College Basketball Invitational

The College Basketball Invitational (CBI) is a men's college basketball tournament created in 2007 by The Gazelle Group. The inaugural tournament occurred after the conclusion of the 2007–08 men's college basketball regular season. The CBI selects sixteen teams that are not selected for the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament or the National Invitation Tournament^[1] (NIT), and who are willing to pay a $27,500 entry fee to participate.^[2] In the CBI, prior to 2020^[3] teams competed on home courts. After the post-COVID pandemic revival, the tournament has been staged at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Florida. The CBI is a single-elimination tournament (prior to 2021, the tournament was single elimination until the final two teams were determined, after which the championship was determined by a championship series with a best two-out-of-three format). Since the tournament's 2021 revival and adoption of the single-site format, the championship is also determined by a single game. In 2023, the CBI introduced NIL funding of $40,000 to be distributed in the following manner: $25,000 to the champion, $10,000 to the runner-up, and $2,500 to each semifinalist.

College Basketball Invitational

Current season, competition or edition: 2025 College Basketball Invitational
College Basketball Invitational
Sport	Basketball
Founded	2007
Founder	The Gazelle Group
First season	2008
No. of teams	16
Country	United States
Most recent champion(s)	Seattle (2024)
Most titles	No team has won more than one title
TV partner(s)	ESPN2 (2022–present) FloCollege (2021-present) ESPNU (2016–2019, 2025–present) CBSSN (2014–2015) AXS TV (2009–2013) Fox College Sports (2008)
Related competitions	NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament National Invitation Tournament College Basketball Crown CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament
Official website	http://www.gazellegroup.com/main/cbi/

While these tournaments provide a chance for teams to continue their season, they are often unpopular among higher-profile teams due to the stigma of playing in a tertiary tournament. In 2014, Indiana Hoosiers athletic director Fred Glass declined a CBI invitation. He expressed, "We're Indiana. We don't play in the CBI."^[4]

The inaugural CBI

The 2008 College Basketball Invitational was the first new postseason tournament since the Collegiate Commissioners Association Tournament in 1974. The opening round was played on March 18, 2008, and March 19, 2008, with the second round being played on March 24, 2008. The semifinals took place on March 26, 2008. The championship was a best-of-three series with games being played on March 31, April 2, and April 4, 2008. The bracketing was done in east, west, south and midwest regions.^[5]

Tulsa was crowned the champion in the 2008 tournament.

Television

In the inaugural year, games were available in local markets on DirecTV and Fox Sports Net. The games could also be viewed on the official website.^[6] The 2009-2013 tournament broadcasts were changed to HDNet with four first-round games, two quarterfinal games, both semifinal games, and all three championship games being broadcast (HDNet changed its name to AXS prior to the 2013 tournament). CBS Sports Network televised the 2014 and 2015 tournaments. On February 1, 2016, the CBI announced an exclusive television partnership with ESPN to broadcast the Championship Series of the CBI. ESPNU televised the best-of-three Championship Series from 2016 to 2019.

The following is an overview and list of the announcers and television networks to broadcast the tournament.

Year	Network	Play-by-play	Analyst
2008	Fox College Sports	Michael Reghi	Bob Sundvold
2009	HDNet[7][8][9] (Select games in first two rounds, Semifinals, Final)	Rich Cellini	Craig Ehlo
2010
2011
2012			Keno Davis
2013	AXS TV[10] (Select games in first two rounds, Semifinals, Final)	Kenny Rice	Bobby Cremins
2014	CBSSN[11][12] (Final)	Scott Graham	Bob Wenzel
2015		Michael Reghi	John Griffin
2016	ESPNU[13] (Final)	Mitch Holthus	Sean Harrington
2017		Roy Philpott	Corey Williams
2018			Jason Capel
2019			Tim McCormick
2020	Tournament not held
2021	FloSports	Chris Hooker	Kevin Lehman
2022	FloSports[14] (First Round and Quarterfinals)	Tom James	Jim Christian
	ESPN2 (Semifinals and Final)	Roy Philpott	Joe Lunardi
2023	FloSports (First Round and Quarterfinals)	Tom James	Jennifer George
	ESPN2 (Semifinals and Final)	Roy Philpott	Joe Lunardi
2024	FloSports (First Round and Quarterfinals)	Tom James	Jennifer George
	ESPN2 (Semifinals and Final)	Roy Philpott	Mark Wise
2025	FloSports (First Round and Quarterfinals)
	ESPNU (Semifinals)
	ESPN2 (Final)

Champions

Tulsa

Oregon
State

VCU

Oregon

Pittsburgh

Santa
Clara

Siena

Loyola
Chicago

Nevada

Wyoming

North
Texas

South
Florida

Pepperdine

UNC
Wilmington

Charlotte

Seattle

CBI Champions
– 1 championship

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Most Valuable Player
2008	Tulsa	Bradley	Jerome Jordan, Tulsa
2009	Oregon State	UTEP	Roeland Schaftenaar, Oregon State
2010	VCU	Saint Louis	Joey Rodriguez, VCU
2011	Oregon	Creighton	Joevan Catron, Oregon
2012	Pittsburgh	Washington State	Lamar Patterson, Pittsburgh
2013	Santa Clara	George Mason	Kevin Foster, Santa Clara
2014	Siena	Fresno State	Brett Bisping, Siena
2015	Loyola Chicago	UL Monroe	Earl Peterson, Loyola Chicago
2016	Nevada	Morehead State	Tyron Criswell, Nevada
2017	Wyoming	Coastal Carolina	Justin James, Wyoming
2018	North Texas	San Francisco	Roosevelt Smart, North Texas
2019	South Florida	DePaul	David Collins, South Florida
2020	Canceled due to the uncertainty about the coronavirus[15]
2021	Pepperdine	Coastal Carolina	Kessler Edwards, Pepperdine
2022	UNC Wilmington	Middle Tennessee	Jaylen Sims, UNC Wilmington
2023	Charlotte	Eastern Kentucky	Brice Williams, Charlotte
2024	Seattle	High Point	Cameron Tyson, Seattle
2025

Presenting sponsors

• 2008–2010: none
• 2011–2012: Zebra Pen
• 2013: Buick
• 2014–2016: none
• 2017: Five Four
• 2019, 2021–2022, 2024: Roman/Ro
• 2023: Discount Tire
• 2025: Purple Innovation

See also

• Women's Basketball Invitational