbia | 80 | ||||||||||||||||
| Central Michigan | 73 | UT Martin | 80 | ||||||||||||||||
| Ball State | 78** | Ball State | 83* | ||||||||||||||||
| Tennessee State | 73 | Ball State | 67 | ||||||||||||||||
| Columbia | 69 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Bye | |||||||||||||||||||
| Norfolk State | 54 | Columbia | |||||||||||||||||
| Columbia | 86 | ||||||||||||||||||
Home teams listed second.
* Denotes overtime period.