March Madness Comes To Vegas With Five Conference Tournaments

March Madness, like many other enjoyable events, kicks off in Las Vegas.

Five out of the 32 men’s college basketball tournaments are held in metropolitan Las Vegas, sometimes even at venues close to well-known Nevada casinos. The winners of these tournaments automatically receive bids to the NCAA Basketball Tournament. This tournament ends with the Final Four and the national title game in Houston.

Here’s an introductory guide to the five events occurring in Las Vegas before March Madness. Expect to see numerous tall young men and women, donned in college merchandise, strolling around The Strip.

Remember, if you’re traveling to town for a tournament, you need to register in-person to use Nevada sports betting apps. You can register at various sportsbooks throughout Las Vegas.

West Coast Conference Tournament

Dates: 2nd to 7th March

Location: Orleans Arena

The participating teams (10) are: University of San Diego, Portland, Pepperdine, Pacific, University of San Francisco, BYU, Loyola Marymount University, Santa Clara, Gonzaga, and Saint Mary’s.

Need to Know: The Orleans Arena, situated at the Orleans Hotel and Casino in the Las Vegas Valley, is the venue for the WCC conference tournament. The WCC has a distinctive system where the top two seeds from the regular season, in this instance Saint Mary and Gonzaga, get a bye directly to the tournament semifinals.

Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s both ended the regular season with 14-2 records, sharing the season title and splitting their regular season encounters. The top seed was awarded to Saint Mary’s based on the NCAA’s NET rankings, which is a computer rating system.

WAC Tournament

Dates: March 7, followed by March 9 to 11.

First round will be at Michelob ULTRA Arena, followed by Orleans Arena.

Participating Teams (12): Utah Valley, Sam Houston, Southern Utah, Stephen F. Austin, Seattle, Grand Canyon, Tarleton, California Baptist, Abilene Christian, UT Arlington, UT Rio Grande Valley, Utah Tech

Need to Know: The event takes place in two separate arenas. The first four-game round is held at the ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. After a day’s break, it then shifts to the Orleans Arena.

Tarleton and Utah State are ineligible for the NCAA Tournament as they are still in their transitional period after playing in Division II, though they can participate in the conference tournament. New Mexico State has also been ruled out of the tournament due to cancellation of its season in February following public allegations of hazing among players.

Big West Tournament

Dates: 7th-11th of March

Location: Dollar Loan Center

Participating Teams (10): UC-Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, Hawaii, Cal State-Fullerton, UC Davis, Long Beach State, Cal State-Bakersfield, UC San Diego, Cal State-Northridge, Cal Poly.

The Dollar Loan Center, which opened in 2022, is the home ground for the Henderson Silver Knights of the American Hockey League. They are affiliated with the Vegas Golden Knights of the NHL. The facility’s inaugural event was the previous season’s Big West Tournament. The championship was won by Cal State-Fullerton, who made their fourth appearance in the NCAA Tournament in the school’s history. However, they were defeated by Duke in the first round, with a score of 78-61.

Of all the teams still in the conference, Long Beach State holds the most tournament titles with five. While both UNLV and Utah State have won more, they are no longer in the same conference due to changing affiliations.

Mountain West Conference Tournament

Dates: 8th-11th March

Location: Thomas & Mack Center

Participating Teams: San Diego State, Boise State, Utah State, Nevada, San Jose State, New Mexico, UNLV, Fresno State, Air Force, Colorado State, Wyoming

Essential Information: The UNLV Runnin’ Rebels have called the Thomas & Mack Center their home court, which has been the venue for this tournament since 2007. San Diego State, having won two out of the last three Mountain West Tournaments, is a strong contender this time. They have had an equal win-loss ratio against Boise State in this year’s regular season.

PAC-12 Tournament

Dates: 8th-11th March

Location: T-Mobile Arena

The following 12 teams are participating: UCLA, Arizona, USC, Arizona State, Oregon, Utah, Washington State, Washington, Colorado, Stanford, Oregon State, and California.

Essential Information: The top four seeds advance directly to the quarterfinals. The PAC-12 conference tournament was not initiated until the 2001-2002 season. It was relocated from Los Angeles to Las Vegas in 2012, and then moved to the T-Mobile Arena, which is also the home of the Vegas Golden Knights, in 2016.

UCLA has clinically secured the regular season title, marking their 32nd regular season conference title. Both UCLA and Arizona feature in the Top 10 of the AP Top 25 poll.