| Season | 2024–25 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teams | 16 | ||||
| Finals site | T-Mobile Arena, Paradise, Nevada | ||||
| Champions | Nebraska (1st title) | ||||
| Runner-up | UCF (1st title game) | ||||
| Semifinalists |
| ||||
| Winning coach | Fred Hoiberg (1st title) | ||||
| MVP | Juwan Gary (Nebraska) | ||||
| Attendance | 20,045 (Tournament) 3,314 (Final) | ||||
| Top scorer | Brice Williams (Nebraska) (93 points) | ||||
| |||||
The 2025 College Basketball Crown (CBC) was a single-elimination, fully-bracketed men's college basketball postseason tournament featuring sixteen National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I teams not selected to participate in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. It commenced on March 31 and concluded on April 6.[1][2] All games were played on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, with all first-round and quarterfinal games at the MGM Grand Garden Arena and the semifinal and final games at T-Mobile Arena. The first-round and quarterfinal games aired on FS1 and the semifinal and final games on Fox.
The bracket was unveiled on March 17, 2025, during the FS1 show Breakfast Ball by Fox Sports college basketball broadcaster, writer, and insider John Fanta. The tournament featured a Name, Image, And Likeness (NIL) prize pool that paid $300,000 for the championship team, $100,000 to the runner-up team, and $50,000 to each of the other two teams that reach the semifinals but failed to advance.[3]
The University of Nebraska Cornhuskers defeated the University of Central Florida Knights 77–66 to claim the championship. The All-Tournament Team was composed of Tyson Degenhart (Boise State), Eric Dixon (Villanova), Juwan Gary (Nebraska), Darius Johnson (UCF) and Brice Williams (Nebraska); Gary was also selected Most Valuable Player.
Participating teams
[edit]Note: Team records are as of the beginning of the tournament.
| Team | Conference | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Arizona State | Big 12 | 13–19 (.406) |
| Boise State | Mountain West | 24–10 (.706) |
| Butler | Big East | 14–19 (.424) |
| Cincinnati | Big 12 | 18–15 (.545) |
| Colorado | Big 12 | 14–20 (.412) |
| DePaul | Big East | 14–19 (.424) |
| George Washington | Atlantic 10 | 21–12 (.636) |
| Georgetown | Big East | 17–15 (.531) |
| Nebraska | Big Ten | 17–14 (.548) |
| Oregon State | West Coast | 20–12 (.625) |
| Tulane | American Athletic | 19–13 (.594) |
| UCF | Big 12 | 17–16 (.515) |
| USC | Big Ten | 16–17 (.485) |
| Utah | Big 12 | 16–16 (.500) |
| Villanova | Big East | 19–14 (.576) |
| Washington State | West Coast | 19–14 (.576) |
Declined bids
[edit]- Indiana[4]
- Iowa[5]
- Kansas State[6]
- Northwestern[7]
- Ohio State[8]
- Penn State[9]
- Rutgers[10]
- TCU[11]
- West Virginia[12]
Field synopsis
[edit]Rankings, ratings and records were through March 16, 2025 Selection Sunday and prior to any additional post-season activity. This also includes a "KNIT" score, which is leveraged as a criteria and evaluation tool for the National Invitation Tournament selection committee; it average of the following seven metrics, then ranks based on the results:
- BTR: Bart Torvik "T-Rank" Ranking[13]
- BPI: ESPN Basketball Power Index[14]
- KPR: Ken Pomeroy College Basketball Ratings[15] (aka "KenPom")
- KPI: Kevin Pauga Index[16]
- NET: NCAA Evaluation Tool[17]
- SOR: Strength Of Record,[18] as calculated by ESPN
- WAB: Wins Above Bubble,[13] as calculated by Bart Torvik
The operators of the CBC have not publicly disclosed the criteria used to select participating teams. It is unknown whether one, some, all or none of the metrics mentioned above were considered in deciding which teams to invite. While each of the Big 12, Big East and Big Ten conferences committed to send two teams to the tournament, how these teams were chosen is unknown.
| Bid[citation needed] | KNIT | School | Conference | Conference Place |
Conference W–L |
Division I W–L |
Overall W–L |
BTR | BPI | KPR | KPI | NET | SOR | WAB | Road W–L |
Neutral W–L |
Home W–L |
Quad 1 W–L |
Quad 2 W–L |
Quad 3 W–L |
Quad 4 W–L |
Non D-I W–L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| At-Large | 51 | Boise State | Mountain West | T–4th | 14–6 (.700) | 23–10 (.697) | 24–10 (.706) | 50 | 48 | 50 | 50 | 44 | 55 | 53 | 6–5 (.545) | 5–3 (.625) | 13–2 (.867) | 3–6 (.333) | 5–2 (.714) | 5–1 (.833) | 10–1 (.909) | 1–0 (1.000) |
| Automatic | 54 | Cincinnati | Big 12 | T–12th | 7–13 (.350) | 18–15 (.545) | 18–15 (.545) | 44 | 40 | 55 | 66 | 50 | 59 | 61 | 4–9 (.308) | 2–1 (.667) | 12–5 (.706) | 3–12 (.200) | 7–3 (.700) | 2–0 (1.000) | 6–0 (1.000) | 0–0 (–) |
| Automatic | 55 | Nebraska | Big Ten | T–12th | 7–13 (.350) | 17–14 (.548) | 17–14 (.548) | 62 | 55 | 54 | 55 | 59 | 60 | 57 | 5–7 (.417) | 2–1 (.667) | 10–6 (.625) | 5–10 (.333) | 4–2 (.667) | 2–2 (.500) | 6–0 (1.000) | 0–0 (–) |
| Automatic | 59 | Villanova | Big East | 6th | 11–9 (.550) | 19–14 (.576) | 19–14 (.576) | 52 | 41 | 56 | 95 | 55 | 61 | 71 | 3–8 (.273) | 2–3 (.400) | 14–3 (.824) | 2–7 (.222) | 5–4 (.556) | 5–2 (.714) | 7–1 (.875) | 0–0 (–) |
| Automatic | 67 | UCF | Big 12 | T–12th | 7–13 (.350) | 17–16 (.515) | 17–16 (.515) | 69 | 64 | 68 | 75 | 71 | 65 | 67 | 2–8 (.200) | 2–3 (.400) | 13–5 (.722) | 3–11 (.214) | 3–5 (.375) | 6–0 (1.000) | 5–0 (1.000) | 0–0 (–) |
| Automatic | 69 | USC | Big Ten | T–12th | 7–13 (.350) | 16–17 (.485) | 16–17 (.485) | 59 | 60 | 63 | 69 | 70 | 83 | 81 | 3–7 (.300) | 1–3 (.250) | 12–7 (.632) | 3–13 (.188) | 4–2 (.667) | 3–2 (.600) | 6–0 (1.000) | 0–0 (–) |
| At-Large | 75 | Utah | Big 12 | 11th | 8–12 (.400) | 16–16 (.500) | 16–16 (.500) | 67 | 61 | 76 | 96 | 73 | 75 | 76 | 1–9 (.100) | 0–3 (.000) | 15–4 (.789) | 2–12 (.143) | 4–4 (.500) | 2–0 (1.000) | 8–0 (1.000) | 0–0 (–) |
| At-Large | 76 | Arizona State | Big 12 | 15th | 4–16 (.200) | 13–19 (.406) | 13–19 (.406) | 65 | 77 | 70 | 82 | 74 | 81 | 80 | 3–8 (.273) | 5–2 (.714) | 5–9 (.357) | 4–14 (.222) | 3–4 (.429) | 2–1 (.667) | 4–0 (1.000) | 0–0 (–) |
| At-Large | 86 | Colorado | Big 12 | 16th | 3–17 (.150) | 14–20 (.412) | 14–20 (.412) | 81 | 82 | 81 | 100 | 86 | 91 | 93 | 0–10 (.000) | 3–3 (.500) | 11–7 (.611) | 2–15 (.118) | 4–5 (.444) | 3–0 (1.000) | 5–0 (1.000) | 0–0 (–) |
| Automatic | 88 | Butler | Big East | T–8th | 6–14 (.300) | 14–19 (.424) | 14–19 (.424) | 77 | 65 | 77 | 135 | 83 | 97 | 118 | 2–9 (.182) | 3–2 (.600) | 9–8 (.529) | 1–11 (.083) | 4–6 (.400) | 4–1 (.800) | 5–1 (.833) | 0–0 (–) |
| At-Large | 90 | Georgetown | Big East | 7th | 8–12 (.400) | 17–15 (.531) | 17–15 (.531) | 94 | 84 | 87 | 129 | 88 | 82 | 98 | 3–9 (.250) | 0–1 (.000) | 14–5 (.737) | 1–8 (.111) | 4–4 (.500) | 3–3 (.500) | 9–0 (1.000) | 0–0 (–) |
| At-Large | 92 | Oregon State | West Coast | 5th | 10–8 (.556) | 19–12 (.613) | 20–12 (.625) | 91 | 98 | 85 | 113 | 85 | 108 | 90 | 3–7 (.300) | 2–2 (.500) | 15–3 (.833) | 1–7 (.125) | 2–2 (.500) | 4–1 (.800) | 12–2 (.857) | 1–0 (1.000) |
| At-Large | 110 | Washington State | West Coast | T–6th | 8–10 (.444) | 19–14 (.576) | 19–14 (.576) | 106 | 114 | 124 | 116 | 112 | 106 | 105 | 4–7 (.364) | 5–3 (.625) | 10–4 (.714) | 1–7 (.125) | 3–5 (.375) | 4–0 (1.000) | 11–2 (.846) | 0–0 (–) |
| At-Large | 117 | George Washington | Atlantic 10 | T–7th | 9–9 (.500) | 20–12 (.625) | 21–12 (.636) | 116 | 116 | 113 | 119 | 124 | 126 | 135 | 5–6 (.455) | 3–2 (.600) | 13–4 (.765) | 0–1 (.000) | 2–5 (.286) | 5–5 (.500) | 13–1 (.929) | 1–0 (1.000) |
| At-Large | 122 | DePaul | Big East | 10th | 4–16 (.200) | 14–19 (.424) | 14–19 (.424) | 112 | 105 | 118 | 170 | 119 | 118 | 138 | 2–10 (.167) | 1–1 (.500) | 11–8 (.579) | 0–11 (.000) | 3–5 (.375) | 3–3 (.500) | 8–0 (1.000) | 0–0 (–) |
| At-Large | 150 | Tulane | American Athletic | 4th | 12–6 (.667) | 17–14 (.548) | 19–14 (.576) | 138 | 127 | 138 | 174 | 145 | 154 | 174 | 4–7 (.364) | 1–4 (.200) | 14–3 (.824) | 0–3 (.000) | 0–5 (.000) | 5–4 (.556) | 12–2 (.857) | 2–0 (1.000) |
| 87 | Average | 9th | 8–12 (.400) | 17–15 (.531) | 17–15 (.531) | 80 | 77 | 82 | 103 | 84 | 89 | 94 | 3–8 (.273) | 2–2 (.500) | 12–5 (.706) | 2–9 (.182) | 4–4 (.500) | 4–2 (.667) | 8–1 (.889) | 0–0 (–) |
Schedule
[edit]| Game | Time | Matchup | Score | Television | Attendance | Box score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First round – Monday, March 31 | ||||||
| 1 | 12:00 pm | Utah vs. Butler | 84–86 | FS1 | 2,119 | Box score |
| 2 | 2:30 pm | George Washington vs. Boise State | 59–89 | Box score | ||
| 3 | 5:30 pm | Nebraska vs. Arizona State | 86–78 | 2,947 | Box score | |
| 4 | 8:00 pm | Georgetown vs. Washington State | 85–82 | Box score | ||
| First round – Tuesday, April 1 | ||||||
| 5 | 12:00 pm | DePaul vs. Cincinnati | 61–83 | FS1 | 1,495 | Box score |
| 6 | 2:30 pm | Oregon State vs. UCF | 75–76 | Box score | ||
| 7 | 5:30 pm | Colorado vs. Villanova | 64–85 | 2,407 | Box score | |
| 8 | 8:00 pm | Tulane vs. USC | 60–89 | Box score | ||
| Quarterfinals – Wednesday, April 2 | ||||||
| 9 | 4:00 pm | Butler vs. Boise State | 93–100 | FS1 | 2,512 | Box score |
| 10 | 6:30 pm | Nebraska vs. Georgetown | 81–69 | Box score | ||
| Quarterfinals – Thursday, April 3 | ||||||
| 11 | 4:00 pm | Cincinnati vs. UCF | 80–88 | FS1 | 2,279 | Box score |
| 12 | 6:30 pm | Villanova vs. USC | 60–59 | Box score | ||
| Semifinals – Saturday, April 5 | ||||||
| 13 | 10:30 am | Boise State vs. Nebraska | 69–79 | Fox | 2,972 | Box score |
| 14 | 1:00 pm | UCF vs. Villanova | 104–98 OT | Box score | ||
| Final – Sunday, April 6 | ||||||
| 15 | 2:30 pm | Nebraska vs. UCF | 77–66 | Fox | 3,314 | Box score |
| Game times are Pacific Daylight Time. (#) Rankings denote tournament seed.[19] | ||||||
Bracket
[edit]| First round MGM Grand Garden Arena March 31 & April 1 FS1 | Quarterfinals MGM Grand Garden Arena April 2 & 3 FS1 | Semifinals T-Mobile Arena April 5 Fox | Final T-Mobile Arena April 6 Fox | ||||||||||||
| Utah | 84 | ||||||||||||||
| Butler | 86 | ||||||||||||||
| Butler | 93 | ||||||||||||||
| Boise State | 100 | ||||||||||||||
| George Washington | 59 | ||||||||||||||
| Boise State | 89 | ||||||||||||||
| Boise State | 69 | ||||||||||||||
| Nebraska | 79 | ||||||||||||||
| Nebraska | 86 | ||||||||||||||
| Arizona State | 78 | ||||||||||||||
| Nebraska | 81 | ||||||||||||||
| Georgetown | 69 | ||||||||||||||
| Georgetown | 85 | ||||||||||||||
| Washington State | 82 | ||||||||||||||
| Nebraska | 77 | ||||||||||||||
| UCF | 66 | ||||||||||||||
| DePaul | 61 | ||||||||||||||
| Cincinnati | 83 | ||||||||||||||
| Cincinnati | 80 | ||||||||||||||
| UCF | 88 | ||||||||||||||
| Oregon State | 75 | ||||||||||||||
| UCF | 76 | ||||||||||||||
| UCF | 104 | ||||||||||||||
| Villanova | 98OT | ||||||||||||||
| Colorado | 64 | ||||||||||||||
| Villanova | 85 | ||||||||||||||
| Villanova | 60 | ||||||||||||||
| USC | 59 | ||||||||||||||
| Tulane | 60 | ||||||||||||||
| USC | 89 | ||||||||||||||
Quality of participating teams compared with NIT
[edit]Fox Sports leveraged its media rights relationships with the Big East, Big Ten, and Big 12 conferences to create the CBC and thereby create postseason college basketball content for itself. Each of those three conferences committed to send at least two teams to the CBC.[20] In addition, non-NCAA tournament teams from those three conferences were contractually prohibited from playing in any other postseason tournament, including the 2025 National Invitation Tournament (NIT), if they declined an invitation or removed themselves from consideration for a bid to the CBC.[8] Even if Big East, Big Ten, or Big 12 schools might have preferred to play NIT games at home instead of CBC games in Las Vegas or anticipated they might have more attractive matchups in the NIT, they did not have that option, which may have degraded the quality of the NIT field. No Big East or Big Ten teams appeared in the 2025 NIT, and Oklahoma State was the only Big 12 team to accept an NIT bid. Atlantic Coast Conference teams Georgia Tech, SMU, and Stanford were the only other power conference teams to accept bids to the NIT.[21][22] In contrast, eleven of the sixteen CBC participants were from power conferences.
An analysis of the NET rankings as of Selection Sunday[23] for the teams participating in the 2025 CBC and NIT is set forth in the table below.
| CBC participants | NIT participants | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | NET | Team | NET | Team | NET |
| Boise State | 44 | SMU | 46 | Middle Tennessee | 105 |
| Cincinnati | 50 | Santa Clara | 57 | UAB | 106 |
| Villanova | 55 | UC Irvine | 62 | Loyola Chicago | 107 |
| Nebraska | 59 | San Francisco | 64 | Utah Valley | 108 |
| USC | 70 | North Texas | 65 | Georgia Tech | 109 |
| UCF | 71 | Dayton | 67 | Florida Atlantic | 111 |
| Utah | 73 | George Mason | 68 | North Alabama | 113 |
| Arizona State | 74 | Saint Joseph's | 76 | Northern Colorado | 114 |
| Butler | 83 | Bradley | 80 | Chattanooga | 115 |
| Oregon State | 85 | Stanford | 81 | Samford | 116 |
| Colorado | 86 | Northern Iowa | 93 | Jacksonville State | 122 |
| Georgetown | 88 | Arkansas State | 94 | Furman | 127 |
| Washington State | 112 | Oklahoma State | 95 | Kent State | 128 |
| DePaul | 119 | St. Bonaventure | 97 | Wichita State | 134 |
| George Washington | 124 | Saint Louis | 101 | UC Riverside | 142 |
| Tulane | 145 | Cal State Northridge | 104 | San Jose State | 175 |
| Mean: 84 Median: 79 Best: 44 Worst: 145 |
Top 16 teams Mean: 78 Median: 78 Best: 46 Worst: 104 |
All 32 teams Mean: 99 Median: 105 Best: 46 Worst: 175 | |||
Like all metrics used to rank or rate college basketball teams, the NET is imperfect; however, it is consistently applied and represents one way in which teams can be compared. Since the NIT had to fill thirty-two tournament berths, whereas the CBC had only sixteen, data are shown for both the full NIT field as well as the top sixteen teams based on NET rankings. Of course, there are other metrics that could be used to compare the fields of the two tournaments, including the number of power conference teams participating.
See also
[edit]- 2025 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
- 2025 National Invitation Tournament
- 2025 College Basketball Invitational
References
[edit]- ^ "What is the College Basketball Crown: Everything to know about the postseason tournament on Fox". FoxSports.com. March 6, 2025. Retrieved March 12, 2025.
- ^ "College Basketball Crown". Retrieved March 12, 2025.
- ^ Fanta, John (March 26, 2025). "$500K NIL endorsement opportunity makes College Basketball Crown a game-changer". FOX Sports.
- ^ James, Donovan (March 16, 2025). "Indiana basketball declines to play in NIT, College Basketball Crown". hoosierstateofmind.com. Fansided. Retrieved March 17, 2025.
- ^ Tachman, Tyler (March 15, 2025). "Iowa Basketball Won't Participate in Postseason Tournament Following Fran McCaffery Departure". Des Moines Register. Retrieved March 18, 2025.
- ^ "K-State men forgoing postseason after Baylor Big 12 tourney loss". Retrieved March 17, 2025.
- ^ Kronenberg, Eli; Pachuta, Audrey (March 13, 2025). "Men's Basketball: Northwestern's season ends with 70-63 loss to No. 18 Wisconsin". Daily Northwestern. Retrieved March 17, 2025.
- ^ a b Anders, Andy (March 17, 2025). "Ohio State Declines Invitation to Fox's College Basketball Crown Tournament after Missing Third Straight NCAA Tournament". Eleven Warriors. Retrieved March 18, 2024.
- ^ McGuire, Kevin (March 16, 2025). "Penn State will not play in the NIT". Nittany Lions Wire. Retrieved April 7, 2025.
- ^ Polacek, Scott (March 16, 2025). "Rutgers Declines NIT after Missing March Madness As Ace Bailey, Dylan Harper Eye Draft". Bleacher Report. Retrieved March 18, 2025.
- ^ "News: TCU men's basketball will not be participating in any postseason tournament". Retrieved March 17, 2025.
- ^ "West Virginia Declines Postseason Invitations". Retrieved March 17, 2025.
- ^ a b "2025 T-Rank and Tempo-Free Stats". Bart Torvik. March 17, 2025. Retrieved March 18, 2025.
- ^ "Men's College Basketball Power Index 2024–25 | BPI". ESPN. March 17, 2025. Retrieved March 18, 2025.
- ^ "2025 Pomeroy College Basketball Ratings". The Forecast Factory LLC. March 17, 2025. Retrieved March 18, 2025.
- ^ "KPI Rankings NCAA D-I Men's Basketball 2024–2025". Faktor Sports. March 17, 2025. Retrieved March 18, 2025.
- ^ "2024–25 D-I Men's Basketball NET Ranking thru Games 03/16/2025". NCAA Statistics. March 17, 2025. Retrieved March 18, 2025.
- ^ "Men's College Basketball Power Index 2024–25 | Resume". ESPN. March 17, 2025. Retrieved March 18, 2025.
- ^ "Fillable Bracket - The Crown" (PDF). Fox Sports. March 17, 2025. Retrieved March 18, 2025.
- ^ Wilner, Jon (March 28, 2025). "How the New College Basketball Crown Could Impact NCAA Men's Tourney". The Seattle Times. Retrieved April 4, 2025.
- ^ Lerner, Drew (March 17, 2025). "Fox Successfully Gutted the NIT with College Basketball Crown". Awful Announcing. Retrieved April 4, 2025.
- ^ Fisher, Eric; Rumsey, David; Christovich, Amanda (March 18, 2025). "Tournament Turf Wars: NIT, College Basketball Crown Battle for Leftovers". Front Office Sports. Retrieved April 4, 2025.
- ^ "2024–25 D-I Men's Basketball NET Ranking thru Games 03/16/2025". NCAA. March 17, 2025. Retrieved March 18, 2025.