The Basketball Tournament 2021 was the eighth edition of The Basketball Tournament (TBT), a 5-on-5, single elimination basketball tournament. The tournament, involving 64 teams, began on July 16 and concluded on August 3 with the championship game in Dayton, Ohio. The format of the tournament returned to that of the 2019 edition—64 teams, each playing in one of four regionals, with the top two teams from each regional progressing to the championship weekend. The tournament was won by Boeheim's Army, who captured the winner-take-all $1 million prize.

Format For its 2021 edition, The Basketball Tournament (TBT) returned to a 64-team format, with four regionals of 16 teams each (similar in format to the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament), and each regional being held at a single host site. The regional host sites and teams were revealed by TBT organizers on April 14, 2021. The tournament prize remained at $1 million. The teams and their regional placements were revealed in a selection special hosted by Seth Greenberg and Chris Vosters that aired on TBT's YouTube channel on June 21, 2021.

As with previous years, all tournament games operated with the "Elam Ending", a format of ending the game without use of a game clock. Under the Elam Ending, the clock is turned off at the first dead-ball whistle with under four minutes to play in the game. At that time, a target score, equal to the score of the leading team plus eight, is set, and the first team to reach this target score is declared the winner of the game. Thus, all games end on a made basket (field goal or free throw) and there is no overtime.

The first edition of a "33-Point Contest" was held between the two semifinal games—individual players competed to see who could make 11 three-point field goals the fastest. The contest, and prize of $33,333.33, was won by Omar Strong of team B1 Ballers.

Venues The Basketball Tournament 2021 featured games in five locations: four regional sites plus one site for the championship weekend (four regional finals, two semifinal contests, and the championship game).

Wichita Charleston Columbus Charles Koch Arena Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center Covelli Center Capacity: 10,506 Capacity: 11,519 Capacity: 3,700 Peoria Dayton Regional sites Championship site Peoria Civic Center University of Dayton Arena Capacity: 11,433 Capacity: 13,435

Teams Key:

Source: +Wichita RegionalSeedTeamAffiliationOrigin of name1 Eberlein Drive6th (2020) Team owners' home street2 AfterShocks2nd (2019) Wichita State Team nickname "Shockers"3 Challenge ALS5th (2020) ALS awareness4 LA Cheaters2nd (2019) Drew League 5 Florida TNT2nd (2019) Former college players from the state of Florida6 Team Arkansas3rd (2019) Arkansas 7 Purple & Black5th (2019) Kansas State Kansas State school colors8 The Enchantment1st New Mexico State nickname "Land of Enchantment"9 Stillwater Stars2nd (2020) Oklahoma State School location in Stillwater, OK10 Omaha Blue Crew1st Creighton School location in Omaha, NE and primary color11 Fort Worth Funk1st TCU School location in Fort Worth, TX12 Kimchi Express4th (2018) 13 Mental Toughness1st JCK Foundation Mental health awareness14 We Are D33rd (2019) NCAA Division III 15 Ex-Pats1st Patriot League Former Patriot League players16 NG Saints1st Neumann Goretti HS +West Virginia RegionalSeedTeamAffiliationOrigin of name1 Sideline Cancer8th (2020) Cancer awareness2 Best Virginia2nd (2019) West Virginia 3 Herd That2nd (2020) Marshall Team nickname "Thundering Herd"4 Armored Athlete7th (2020) 5 War Ready2nd (2020) Auburn School battle cry "War Eagle"6 Team 236th (2019) Uniform number worn by Michael Jordan7 D23rd (2020) NCAA Division II 8 PrimeTime Players7th (2020) 9 Fort Wayne Champs6th (2019) Players with connections to Fort Wayne, IN10 Bleed Virginia1st Former mid-major players from Virginia11 Georgia Kingz1st Former college players from Georgia12 Bucketneers1st East Tennessee State Team nickname "Buccaneers"13 HBCUnited1st HBCUs 14 Team DRC3rd (2019) Team sponsor Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie15 WoCo Showtime7th (2019) Wofford Abbreviation of Wofford College16 Founding Fathers1st James Madison School namesake and founding father James Madison+Illinois RegionalSeedTeamAffiliationOrigin of name1 Golden Eagles6th (2020) Marquette Team nickname "Golden Eagles"2 House of 'Paign2nd (2020) Illinois School location in Champaign, IL3 Boeheim's Army7th (2020) Syracuse Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim4 Always Us1st Oregon Phrase used by Dana Altman5 Autism Army1st Autism awareness6 The OverLooked1st Murray State 7 Always a Brave4th (2018) Bradley Team nickname "Braves"8 Brotherly Love3rd (2020) Nickname for Philadelphia9 Playing for Jimmy V2nd (2019) V Foundation Nickname of Jim Valvano10 Illinois Hoopville Warriors1st independent regional team rooted deeply in Chicago basketball culture11 Heartfire2nd (2020) 12 SCD Hoops1st Sickle cell disease awareness13 Peoria All-Stars5th (2020) Players with connections to Peoria, IL14 Forces of Seoul1st Players with pro experience in South Korea15 Jackson TN Underdawgs5th (2019) Players with connections to Jackson, TN16 B1 Ballers1st +Columbus RegionalSeedTeamAffiliationOrigin of name1 Carmen's Crew5th (2020) Ohio State School song "Carmen Ohio"2 Red Scare3rd (2020) Dayton Name given to student section3 Zip 'Em Up1st Xavier Former Xavier team motto4 Team Hines3rd (2020) Team player Kyle Hines5 The Money Team2nd (2020) Team sponsor Floyd "Money" Mayweather6 Blue Collar U1st Buffalo Buffalo team color, plus city's blue-collar image7 Wolf Blood1st NC State Team nickname "Wolfpack"8 Men of Mackey2nd (2020) Purdue Purdue home court Mackey Arena9 Ballinteers1st Tennessee Team nickname "Volunteers"10 Category 51st Miami (FL) Team name "Hurricanes" and Saffir–Simpson scale11 The Nerd Team1st Players from "more prestigious" universities12 The Region5th (2019) Players from Northwest Indiana, locally called "The Region"13 Brown & White1st St. Bonaventure St. Bonaventure team colors14 Ohio 18041st Ohio Year of Ohio University founding15 BC Vahakni City1st BC Vahakni City VBET A-League team of the same name16 Mid-American Unity3rd (2019) MAC

Tournament bracket Source:

Wichita Regional

West Virginia Regional

Columbus Regional

Illinois Regional

Semifinals and championship Television coverage via ESPN.

Semifinals

Championship

Awards + All Tournament Team Pos Player Team PG Tyrese Rice (MVP) Boeheim's Army PG Marcus Keene Sideline Cancer PF Raphiael Putney Team 23 SG Dominique Jones Florida TNT C Nick Perkins Blue Collar UGM Kevin Belbey Boeheim's ArmyCoach Marc Hughes Team 23 Source:

Notes

References

External links

Boeheims Army vs. Team 23 - Game Highlights via YouTube