KANSAS CITY — Utah interim coach Josh Eilert is all-in on coaching the Runnin’ Utes one last time if they make the College Basketball Crown field.
So, too, is fifth-year guard Gabe Madsen.
Following Utah’s loss to UCF in the Big 12 tournament’s first round Tuesday night, the Utes’ postseason fate is the final question mark surrounding the team after its first year in the Big 12.
Will a program that’s going through a coaching change decide to extend its season if an invitation comes from a national postseason tournament?
“Obviously there’s a chance for us to play in the Fox Tournament, and so if we can keep playing I would love to keep doing that, but we’re not going to force anybody to keep playing,” Madsen said, referencing the College Basketball Crown after Utah fell against UCF.
The new 16-team postseason basketball tournament will run from March 31 to April 6 in Las Vegas, and it’s the most realistic postseason destination for Utah (16-16) to play in this season.
“I think it’s hard right now to ask that question. I’m 100% all-in, you know? I’m excited about it. I know players have to make decisions, but I think it would be special to have another opportunity to battle with these guys,” Eilert said.
“I told them in there how proud I am and how excited I was every day to jump on the floor with them.”
What is the College Basketball Crown?
The College Basketball Crown, or CBC, is a new national postseason basketball tournament meant to give teams that don’t make the NCAA tournament field a chance to continue playing.
Three conferences — the Big 12, Big Ten and Big East — partnered with the CBC and Fox, which holds the broadcast rights to the tournament, and that will ensure that two teams from each of those three conferences make the College Basketball Crown field.
The CBC will be played at the MGM Grand Garden Arena and T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas in between the Elite Eight and Final Four rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
All games will be televised on either Fox or FS1.
What is the selection criteria for the College Basketball Crown?
The selection process for the CBC isn’t laid out on the tournament’s web site.
What is known is that the tournament will feature two teams from the Big 12, Big Ten and Big East and also include 10 at-large participants, chosen by a selection committee, according to Fox Sports.
Teams that do not qualify for the NCAA Tournament will be eligible to play in the CBC, and the new tournament is expected to compete for teams with the NIT, which has made its own criteria changes in response to the CBC’s agreement with the three aforementioned conferences.
What could complicate the selection process for teams?
With the College Basketball Crown event not happening until the end of March and early April, teams may have to consider roster implications with the timing of the tournament.
The NCAA’s basketball transfer portal window opens March 24 and will stay open through April 22.
Even though the transfer portal has been open for Utah players since Craig Smith was fired on Feb. 24, no Utes have indicated they are entering the transfer portal yet.
Is Utah in a position to make the College Basketball Crown?
There are six Big 12 teams that college basketball experts consider locks to make the NCAA Tournament, a group that includes Houston, Texas Tech, Iowa State, Arizona, BYU and Kansas.
Beyond those six, two others — Baylor and West Virginia — are viewed as teams that should make the NCAA tourney field, though the Mountaineers’ second-round Big 12 tournament loss to Colorado Wednesday is a bad loss for their resume.
Cincinnati was classified as a team with “work to do” heading into the Big 12 tournament. While the Bearcats won their first-round matchup, they lost by 20 to Iowa State in Wednesday’s second round.
That loss seemingly extinguished the last chance for Cincinnati to make enough of an impression to earn its way into the NCAA field.
Why does that impact Utah? Here’s how.
On Tuesday, Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark confirmed that the top two Big 12 teams who don’t make the NCAA Tournament will earn automatic selections for the College Basketball Crown field.
Other Big 12 teams could also help fill the 10 at-large spots in the CBC.
While the CBC hasn’t defined how the top two automatic qualifiers from the Big 12, Big Ten and Big East will be determined, a 2023 proposal for the creation of the tournament indicated that it would come from the NET rankings, college basketball insider Seth Davis reported for The Messenger in 2023.
Assuming that eight Big 12 teams are selected to play the NCAA tournament in Houston, Texas Tech, Iowa State, Arizona, BYU, Kansas, Baylor and West Virginia, that leaves eight other Big 12 teams in contention to make other postseason tournaments like the CBC or the NIT.
Outside of those eight, Cincinnati is the next-highest ranked Big 12 team in the NET at No. 48 as of Wednesday, followed by Utah at No. 70, UCF at No. 72, Kansas State at No. 73 and Arizona State at No. 74.
While that indicates the Utes are in position to get the second automatic Big 12 bid for the CBC, teams like UCF and Kansas State could jump Utah in the NET rankings. Both the Knights and Wildcats advanced out of the Big 12 tournament first round.
The CBC has been a topic of conversation early in the Big 12 tournament.
On Tuesday, after Arizona State lost to Kansas State in the first round, Sun Devils coach Bobby Hurley told the Arizona Republic’s Michelle Gardner his team will be playing in the CBC.
Oklahoma State coach Steve Lutz was also open to the possibility of playing in the postseason, wherever it took his team.
While there’s plenty of unknowns about the CBC selection process, this first year should give an indication of how it works.
If that ends up working out for Utah, Eilert will embrace the opportunity.
“They’re a joy to be around. They’re a fun group,” he said of this year’s Utes. “I don’t want it to end whatsoever, and I want to, you know, go to battle with them in Vegas and string some more wins together and have that opportunity.
“I certainly don’t want it to be the last time I get to coach him.”
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