2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
The 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 13. The first tournament was the 2K Sports Classic and ended with the Final Four in Houston April 2–4. Practices officially began on October 2. Rule changes. The following rule changes were proposed by the NCAA Men's Rules Committee for the 2015–16 season, and officially approved by the NCAA Men's Playing Rules Oversight Panel: Conference membership changes. After a tumultuous four years in which over 80 Division I schools moved to new conferences—some more than once —only two schools joined new conferences as full members for 2015–16: Another change in membership involved the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). This did not involve a school moving to a new league, but rather a change in identity of a Division I school. During the summer of 2015, the University of Texas–Pan American (UTPA) and the University of Texas at Brownsville (UTB) merged to form the new University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV). The UTPA athletic program was inherited by UTRGV, which retained UTPA's WAC membership. Following UAB's decision to drop football at the end of  the 2014 season, its future membership in Conference USA (C-USA) beyond 2014–15 was initially uncertain, as league bylaws require all member schools to either sponsor FBS football or be committed to establishing an FBS program. Due to ongoing efforts by boosters and other supporters to raise funds to bring UAB football back, C-USA indicated that UAB would be allowed to remain in the league for the 2015–16 season, but not beyond that time unless football was reinstated. On June 1, 2015, UAB initially announced that the football program would be reinstated in 2016, later pushing back the return  of football to 2017; this was sufficient to satisfy C-USA, which announced that it would keep UAB as a member. The 2015–16 season was the last for Coastal Carolina in the Big South Conference. On September 1, 2015, the university and the Sun Belt Conference jointly announced that the Chanticleers would join the Sun Belt in July 2016, initially as a non-football member. The football team will join the Sun Belt in 2017, the second year of its transition from FCS to FBS football. Season outlook. Pre–season polls. The top 25 from the AP and USA Today  Coaches Polls. Regular season. Conference winners and tournaments. Thirty-one athletic conferences each end their regular seasons with a single-elimination tournament. The team with the best regular-season record in each conference is given the number one seed in each tournament, with tiebreakers used as needed in the case of ties for the top seeding. All conferences also recognize regular-season champions, with co-championships being awarded in the case of ties. The winners of these tournaments receive automatic invitations to the 2016 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. For the final time, the Ivy League did not  hold a conference tournament, instead giving its automatic invitation to its regular season champion. Postseason. NCAA Tournament. Tournament upsets. For this list, a "major upset" is defined as a win by a team seeded 7 or more spots below its defeated opponent. Final Four – NRG Stadium, Houston, Texas National Invitation Tournament. After the NCAA Tournament field was announced, the NCAA invited 32 teams to participate in the National Invitation Tournament. The tournament began on March 15, 2016 with all games prior to the semifinals were played on campus sites. NIT Semifinals and Final. Played at Madison Square Garden in New  York City on March 29 and 31 The semifinals and final were held on March 29 and March 31 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Vegas 16 Tournament. After the NCAA Tournament field was announced, 8 teams were invited to participate in the first ever Vegas 16 Tournament. The tournament began on March 28, 2016 with all 8 teams playing in the opening round. The semifinals was played on March 29, and the Championship game on March 30. All games were played at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. College Basketball Invitational. The ninth College Basketball Invitational  (CBI) Tournament began on March 15, 2016. This tournament featured 16 teams who were left out of the NCAA Tournament and NIT. CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. The eighth CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament began on March 14 and ended with that championship game on March 29. This tournament places an emphasis on selecting successful teams from "mid-major" conferences who were left out of the NCAA Tournament and NIT. 26 teams participated in this tournament. Award winners. Consensus All-American teams. The following players are recognized as the 2016 Consensus All-Americans: Coaching changes. Several teams changed coaches during and after the season