The Main Event is an early-season college basketball tournament that takes place in Las Vegas every November. The event began in 2014 when it was called the MGM Grand Main Event and has had multiple sponsors over the years. Some years, the event has hosted a Middleweight bracket made up of mid-major and small programs. However, Main Event is always a four-team tournament that’s made up of prominent programs from major conferences. While it doesn’t have the history of some other early-season tournaments, Main Event has quickly gained a good reputation and grown in popularity because it’s held in Las Vegas and takes place right before Thanksgiving.

Exclusive List

As a four-team tournament, the Main Event is able to scour the country each year and find the best fit for the tournament. That makes an invitation to the Main Event a special honor for any college basketball program. As a result, fans never know what teams to expect from one year to the next, but they know it’s going to be a great field. Conferences like the Big East, ACC, Big Ten, Pac-12, West Coast Conference, American, Big 12, Mountain West, SEC, and others have all sent representatives to the Main Event at some point during the history of the tournament. It’s an exclusive event, and power conferences want to be represented in it, which is why the tournament is always filled with quality teams, which makes for a competitive and entertaining tournament.

Prelude to a Championship

The biggest moment of the tournament came in 2020 when the Main Event carried on amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The Baylor Bears won the tournament and proceeded to win the national championship at the end of the season. Baylor’s first two wins of the program’s championship season came during the Main Event, making the tournament an important part of the Bears eventually raising a championship banner.