The inaugural College Basketball Crown tournament began Monday with a bang. Butler pulled off a thrilling 86-84 upset win over Utah after star guard Pierre Brooks ll hit a game-winning layup with less than :03 remaining to get the sport’s newest postseason event started.
Brooks finished with a game-high 22 points in the debut of .the 16-team tournament in Las Vegas.
Boise State advanced with an 89-59 blowout win over George Washington behind 19 points by star forward Tyson Degenhart. The Broncos were one of the teams that missed out on the NCAA Tournament after losing to Colorado State in the Mountain West title game.
Butler will face Boise State in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.
The top game on Tuesday’s slate will see Villanova face Colorado at 8:30 p.m. ET. Villanova’s program has been one of the hottest offseason topics in college basketball after the Wildcats plucked Maryland coach Kevin Willard away from his post to succeed Kyle Neptune.
DePaul faces Cincinnati in the first game on Day 2 of the CBC, followed shortly after by a showdown between UCF and Oregon State. Tulane faces USC in the final game of the first round.
The tournament’s championship game is set for Sunday at T-Mobile Arena. The CBC awarded automatic bids to the top two non-NCAA Tournament teams from the Big Ten, Big 12 and Big East. The rest of the bracket was filled out by a committee to complete the field
Not every team accepted an invite to the postseason. Indiana, South Carolina and Wake Forest were among the teams that declined an invite to the NIT, while Ohio State, West Virginia, Kansas State and Rutgers were among the teams that said no to the CBC. Only four high-major teams (Stanford, Oklahoma State, SMU and Georgia Tech) played in this year’s NIT.
2025 College Basketball Crown schedule
All times Eastern
First round
MONDAY, MARCH 31
- Game 1: Butler 86, Utah 84 | Recap
- Game 2: Boise State 89, George Washington 59 | Recap
- Game 3: Nebraska 86, Arizona State 78 | Recap
- Game 4: Georgetown vs. Washington State, 11 p.m. | FS1
TUESDAY, APRIL 1
- Game 5: DePaul vs. Cincinnati, 3 p.m. | FS1
- Game 6: Oregon State vs. UCF, 5:30 p.m. | FS1
- Game 7: Colorado vs. Villanova, 8:30 p.m. | FS1
- Game 8: Tulane vs. USC, 11 p.m. | FS1
Quarterfinals
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2
- Game 9: Butler vs. Boise State, 7 p.m. | FS1
- Game 10: Nebraska vs. Georgetown/Washington State winner, 9:30 p.m. | FS1
THURSDAY, APRIL 3
- Game 11: DePaul/Cincinnati winner vs. Oregon State/UCF winner, 7 p.m. | FS1
- Game 12: Colorado/Villanova winner vs. Tulane/USC winner, 9:30 p.m. | FS1
Semifinals
SATURDAY, APRIL 5
- Game 13: Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner, 1:30 p.m. | FS1
- Game 14: Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner, 4 p.m. | FS1
Championship
SUNDAY, APRIL 6
- Semifinal winners, 5:30 p.m. | Fox
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