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2018 Pac-12 Men's Basketball Tournament

Event: March 7-10
T-Mobile Arena | Las Vegas, NV

Pac-12 Men's Basketball Tournament to feature top Las Vegas entertainment

Mar 2, 2018
Eric Evans

SAN FRANCISCO – The 2018 Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Tournament presented by New York Life will feature some of Las Vegas’ top entertainment acts, the Conference announced today. Included in the line-up are iconic Las Vegas performers including Mystère by Cirque du Soleil, The Australian Bee Gees, ABSINTHE and world-famous dance crew Jabbawockeez. Single-session tickets for the tournament are still available online at pac-12.com/tickets and at the T-Mobile Arena Box Office.

The Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Tournament will be played Wednesday-Saturday, March 7-10, 2018, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The tournament features 11 games over four intense days.

A major benefit to playing the tournament in Las Vegas is access to first-rate entertainment. Throughout the tournament sessions, many of the most popular and acclaimed Las Vegas entertainment acts are scheduled to perform national anthems and halftime acts.

Performance artist David Garibaldi will recreate marquee tournament moments during halftime of the Pac-12 Championship game on Saturday. Other acts making appearances throughout the tournament include Masters of Illusion, Hula Hoop Girl Nicole Taylor Weiss, Magic Mike Live, Aaron Benward founder of “Nashville Unplugged,” Lorena Peril of FANTASY, Sophia Bollman from “The Voice,” and Shemika Charles of “America’s Got Talent.”

During the semifinal session on Friday, March 9, the latest class of Pac-12 Hall of Honor legends will be recognized on court. The 17th class since the honor’s creation in 2002, this will be the first to feature legendary figures from an array of sports as the recognition pivots to be inclusive of the broad-based athletics success celebrated in the Conference of Champions. This year’s 12 Hall of Honor inductees combined for 40 All-America honors and 36 NCAA team or individual national championships as collegians. Eight represented the United States in the Olympics, with six capturing gold medals. The complete list of inductees can be found at Pac-12.com.

Fan entertainment will not be limited to just inside T-Mobile Arena. Outside the arena, the Pac-12 Fan Plaza at Toshiba Plaza will feature pep rallies from participating teams’ band and cheer squads as well as activations from various Pac-12 partners and vendors. Pep rallies will occur 70 minutes before each game as the bands and cheer squads from each game’s participating teams join fans outside to celebrate their teams. All Pac-12 mascots will interact with fans at a special “Midnight Mascot Madness” event in the Plaza at 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 7.

The Pac-12 welcomes several new and returning sponsors of the men's basketball tournament including new sponsors Credible, Libman, Maui Jim and ZipRecruiter, as well as Tuft & Needle and RAM who each will feature signage at the tournament. Returning sponsors include New York Life, presenting sponsor of both the men's and women's tournaments, as well as adidas, AT&T, Gatorade, GEICO, Opus Bank, PrimeSport and Vivid Seats. Several sponsors will feature on-site activations at the men's tournament, including Credible and Libman with on-court activations during games and several others with activations in the Pac-12 Fan Plaza at Toshiba Plaza.

Also in the Pac-12 Fan Plaza, Pac-12 Networks will be providing live coverage on-site from Las Vegas for the first time, with over 10 hours on Pac-12 Network over the first three days of the tournament beginning Wednesday, March 7. Host Mike Yam and analysts Kevin O’Neill, Lamar Hurd and Matt Muehlebach will be live for pre, post, halftime and coverage between games surrounding the morning and evening sessions on Wednesday, March 7 and Thursday, March 8, as well as semifinal games on Friday, March 9.

In addition to all the activations and live studio presence, Pac-12 Hall of Honor inductees will be on the Plaza on Friday to interact with fans. Local food and beverage trucks will also be open to fans. The Pac-12 Fan Plaza will be located at Toshiba Plaza in front of the main entrance to T-Mobile Arena and will be open from 10:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, from 4:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. on Friday, and 4:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Saturday.

For more information and full coverage of the tournament, visit pac-12.com/menstourney and for ticket information visit pac-12.com/tickets. See below for entertainment highlights (subject to change).