Latest news with #CollegeBasketball
Fox Sports
21-07-2025
- Sport
- Fox Sports
College Basketball Crown Announces Dates for 2026 Tournament
We may not know who will wear the College Basketball Crown in 2026. But we now know when we'll find out. Dates for the 2026 tournament were announced on Monday, with the tournament starting on Tuesday, April 1, and ending on Sunday, April 5. Just like the first edition of the tournament, the 2026 College Basketball Crown will take place in Las Vegas. Games will be played at either the MGM Grand Garden Arena or T-Mobile Arena. However, there will be one change made to the College Basketball Crown 2026. There will only be eight teams in the tournament, cutting the field in half from the inaugural edition. The eight teams that will make up the 2026 field for the College Basketball Crown will consist of the top two teams in the Big East, Big Ten and Big 12 that didn't make the NCAA Tournament, along with two wild card teams selected by the committee. "We launched the College Basketball Crown to create more opportunities for elite competition during the thrilling college basketball post-season – and we saw an incredible response from fans, conferences, and players for the inaugural tournament," FOX Sports executive vice president and College Basketball Crown board member Jordan Bazant said in a release. "We look forward to building on that momentum this spring by delivering high stakes matchups between top teams throughout the competition on FOX and FS1." "The College Basketball Crown has already proven to be a premium, athlete-first post-season platform that delivers for schools, our brand partners, and fans," President and COO of AEG Global Partnerships and College Basketball Crown board member Nick Baker added. "We're proud to continue this tournament alongside FOX Sports and our partners and we look forward to raising the bar once again in 2026 with top-tier talent, world-class venues, and continued innovation." Nebraska won the inaugural edition of the College Basketball Crown in 2025, winning three of its four games by double digits. It took down UCF in the title game, 77-66. The inaugural edition of the College Basketball Crown featured a $300,000 name, image and likeness (NIL) prize pool for the champion. UCF, the runner-up, received a $100,000 NIL prize pool. Villanova and Boise State, who lost in the semifinals, received a $50,000 NIL prize pool. New NIL prize opportunities related to the College Basketball Crown will be announced at a later date. The second edition of the College Basketball Crown will also air on FOX and FS1. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily . FOLLOW Follow your favorites to personalize your FOX Sports experience Big East Big Ten Big 12 recommended Item 1 of 1 Get more from the College Basketball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more in this topic
Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
FOX Sports and AEG Announce Official Dates for the 2026 College Basketball Crown With Elite Eight-Team Field
Tournament to air on FOX and FS1 from April 1–5 in Las Vegas LOS ANGELES, July 21, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Following a hugely successful inaugural tournament, FOX Sports and AEG today announced the official dates for the 2026 College Basketball Crown. The elite post-season college hoops tournament delivered compelling matchups, impressive viewership and a captivating championship run by Nebraska – becoming a must-see competition showcasing elite programs that narrowly miss NCAA Tournament selection. In 2026, the College Basketball Crown will take place April 1–5 at both the MGM Grand Garden Arena as well as T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and air on FOX and FS1. Year two features a newly streamlined eight-team field and continued support from its first-year brand partners. The 2026 field will feature the top two teams from the Big Ten, Big 12, and BIG EAST conferences that do not receive NCAA Tournament bids, plus two wild card teams selected by committee. The 2026 College Basketball Crown quarterfinals will take place Wednesday, April 1 and Thursday, April 2 at MGM Grand Garden Arena, with T-Mobile Arena hosting the semifinals Saturday, April 4 and the championship matchup Sunday, April 5. "We launched the College Basketball Crown to create more opportunities for elite competition during the thrilling college basketball post-season – and we saw an incredible response from fans, conferences, and players for the inaugural tournament," said Jordan Bazant, Executive Vice President, FOX Sports, and board member of the College Basketball Crown. "We look forward to building on that momentum this spring by delivering high stakes matchups between top teams throughout the competition on FOX and FS1." The new eight-team format reflects a strategic refinement, designed to deliver stronger matchups, enhanced fan experiences, and continued commercial success across every stage of the tournament. "The College Basketball Crown has already proven to be a premium, athlete-first post-season platform that delivers for schools, our brand partners, and fans," said Nick Baker, President and COO of AEG Global Partnerships and board member of the College Basketball Crown. "We're proud to continue this tournament alongside FOX Sports and our partners and we look forward to raising the bar once again in 2026 with top-tier talent, world-class venues, and continued innovation." Additionally, inaugural-year partners are continuing their support for the 2026 tournament, including: Vivid Seats – Official Ticketing Provider GHOST® – Founding Partner and Official Energy Drink and Hydration Partner JSX – Founding Partner and Official Air Carrier Circa Resort & Casino – Founding Partner and Official Host Hotel MGM Resorts International – Official Partner The College Basketball Crown also continues to drive innovation in name, image, and likeness (NIL) opportunities for student-athletes, with new enhancements expected to be announced in the lead-up to next year's tournament. Additional announcements regarding ticket sales, broadcast talent, new partners, team selection and more will follow in the coming months. For more information on the College Basketball Crown, visit: ABOUT THE COLLEGE BASKETBALL CROWN Launched by FOX Sports and AEG, the College Basketball Crown is a premier post-season college basketball tournament that debuted in March 2025 in Las Vegas at MGM Grand Garden Arena and T-Mobile Arena. Featuring elite teams from the Big Ten, Big 12, BIG EAST, and additional at-large participants, the tournament offers a new and highly competitive post-season opportunity for student-athletes and fans alike. Key partners of the inaugural College Basketball Crown include: Vivid Seats – Official Ticketing Provider GHOST® – Founding Partner; Official Energy Drink and Hydration Partner JSX – Founding Partner; Official Air Carrier Circa Resort & Casino – Founding Partner; Official Host Hotel MGM Resorts International – Official Partner For more information on the College Basketball Crown, visit: About AEG Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, AEG is the world's leading sports and live entertainment company. The company operates in the following business segments: Music through AEG Presents, which is dedicated to all aspects of live contemporary music performances, including the production and promotion of global and regional concert tours, an extensive portfolio of clubs, theaters and other music venues, concerts and special events and world-renowned festivals such as the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival; Venues and Real Estate, which develops, owns and operates world-class venues, as well as major sports and entertainment districts like Arena and L.A. LIVE, Uber Platz in Berlin and The O2 in London; Sports, as the world's largest operator of high-profile sporting events and sports franchises including the LA Kings, LA Galaxy and Eisbären Berlin; Global Partnerships, which oversees worldwide sales and servicing of sponsorships including naming rights, premium seating, and other strategic partnerships. And Ticketing, through its ticketing platform, which provides more than 400 clients worldwide with ticketing services that cover the gamut of entertainments, including sporting events, arena tours, music clubs, festivals, rodeos and family events. Through its worldwide network of venues, portfolio of powerful sports and music brands and its integrated entertainment districts, AEG entertains more than 90 million guests annually. More information about AEG can be found at About FOX Sports FOX Sports is the umbrella entity representing Fox Corporation's wide array of multi-platform US-based sports assets. Built with brands capable of reaching more than 100 million viewers in a single weekend, the business has ownership and interests in linear television networks, digital and mobile programming, broadband platforms, multiple web sites, joint-venture businesses and several licensing relationships. FOX Sports includes the sports television arm of the FOX Network; FS1, FS2, FOX Soccer Plus and FOX Deportes. FOX Sports' digital properties include and the FOX Sports App, which provides live streaming video of FOX Sports content, instant scores, stats and alerts to iOS and Android devices. Also included in FOX Sports' portfolio are FOX's interests in joint-venture businesses Big Ten Network and the UFL and a licensing agreement that established the FOX Sports Radio Network. T-Mobile Arena T-Mobile Arena, the 20,000-seat venue located on the Las Vegas Strip between Park MGM and New York-New York, opened April 6, 2016. The arena hosts more than 100 events annually including major headline entertainment, awards shows, UFC, boxing, basketball and other sporting events, family shows and special events. T-Mobile Arena also is the home of the Vegas Golden Knights, a National Hockey League expansion team and the city's first professional sports team, as well as UFC's exclusive Las Vegas arena destination. The venue, named the No. 1 venue on Billboard Magazine's 2018 Arena Power List as well as the "Best New Major Concert Venue" by Pollstar Magazine in 2016, features 50 luxury suites, more than two dozen private loge boxes, complete broadcast facilities, and other specially designed exclusive hospitality offerings and fan amenities destined to create a guest experience second to none. Toshiba Plaza, an adjacent two-acre outdoor entertainment space, features performance stages, a variety of video screens and other interactive content and display areas. Designed and built to prioritize environmental sustainability, T-Mobile Arena was awarded Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design® (LEED) Gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council in 2016. T-Mobile Arena is a privately funded joint venture between AEG and MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM). For more information, visit or follow on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. About MGM Grand Garden Arena The MGM Grand Garden Arena is home to concerts, championship boxing and premier sporting and special events. The Arena offers comfortable seating for as many as 16,800 with excellent sightlines and state-of-the-art acoustics, lighting and sound. Prominent events to date have included world championship fights between Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson as well as Floyd Mayweather vs. Canelo Alvarez as well as Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao; and concerts by The Rolling Stones, Madonna, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Bette Midler, George Strait, Justin Timberlake, Beyonce, U2, Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, Coldplay, Alicia Keys, Jimmy Buffett and the Barbra Streisand Millennium Concert. The MGM Grand Garden Arena also has been home to annual events including the Academy of Country Music Awards, the Billboard Music Awards, the Latin GRAMMY Awards, iHeartRadio Music Festival, Pac-12 Men's Basketball Championship and Frozen Fury NHL pre-season games hosted by the Los Angeles Kings. View source version on Contacts Media Contacts Michael Roth, AEGmroth@ Shannon Donnelly, AEG Global Anne Pennington, FOX Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
Fox News
18-07-2025
- Sport
- Fox News
The Basketball Tournament 2025: Teams, Schedule, Bracket, Scores, TV Channels
The Basketball Tournament is back for another year. Catch some of the best former college basketball stars with another chance to represent their team, play with fellow alums and compete against elite competition. A total of 26 games from the highly-anticipated tournament will be broadcast live on FOX, FS1 and FS2. There will be 64 teams competing for the $1 million prize, with the tournament set to tip off on Friday, July 18. Here's what the schedule looks like. Round of 64 (July 18-19) Round of 32 (July 20-21) Round of 16 (July 22-23) Quarterfinals (July 27-28) Semifinals (July 31) Championship (Aug. 3) TBT is an annual basketball tournament between teams that are mainly composed of former college stars, many of whom represent teams with alums from their same school. There are 64 teams split into eight regions competing in a single-elimination format for a winner-take-all prize. The field includes alumni teams representing Indiana, Kentucky, Louisville, Maryland, Ohio State, Syracuse, UConn and more. Many of the top participants from the 2024 event are set to return this year, including the likes of Willie Cauley-Stein (Kentucky), Montrezl Harrell (Louisville), Russ Smith (Louisville) and Yogi Ferrell (Indiana). For the eighth consecutive year, TBT will feature the Elam Ending, a format where the game clock is turned off at a predetermined time in the fourth quarter and a "target score" is set. The first team to reach that target score wins. This year's event will also introduce TBT's "Home Court Advantage", which will allow host teams to play games in their home arena all the way through the championship game. "Home Court Advantage" was determined by a race to 4,000 tickets sold. Louisville fans won the race, and will now have the right to host the quarterfinals, semifinals and the championship game as long as the Louisville alumni team continues to win. TBT's purse is a winner-take-all $1 million prize. Louisville Region Lexington Region Kansas City Wichita James Madison West Virginia Indianapolis Syracuse TBT tips off on Friday, July 18, and the final is set for Sunday, August 3. Carmen's Crew (Ohio State alumni) narrowly beat Forever Coogs in the 2024 championship tilt, 69-65. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
March Madness is unmatched. NCAA Tournament expansion will cheapen product
Tournament expansion sits squarely as the biggest item on the agenda as the NCAA Division I men's basketball committee meets in Savannah, Georgia. Any hour now, there could be an announcement that the nation's best championship sporting event, the NCAA Tournament, will be adding an additional four or eight teams. For some reason, it seems like they're clamoring to make college basketball like college football. Advertisement The Football Bowl Subdivision watered down its game with the proliferation of so many bowl games. A team that goes 6-6 is now rewarded with a trip, sometimes bowl rings for the winners, all for finishing the regular season without a losing record. What helped make the tournament's popularity explode and what turned March into madness was because it was not like college football. It was watching schools many viewers had never heard of, like St. Peter's in 2022, knock off historical giants like Kentucky. NCAA Tournament expansion ultimately won't ruin the collective love for the Big Dance, but that doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. Far from it. It should be tougher to make the tournament, not easier. Advertisement As of last season there were 35 bowl games played that were not involved in the College Football Playoff. That means 70 of 134 (52%) teams competing in the Football Bowl Subdivision made the postseason. One of the arguments present for expanding is that Division I basketball now has 364 schools. That's about 80 more schools than there were full time in Division I back in 1985 when the tournament expanded to 64 teams. Bellarmine was among a recent wave of schools reclassifying to Division I. The Knights are not a reason to expand. Had it not been for the NCAA's arbitrary transition period making them ineligible, they would have already participated in the Big Dance having won the 2022 Atlantic Sun Conference tournament. The list of new Division I schools hasn't created a plethora of new conferences taking away automatic bids. And they haven't added much in terms of winning to the mix either. According to CBS Sports, Division I schools added since 1985 have won only 19 games in the first round or later out of 2,520 games played. Advertisement A less publicly stated reason for expansion is about revenue. The NCAA could ask for a bump in its broadcast rights for more games and, in turn, pass those earnings on to the participants. A few coaches that live on the hot seat can tout making the tournament and survive another year. But those added games aren't likely to bring any added excitement. So, please forgive me if I can't get behind the expansion talk. I can't be too thrilled that a team like Ohio State, which finished 17-15 last season and was one of the first four out, will be receiving a bid if the field increases to at least 72 teams. There will be collateral damage, too. Advertisement Although the men's basketball committee is doing the voting, the women's basketball tournament will follow suit, if approved. As much as the women's game is evolving and growing, there is not an extra four or more worthy teams each season that should get bids to the tournament. Since the First Four was introduced in the women's tournament in 2022, only one of the eight teams that advanced to the round of 64 has won a game. Mississippi State won in 2023 as an 11 seed, toppling No. 6 seed Creighton, before losing to No. 3 seed Notre Dame in the second round. There has been no team like UCLA that went from an 11 seed in the 2021 First Four to the Final Four. Advertisement As it stands, the gap is still incredibly wide between the top seeds and those that sneak into the women's tournament. Expanding it will just make for more meaningless and unwatchable games. Reach sports columnist C.L. Brown at clbrown1@ follow him on X at @CLBrownHoops and subscribe to his newsletter at to make sure you never miss one of his columns. This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: NCAA Tournament expansion would hurt college basketball, March Madness
Yahoo
12-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Dick Vitale Names College Basketball Program Who 'Dominated' Transfer Portal
Dick Vitale Names College Basketball Program Who 'Dominated' Transfer Portal originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Dick Vitale has been around the game of basketball for a very long time. He began as a high school basketball coach in the early 1960s, turned to college, then the NBA in the '70s and finally started his illustrious announcing career after that. Advertisement With his breadth of knowledge about the sport, Vitale's takes peak the interest of many around the country every time he makes them. This week, he gave his opinion on the winners of the transfer portal this offseason. In this article, Vitale shared that the defending national champion Florida Gators are in the top five on his list of teams that "owned the portal." Apr 7, 2025; San Antonio, TX, USA; Florida Gators players hoist the trophy after defeating the Houston Cougars in the national championship game of the Final Four of the 2025 NCAA Tournament at the Alamodome. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images© Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images Vitale named head coach Todd Golden's Gators fourth on his list, falling behind the St. John's Red Storm, Kentucky Wildcats and Michigan Wolverines. The Washington Huskies landed one spot behind Florida at fifth. "Reigning champs didn't need quantity, just quality," Vitale said. "Enter Boogie Fland and Xaivian Lee, a backcourt quicker than an airline Wi-Fi drop. Todd Golden's chomp stays ferocious." Advertisement Fland comes to Gainesville after one year under John Calipari with the Arkansas Razorbacks. In his freshman season, Fland was one of the premier guards in the SEC, scoring 13.5 points per game to go along with 5.1 assists and over one steal per contest. He missed two months of the year with an injury but has made a full recovery since. Lee joins the Gators as a senior after playing his first three seasons with the Princeton Tigers. Last year, the 6-foot-4 guard averaged just under 17 points with over six rebounds and 5.5 assists per game. The combination of Fland and Lee in the backcourt to go with a very promising returning frontcourt has people around the country excited about what Golden's squad can do, including the legendary Vitale. This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 11, 2025, where it first appeared.
