March Madness Comes To Vegas With Five Conference Tournaments

March Madness, like many other entertaining activities, begins in Las Vegas.

Five out of the 32 men’s college basketball tournaments are held in metropolitan Las Vegas, with some even taking place near notable Nevada casinos. The victors of these tournaments secure automatic entries into the NCAA Basketball Tournament. This tournament ends with the Final Four and the national title game in Houston.

This is a guide to the five events taking place in Las Vegas before March Madness. You should expect to see many tall young men and women strolling around The Strip in college gear.

Should you be visiting town for any of these tournaments, keep in mind that you are required to register in-person to utilize Nevada sports betting apps. This can be done at various sportsbooks throughout Las Vegas.

West Coast Conference Tournament

Dates: March 2-7

Venue: 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 host to the WCC’s conference tournament. The WCC implements an unusual system where the top two seeds from the regular season, which in this instance are Saint Mary and Gonzaga, get a direct pass to the tournament semifinals.

Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s both ended the regular season with a 14-2 record, thus sharing the season title, and they split their regular season encounters. However, Saint Mary’s was awarded the top seed by virtue of the NCAA’s NET rankings, a computerized rating system.

WAC Tournament

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

First round will be held 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

What You Should Know: The event is hosted across two separate arenas. The ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino is the venue for the initial four-game first round. After a day’s break, the event then moves to the Orleans Arena.

Tarleton and Utah State cannot participate in the NCAA Tournament due to their ongoing “transitional period” from Division II, although they are allowed to compete in the conference tournament. New Mexico State will also not be participating in the tournament, having cancelled their season in February following public allegations of player hazing.

Big West Tournament

Dates: March 7-11

Venue: 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.

Essential Information: The Dollar Loan Center is the base for the Henderson Silver Knights of the American Hockey League, a subsidiary of the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights. This facility began operations in 2022 and its inaugural event was the Big West Tournament of the previous season. Cal State-Fullerton clinched the championship, marking their fourth participation in the NCAA Tournament in the history of the school. 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 (5). Although UNLV and Utah State have each secured more victories, they have since changed their conference affiliations.

Mountain West Conference Tournament

Dates: March 8-11

Location: Thomas & Mack Center

The participating teams include San Diego State, Boise State, Utah State, Nevada, San Jose State, New Mexico, UNLV, Fresno State, Air Force, Colorado State, and Wyoming.

Key Information: The Thomas & Mack Center, which is the home ground of the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels, has been hosting this tournament since 2007. San Diego State, having won two out of the three most recent Mountain West Tournaments, is considered a favorite. They had an even record with Boise State in this year’s regular season matches.

PAC-12 Tournament

Dates: March 8-11

Venue: T-Mobile Arena

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

The key information to note is that the top four seeds secure byes into the quarterfinals. The PAC-12 conference tournament only began in the 2001-2002 season, and it was relocated from Los Angeles to Las Vegas in 2012. It was then moved to the T-Mobile Arena, which is also the home of the Vegas Golden Knights, in 2016.

UCLA has secured the regular season title, marking their 32nd regular season conference title. Both UCLA and Arizona are listed in the AP Top 25 poll’s Top 10.