Schedule, bracket, what to know

The men’s Final Four has been determined and so has the semifinals of the NIT, but the newest college basketball postseason tournament will kick off this week.

The inaugural College Basketball Crown begins Monday as 16 teams head to Las Vegas to not only win a postseason tournament, but earn some name, image and likeness money, too. It’s been tough to get players to stick around for postseasons other than the NCAA Tournament, especially with the transfer portal open, but the Crown hopes to become a secondary option that not only sticks around, but stays relevant.

With a full week of games taking place before we crown a national champion, here’s a preview of the newest tournament in men’s hoops:

What is the College Basketball Crown?

A new postseason tournament put together by Fox Sports and the Anschutz Entertainment Group. Taking place entirely in Las Vegas, the tournament guarantees teams from the Big Ten, Big 12 and Big East followed by at-large selections. The first field also has teams from the West Coast Conference, Mountain West, Atlantic-10 and American Athletic Conference.

The entire tournament takes places from March 31-April 6 and will air on FS1 and Fox. The first and second rounds will be played at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, while the semifinals and final will take place at T-Mobile Arena. The full schedule of the College Basketball Crown:

First round: Monday, March 31 and Tuesday, April 1
Second round: Wednesday, April 2 and Thursday, April 3
Semifinals: Saturday, April 5 (1:30 p.m. ET and 4 p.m. ET)
Final: Sunday, April 6 (5:30 p.m. ET)

College Basketball Crown 2025 teams

Teams listed in alphabetical order

Arizona State
Boise State
Butler
Central Florida
Cincinnati
Colorado
DePaul
Georgetown
George Washington
Nebraska
Oregon State
Southern California
Tulane
Utah
Villanova
Washington State

College Basketball Crown bracket

College Basketball Crown schedule, how to watch

(All times in Eastern)

First round

Monday, March 31

Utah vs. Butler, 3 p.m. | FS1

George Washington vs. Boise State, 5:30 p.m. | FS1

Nebraska vs. Arizona State, 8:30 p.m. | FS1

Georgetown vs. Washington State, 11 p.m. | FS1

Tuesday, April 1

DePaul vs. Cincinnati, 3 p.m. | FS1

Oregon State vs. Central Florida, 5:30 p.m. | FS1

Colorado vs. Villanova, 8:30 p.m. | FS1

Tulane vs. Southern California, 11 p.m. | FS1

Second round

Wednesday, April 2

Utah/Butler winner vs. George Washington/Boise State winner, 7 p.m. | FS1

Nebraska/Arizona State winner vs. Georgetown/Washington State winner, 9:30 | FS1

Thursday, April 3

DePaul/Cincinnati winner vs. Oregon State/Central Florida winner, 7 p.m. | FS1

Colorado/Villanova winner vs. Tulane/Southern California winner, 9:30 p.m. | FS1

Semifinals

Saturday, April 5

TBD vs. TBD, 1:30 p.m. | Fox

TBD vs. TBD, 4 p.m. | Fox

Final

Sunday, April 6

TBD vs. TBD, 5:30 p.m. | Fox

College Basketball Crown NIL payment

An incentive to play in the College Basketball Crown will be those that make it far in the tournament will get an NIL deal. The championship team will get a prize pool of a $300,000 NIL package. The runner-up gets a $100,000 prize pool package while the semifinalist get $50,000 prize pool package. Fox Sports reported players from the semifinalist teams “will have opportunities to leverage their NIL through various marketing campaigns, including social media activations and more.”

College Basketball Crown 2025 storylines, predictions

The team that really sticks out from the rest of the field is Boise State, which just missed out on the NCAA Tournament as one of the first four teams out despite a worthy resume. The Broncos are in a field that didn’t have much success in the regular season − only Oregon State and George Washington had at least 20 wins. Six teams finished .500 or below and 10 had losing conference records. Plus, Villanova and Utah will play with interim coaches.

But like in the NCAA Tournament, surprises could happen. Villanova is capable of making run with the nation’s leading-scorer Eric Dixon in his final run with the Wildcats. Nebraska and USC are intriguing teams given they had some major wins during the regular season and could do well against the competition. Oregon State and Washington State also have a chance to prove they are still teams worthy of being in a Power conference with wins against them.

The grind of four games in seven days will certainly challenge whichever teams can make it to the final, but Boise State should be the heavy favorite to win the first edition of this tournament. After that, Villanova or Southern California are good options to meet the Broncos in the finals and possibly pull off the upset. But expect the Broncos to stick it to the NCAA Tournament selection committee with a postseason title.

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