2016 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament
Season2015–16
Teams26
Finals siteLevien Gymnasium
New York City, New York
ChampionsColumbia (1st title)
Runner-upUC Irvine (1st title game)
Semifinalists
Winning coachKyle Smith (1st title)
MVPMaodo Lo (Columbia)
Attendance43,125
CIT Tournaments
«2015 2017»

The 2016 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) was a postseason single-elimination tournament of 26 NCAA Division I basketball teams. 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 2016 NCAA Tournament, National Invitation Tournament, College Basketball Invitational or the Vegas 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 the Pomeroy College Basketball Ratings regular season rating automatically advanced to the quarterfinals.

Columbia beat UC Irvine 73–67 in the championship game to give the Ivy League just its second postseason tournament title in conference history (Princeton won the 1975 NIT).

Participating teams

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

Format

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 the Pomeroy College Basketball Ratings regular season rating automatically advanced to the quarterfinals.[citation needed]

Coach John McLendon Classic

The Coach John McLendon Classic was televised March 14, on CBS Sports Network as part of the CIT. The Classic will feature at least one historically 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.

Schedule

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 vs Grand Canyon
(Coach John McLendon Classic) 		CBSSN 74–78 7,315
March 15 7:00 pm Mercer at Coastal Carolina 57–65 940
March 15 7:00 pm Louisiana–Monroe at Furman 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 at Columbia 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 at NJIT 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 at Louisiana–Lafayette 72–96 1,205
Second round
March 17 10:00 pm Jackson State at Grand Canyon Cox7 54–64 7,015
March 19 2:00 pm New Hampshire at Coastal Carolina 62–71 847
March 19 2:00 pm Louisiana–Lafayette at Furman 80–72 1,308
March 20 6:00 pm UT Martin at Ball State ESPN3 80–83OT 1,203
March 21 7:30 pm Boston University at NJIT ESPN3 72–83 1,134
Quarterfinals
March 23 7:00 pm Ball State at Columbia 67–69 1,397
March 23 7:00 pm Grand Canyon at Coastal 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 at NJIT ESPN3 60–63 1,383
Semifinals
March 27 6:00 pm NJIT at Columbia 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 at Columbia CBSSN 67–73 2,603
*All times are listed as Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4). Winning team in bold.

Bracket

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.

References

  1. ^ "2016 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament Schedule". CollegeInsider.com. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
  2. ^ "Army West Point Official Athletics Site". Army.
  3. ^ "Ball State gets shot at redemption through CIT". The Star Press. March 10, 2016.
  4. ^ "BU Accepts CIT Bid, to Visit Fordham March 16". Boston University Terriers. Archived from the original on March 12, 2016. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
  5. ^ "CMU Men Will Host CIT Game Wednesday". Central Michigan Chippewas. Archived from the original on February 22, 2017. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
  6. ^ Young, Ryan. "Coastal Carolina men's basketball to host CIT first-round game". MyrtleBeachOnline.com. Archived from the original on March 9, 2016. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
  7. ^ "Men's Basketball Accepts CIT Bid". gocolumbialions.com. Retrieved March 12, 2016.
  8. ^ "Fordham University Rams Athletics". Fordham University.
  9. ^ "Men'S Basketball Hosts New Hampshire Wednesday In CIT". FairfieldStags.com.
  10. ^ "Furman men's basketball team earns berth in postseason tournament". Greenville Online. Retrieved March 10, 2016.
  11. ^ @GCULopes (March 9, 2016). ".@GCU_Hoops is back! Next Monday GCU will host the @collegeinsider Coach John McLendon Classic! #LopesRising" (Tweet). Retweeted by GCU Men's Basketball – via Twitter.
  12. ^ "Tiger Basketball to Participate in College Insider Postseason Tournament". JSUTigers.com. Archived from the original on March 14, 2016. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
  13. ^ "Mercer to Make Fifth Straight Postseason Appearance with CIT Bid". Mercer Bears. Archived from the original on March 11, 2016. Retrieved March 10, 2016.
  14. ^ "UNH Wildcats - Men's Basketball Accepts CollegeInsider.com Tournament Invite". University of New Hampshire.
  15. ^ "NJIT Men Selected For The 2016 CIT". NJIT Highlanders.com. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
  16. ^ "Norfolk State University Spartans Athletics - NSU to Play Columbia Wednesday in CIT". Norfolk State Spartans.
  17. ^ "TSU to play in CollegeInsider.com Tournament". The Tennessean. March 10, 2016.
  18. ^ "2016 CIT Guide" (PDF). CollegeInsider. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
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