2016 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

2016 NCAA Division I
men's basketball tournament

Season	2015–16
Teams	68
Finals site	NRG Stadium Houston, Texas
Champions	Villanova Wildcats (2nd title, 3rd title game, 5th Final Four)
Runner-up	North Carolina Tar Heels (10th title game, 19th Final Four)
Semifinalists	Oklahoma Sooners (5th Final Four) Syracuse Orange (6th Final Four)
Winning coach	Jay Wright (1st title)
MOP	Ryan Arcidiacono (Villanova)
NCAA Division I men's tournaments «2015 2017»

The 2016 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 68 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the men's National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college basketball national champion for the 2015–16 season. The 78th edition of the Tournament began on March 15, 2016, and concluded with the championship game on April 4, at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.^[1] This was the first NCAA tournament to adopt the NCAA March Madness branding, including fully-branded courts at each of the tournament venues.

Upsets were the story of the first round of the Tournament;^[2] No. 15 seed Middle Tennessee upset No. 2 seed Michigan State in the biggest upset, just the eighth ever win for a No. 15 seed over a No. 2.^[3] At least one team seeded #9 through #15 won a first-round game for the third time ever and the first time since 2013.

The Final Four consisted of Villanova (first appearance since 2009), Oklahoma (first appearance since 2002), North Carolina (returning after their 2009 national championship), and Syracuse (the "Cinderella team" of the tournament, and also the first 10 seed to reach the Final Four). Villanova defeated North Carolina in the championship game 77–74, on a three-point buzzer beater by Kris Jenkins.^[4] Pundits called the game one of the best in tournament history, going on to say this was one of the most competitive finals ever.^[5][6]