First Tournament

Five Teams will be making their first tournament appearance:

• Cal-Davis
• Jacksonville State
• North Dakota
• Northern Kentucky
• Northwestern

The last time 5 or more teams made their first appearance was 2003 when 7 teams were in the tournament for the first time.

Eighteen coaches will be making his first tournament appearance:

• John Brannen, Northern Kentucky
• Chris Collins, Northwestern
• Phil Cunningham, Troy
• Nathan Davis, Bucknell
• Steve Forbes, East Tennessee State
• Mitch Henderson, Princeton
• Dan Hurley, Rhode Island
• Tim Jankovich, Southern Methodist
• Brian Jones, North Dakota
• Pat Kelsey, Winthrop
• Eric Musselman, Nevada
• T.J. Otzelberger, South Dakota State
• Richard Pitino, Minnesota
• Rob Senderoff, Kent State
• Mark Slessinger, New Orleans
• Paul Weir, New Mexico State
• Mike White, Florida
• Steve Wojciechowski, Marquette

The last time 18 or more coaches made their first appearance was 2005.  That year also saw 18 coaches making their first tournament appearance.

Seven coaches that have been in the tournament before will be making their first tournament appearance with their new team:

• Bryce Drew, Vanderbilt (2013, 2015 - Valparaiso)
• Ray Harper, Jacksonville State (2012, 2013 - Western Kentucky)
• Jim Les, Cal-Davis (2006 - Bradley)
• Danny Manning, Wake Forest (2014 - Tulsa)
• Frank Martin, South Carolina (2008, 2010-12 - Kansas State)
• Brad Underwood, Oklahoma State (2014-16 - Stephen F. Austin)
• Buzz Williams, Virginia Tech (2009-13 - Marquette)