Savannah Invitational

The Savannah Invitational is a college basketball tournament founded in 2016 that is held at the Savannah Civic Center[1] in Savannah, Georgia. The event includes both a men′s and a women′s tournament.

Savannah Invitational

Sport	College basketball
Founded	2016
Founder	Savannah Sports Council
No. of teams	8
Venue(s)	Savannah Civic Center, Savannah, Georgia
Official website	Savannah Invitational

2016

Men's tournament

The men's tournament took place November 20-26. The eight participating teams were divided into two brackets, a "host" bracket and a "visitors" bracket.[2][3] Each of the four "host" teams hosted two of the "visitors" teams in games on their campuses in the first two rounds of the tournament on November 20 and 22.[2][3] Regardless of the results of those two rounds, the four "host" teams then met one another in a bracketed tournament in Savannah in the third and championship rounds on November 25 and 26.[2][3] Meanwhile, the four "visitor" teams also met in Savannah on November 25 and 26 to play a non-bracketed round-robin among themselves, with no championship awarded to them.[2][3]

Campus games

First Round November 20 Stetson 50 East Carolina 73

First Round November 20 Georgia Southern 67 Mercer 80

First Round November 20 Florida A&M 62 Air Force 87

First Round November 20 Radford 41 Akron 88

Second Round November 22 Georgia Southern 67 Akron 75

Second Round November 22 Florida A&M 62 East Carolina 82

Second Round November 22 Radford 47 Mercer 58

Second Round November 22 Stetson 72 Air Force 85

Host bracket

	Third Round November 26					Championship November 27
	Mercer		70
	East Carolina		66
						Mercer		63
						Akron		65
	Akron		84
	Air Force		75			Consolation November 27
						East Carolina		70
						Air Force		63

Visitors bracket

Third Round November 26 Radford 80 Stetson 66

Third Round November 26 Georgia Southern 83 Florida A&M 72

Final Round November 27 Stetson 98 Florida A&M 90

Final Round November 27 Radford 64 Georgia Southern 65

Women's tournament

The women's tournament was played November 22–24. The format was a three-round round-robin, with all games played in Savannah.

First Round East Carolina 70 Marist 68

First Round Auburn 54 Ball State 40

First Round North Carolina A&T 64 West Virginia 80

Second Round Ball State 76 North Carolina A&T 57

Second Round East Carolina 47 West Virginia 79

Second Round Marist 51 Auburn 52

Third Round North Carolina A&T 64 Marist 69

Third Round Ball State 69 East Carolina 82^(OT)

Third Round West Virginia 56 Auburn 52

2017

Men's tournament

In 2017, the men's event was played November 11-26.[4][5] As in 2016, the eight participating teams were divided into a "Host" bracket and a "Visitors" bracket.[4] In the first round, held on November 11 and November 19, each of the four "Host" bracket teams played a home game on its campus against one of the four "Visitors" bracket teams.[4][5] "Visitor" bracket team North Carolina Wesleyan played no further games in the Invitational, and "Host" team UNC Wilmington had a bye in the second round, but the other three "hosts" played another on-campus game against another of the three remaining "visitors" in the second round, held on November 21.[5] Regardless of the results of these two rounds the four "host" teams then met in Savannah to play one another on November 24-25.[4][5] Unlike in 2016, the "Host" teams met in a two-round round-robin "Hosts' Showcase" event in Savannah rather than in a bracketed tournament,[4][5] a change made because "Host" bracket team Valparaiso had made a late move from the Horizon League to the Missouri Valley Conference, to which "Host" bracket team Loyola–Chicago also belonged;[4] NCAA regulations prohibited teams from the same conference participating in the same in-season non-conference tournament, and the round-robin "showcase" format allowed the Invitational both to comply with NCAA non-conference tournament regulations and to ensure no meeting between Valparaiso and Loyola-Chicago. As a result of the non-bracketed "showcase" format, no championship was awarded in the "Host" bracket in 2017.[4] Meanwhile, the three remaining "Visitor" bracket teams met at the Pete Hanna Center on the campus of Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, on November 24, 25, and 26 to play one another in the "Visitors Subregional," a non-bracketed round-robin with no championship awarded.[4][5]

Campus games

First Round November 11 North Carolina Wesleyan 81 UNC Wilmington 105

First Round November 19 Mississippi Valley State 67 Kent State 80

First Round November 19 Samford 67 Loyola–Chicago 88

First Round November 19 Southeastern Louisiana 50 Valparaiso 83

Second Round November 21 Southeastern Louisiana 70 Kent State 66

Second Round November 21 Mississippi Valley State 50 Loyola-Chicago 63

Second Round November 21 Samford 67 Valparaiso 88

Hosts' Showcase

Third Round November 24 Loyola–Chicago 102 UNC Wilmington 78

Third Round November 24 Valparaiso 77 Kent State 67

Final Round November 25 Loyola–Chicago 75 Kent State 60

Final Round November 25 UNC Wilmington 70 Valparaiso 79

Visitors' Subregional

November 24 Southeastern Louisiana 77 Samford 71

November 25 Mississippi Valley State 59 Southeastern Louisiana 73

November 26 Mississippi Valley State 70 Samford 83

Women's tournament

The women's tournament was played November 21-23. The format was a three-round round-robin.

First Round Stetson 59 Wright State 64

First Round Florida 87 Richmond 80

First Round Providence 78 Savannah State 48

Second Round Richmond 100 Savannah State 63

Second Round Wright State 69 Providence 74

Second Round Florida 71 Stetson 85

Third Round Richmond 69 Wright State 85

Third Round Providence 56 Stetson 45

Third Round Savannah State 40 Florida 90

References

1. "Savannah to host Thanksgiving college hoops tourney". SavannahNow.com. Savannah Morning News. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
2. Dobbertean, Chris, "2016 Savannah Invitational Primer: Akron Headlines New Tournament," bloggingthebracket.com, August 11, 2016, 3:13 p.m. EDT
3. realgm.com 2016-2017 Savannah Invitational Information
4. Dobbertean, Chris, "2017 Savannah Invitational Primer," bloggingthebracket.com, November 10, 2017, 12:00 noon EDT
5. realgm.com 2017-2018 Savannah Invitational Information