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.
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 The quarterfinal games aired on FS1 with the semifinal and final games broadcast on FOX.
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.
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.
+Big East ConferenceTeamNETrank Seton Hall53Providence80Creighton83Butler84Georgetown90Marquette93Xavier97DePaul102
+Big Ten ConferenceTeamNETrank Indiana41Washington57Northwestern65USC79Minnesota80Oregon109Rutgers134Maryland138Penn State142
+Big 12 ConferenceTeamNETrank Cincinnati49Baylor50West Virginia59Arizona State73Oklahoma State74Colorado76Kansas State100Utah132
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. TeamConferenceOverallrecordNETrank BidtypeAppearanceLastbidBaylorBig 1250Automatic1stNeverColoradoBig 1276At-large2nd2025CreightonBig East83Automatic1stNeverMinnesotaBig Ten81Automatic1stNeverOklahomaSoutheastern48At-large1stNeverRutgersBig Ten134Automatic1stNeverStanfordAtlantic Coast61At-large1stNeverWest VirginiaBig 1259Automatic1stNever 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
Cincinnati Indiana Seton Hall
Schedule GameTimeMatchupScoreBoxscoreAttendanceTelevisionQuarterfinals – 15:00 p.m.Oklahoma vs. Colorado2,276FS127:30 p.m.Baylor vs. Minnesota 67–48Quarterfinals – 35:00 p.m.Stanford vs. West Virginia 77–82 OT2,310FS147:30 p.m.Rutgers vs. Creighton 69–82 Semifinals – 510:30 a.m.Oklahoma vs. Baylor 82–692,947FOX61:00 p.m.West Virginia vs. Creighton 87–70Final – 72:30 p.m.Oklahoma vs. West Virginia 82–89 OT3,109FOXGame times are Pacific Daylight Time.
Bracket Source:
See also 2026 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament 2026 National Invitation Tournament
References
External links