The 2026 College Basketball Crown bracket reveal has a set date and time.
The men’s college basketball postseason tournament will unveil its field Monday, March 16 at 5:30 p.m. ET, USA TODAY Sports confirms. The bracket will be announced on the FS1 show ‘First Things First’ with Nick Wright, Chris Broussard and Kevin Wildes. Fox Sports analysts LaPhonso Ellis and Danny Perkins will join the program as part of the reveal.
Introduced in 2025, the College Basketball Crown is a postseason tournament in Las Vegas for teams that don’t make the NCAA Tournament, with name, image and likeness prizes as its major selling point. The inaugural field featured 16 teams, capped by Nebraska beating Central Florida in the final.
As a result, the Cornhuskers received a $300,000 prize pool for winning the tournament, while the Knights got $100,000 as the runner-up. Semifinalists Boise State and Villanova each got $50,000 for their respective finishes.
Nebraska used that Crown run as a springboard into the 2025-26 season, which saw the Huskers finish second in the Big Ten regular season.
The 2026 edition will remain in Las Vegas, but with a smaller field of just eight teams. It will have the top two teams from the Big Ten, Big 12 and Big East that didn’t receive an NCAA Tournament bid, as well as two wild card selections determined by its committee.
By having automatic spots from the three conferences, the Crown hopes to avoid a growing issue in the sport where teams turn down postseason invitations after missing March Madness. Not getting the chance to win a national championship usually means players hit the transfer portal, leaving rosters in doubt of whether it will have suitable lineups to play with.
When will College Basketball Crown 2026 bracket be announced?
The College Basketball Crown bracket will be announced one day after the NCAA Tournament and NIT reveal its field
NCAA Tournament bracket announcement: Sunday, March 15 at 6 p.m. ET
NIT bracket announcement: Sunday, March 15 (Time TBD, after NCAA Tournament announced)
College Basketball Crown announcement: Monday, March 16 at 5:30 p.m. ET
College Basketball Crown 2026 schedule
The 2026 College Basketball Crown will be played April 1-5 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena and T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. It will air on Fox and FS1.
Quarterfinals: April 1-2 at MGM Grand Garden Arena
Semifinals: April 4 at T-Mobile Arena
Final: April 5 at T-Mobile Arena