The following rule changes were proposed by the NCAA Men's Rules Committee for the 2015–16 season,[1][2] and officially approved by the NCAA Men's Playing Rules Oversight Panel:[3] 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).

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.

Buffalo (Springfield) Creighton (Heavyweight Bracket) Maryland (Riviera Division) Thirty-one conference regular seasons concluded with a single-elimination tournament.

Source for additional stats categories For this list, a "major upset" is defined as a win by a team seeded 7 or more spots below its defeated opponent.

The tournament began on March 15, 2016 with all games prior to the semifinals were played on campus sites.

All games were played at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.