The inaugural College Basketball Crown from Las Vegas continued Tuesday with four more exciting games. The marquee matchup of the day featured Villanova facing Colorado. The Wildcats advanced to the next round of the CBC after recording a blowout 85-64 win over the Buffaloes.
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. Assistant coach Mike Nardi is Villanova’s interim coach during the CBC.
The best finish of the day saw UCF advance with a thrilling 75-75 win over Oregon State. Oregon State guard Liutauras Lelevicius missed a go-ahead 3-pointer in the final moments that would’ve won his team the game. UCF will face Cincinnati in the next round after recording an 83-81 win over DePaul in the first game of the day.
Butler faces Boise State in the first game on Day 3 of the CBC Wednesday, followed shortly after by a showdown between Nebraska and Georgetown. The winners of those games advance to Saturday’s semifinals.
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 85, Washington State 82 | Recap
TUESDAY, APRIL 1
- Game 5: Cincinnati 83, DePaul 61 | Recap
- Game 6: UCF 76, Oregon State 75 | Recap
- Game 7: Villanova 85, Colorado 64 | Recap
- Game 8: Tulane vs. USC
Quarterfinals
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2
- Game 9: Butler vs. Boise State, 7 p.m. | FS1
- Game 10: Nebraska vs. Georgetown, 9:30 p.m. | FS1
THURSDAY, APRIL 3
- Game 11: Cincinnati vs. UCF, 7 p.m. | FS1
- Game 12: Villanova 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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