Boise State basketball narrowly missed out on a fourth-straight invite to the NCAA Tournament on Sunday, but Bronco fans still have a reason to get excited this postseason.
Boise State has accepted an invite to the College Basketball Crown, a new 16-team tournament hosted by Fox Sports in Las Vegas, Nevada. The tournament awards an NIL package to its final four teams to split among players: $50,000 for reaching the semifinals, $100,000 for reaching the final and $300,000 for winning the tournament, Boise State spokesperson Chris Kutz told the Idaho Statesman.
Teams that advance to the semifinals onward will be awarded an NIL package, but the amount awarded to each team has not been disclosed.
The single-elimination tournament will be held from March 31 to April 6, with the championship game the day before the NCAA Tournament national championship game.
The tournament will feature teams from seven conferences, with an average NET ranking of 83.6. NET is the NCAA’s tool for evaluating a team’s quality of play and resume. The Broncos, with a NET ranking of 44, are the highest-ranked team in the tournament.
Boise State (23-10) will play one of the tournament’s lowest-ranked teams, George Washington (21-12) of the Atlantic 10 conference, in the first round at 3:30 p.m. Mountain time on March 31. George Washington is 124th in the NET.
The victor will face the winner of Utah (16-16) and Butler (14-19) in the second round.
The College Basketball Crown is a new tournament that will award the final four teams an NIL package for participating players. College Basketball Crown
The tournament’s first two rounds will be held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, while the semifinals and final will be at T-Mobile Arena. The first two rounds will air on Fox Sports 1 and the final two rounds on FOX.
Here are the 16 teams that will partake in the tournament in order of NET ranking, along with their conferences:
- Boise State (44th, Mountain West)
- Cincinnati (50th, Big 12)
- Villanova (55th, Big East)
- Nebraska (59th, Big Ten)
- USC (70th, Big Ten)
- UCF (71st, Big 12)
- Utah (73d, Big 12)
- Arizona State (74th, Big 12)
- Butler (83rd, Big East)
- Oregon State (85th, West Coast)
- Colorado (86th, Big 12)
- Georgetown (88th, Big East)
- Washington State (112th, West Coast)
- DePaul (119th, Big East)
- George Washington (124th, Atlantic 10)
- Tulane (145th, American)
This story was originally published March 17, 2025 at 11:15 AM.
