2026 College Basketball Crown

2026 College Basketball Crown
Season2025–26
Teams8
Finals siteT-Mobile Arena,
Paradise, Nevada
ChampionsWest Virginia (1st title)
Runner-upOklahoma (1st title game)
Semifinalists
Winning coachRoss Hodge (1st title)
MVPHonor Huff (West Virginia)
Attendance10,642 (tournament)
3,109 (final)
Top scorerHonor Huff (West Virginia)
(72 points)
College Basketball Crowns
«2025 2027»

The 2026 College Basketball Crown (CBC) was a single-elimination, fully-bracketed men's college basketball postseason tournament featuring eight National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I teams not selected to participate in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. The tournament commenced on April 1 and concluded on April 5.[1]

All games were played on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, with the quarterfinal games at the MGM Grand Garden Arena and the semifinal and final games at T-Mobile Arena. The quarterfinal games aired on FS1 with the semifinal and final games broadcast on FOX.[1]

The West Virginia University Mountaineers defeated the University of Oklahoma Sooners 89–82, in overtime, to claim the championship. The All-Tournament Team was composed of Cameron Carr (Baylor), Jasen Green (Creighton), Honor Huff (West Virginia), Brenan Lorient (West Virginia) and Nijel Pack (Oklahoma); Huff was also selected the Most Valuable Player.

Participating teams

Automatic bids were offered to the top two available teams in the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings from each of the Big East, Big Ten, and Big 12 conferences as of the close of conference-tournament play on Selection Sunday, March 15, 2026. The remaining two teams in the bracket were at-large selections made by tournament organizers.[2]

The NET rankings of the available Big East, Big Ten, and Big 12 teams through the finish of play on March 15, 2026, are summarized in the tables below. Teams in bold accepted a bid; teams in italics were extended an automatic bid but rejected it.

Accepted bids

The teams accepting tournament bids are shown below. Team records are prior to the start of the tournament, and NET rankings are as of March 16, 2026.[3]

Team Conference Overall
record		 NET
rank [3]		 Bid
type		 Appearance Last
bid
Baylor Big 12 16–16 (.500) 50 Automatic 1st Never
Colorado Big 12 17–15 (.531) 76 At-large 2nd 2025
Creighton Big East 15–17 (.469) 83 Automatic 1st Never
Minnesota Big Ten 15–17 (.469) 81 Automatic 1st Never
Oklahoma Southeastern 19–15 (.559) 48 At-large 1st Never
Rutgers Big Ten 14–19 (.424) 134 Automatic 1st Never
Stanford Atlantic Coast 20–12 (.625) 61 At-large 1st Never
West Virginia[4] Big 12 18–14 (.563) 59 Automatic 1st Never

NOTE: only one of the Big East's two automatic bids was accepted, necessitating the subsequent awarding of a third at-large bid.

Rejected bids

Schedule

Game Time Matchup Score Box
score		 Attendance Television
Quarterfinals – April 1
1 5:00 p.m. Oklahoma vs. Colorado 90–86 OT [8] 2,276 FS1
2 7:30 p.m. Baylor vs. Minnesota 67–48 [9]
Quarterfinals – April 2
3 5:00 p.m. Stanford vs. West Virginia 77–82 OT [10] 2,310 FS1
4 7:30 p.m. Rutgers vs. Creighton 69–82 [11]
Semifinals – April 4
5 10:30 a.m. Oklahoma vs. Baylor 82–69 [12] 2,947 FOX
6 1:00 p.m. West Virginia vs. Creighton 87–70 [13]
Final – April 5
7 2:30 p.m. Oklahoma vs. West Virginia 82–89 OT [14] 3,109 FOX
Game times are Pacific Daylight Time.

Bracket

Source:[15]

Quarterfinals
MGM Grand Garden Arena
April 1 & 2
FS1 		Semifinals
T-Mobile Arena
April 4
FOX 		Final
T-Mobile Arena
April 5
FOX
      
Oklahoma 90
Colorado 86 OT
Oklahoma 82
Baylor 69
Baylor 67
Minnesota 48
Oklahoma 82 OT
West Virginia 89
Stanford 77 OT
West Virginia 82
West Virginia 87
Creighton 70
Rutgers 69
Creighton 82

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "FOX Sports and AEG Announce Official Dates for the 2026 College Basketball Crown With Elite Eight-Team Field". AEG Worldwide. July 21, 2025.
  2. ↑ Casazza, Mike (March 14, 2026). "Sources: Men's Basketball Expected to Play in College Basketball Crown". 247Sports. Retrieved March 16, 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "2025-26 D-I Men's Basketball NET Ranking thru games 03/15/2026". NCAA Statistics. March 16, 2026. Retrieved March 17, 2026.
  4. ↑ "WVU Basketball to Accept Bid to College Basketball Crown". WV Sports Now. March 15, 2026. Retrieved March 16, 2026.
  5. ↑ "Where does Cincinnati Bearcats basketball stand for selection Sunday?". March 15, 2026. Retrieved March 16, 2026.
  6. ↑ "Indiana basketball's season is over, source says, just missing March Madness, skipping others". March 15, 2026. Retrieved March 16, 2026.
  7. ↑ "Seton Hall Athletics Statement on 2025-26 Men's Basketball Postseason". shupirates.com. Seton Hall Pirates. March 15, 2026. Retrieved March 16, 2026.
  8. ↑ "Oklahoma Sooners vs. Colorado Buffaloes Box Score and Stats - April 01, 2026". Fox Sports. April 1, 2026. Retrieved April 2, 2026.
  9. ↑ "Baylor Bears vs. Minnesota Golden Gophers Box Score and Stats - April 01, 2026". Fox Sports. April 1, 2026. Retrieved April 2, 2026.
  10. ↑ "Stanford Cardinal vs. West Virginia Mountaineers Box Score and Stats - April 02, 2026". Fox Sports. April 2, 2026. Retrieved April 3, 2026.
  11. ↑ "Rutgers Scarlet Knights vs. Creighton Bluejays Box Score and Stats - April 02, 2026". Fox Sports. April 2, 2026. Retrieved April 3, 2026.
  12. ↑ "Oklahoma Sooners vs. Baylor Bears Box Score and Stats - April 04, 2026". Fox Sports. April 4, 2026. Retrieved April 5, 2026.
  13. ↑ "West Virginia Mountaineers vs. Creighton Bluejays Box Score and Stats - April 04, 2026". Fox Sports. April 4, 2026. Retrieved April 5, 2026.
  14. ↑ "Oklahoma Sooners vs. West Virginia Mountaineers Box Score and Stats - April 05, 2026". Fox Sports. April 5, 2026. Retrieved April 6, 2026.
  15. ↑ "The Field is Set". College Basketball Crown. March 16, 2026. Retrieved March 17, 2026.
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