Oklahoma, the top team excluded from the NCAA Tournament field, accepted an invite Monday to play in the second edition of the College Basketball Crown in Las Vegas.
Oklahoma will face Colorado in the first game April 1. Baylor, Creighton, Minnesota, Rutgers, Stanford and West Virginia also said yes to the nascent, Fox Sports-driven consolation tournament.
The bracket was revealed Monday, with two pairs of quarterfinal games slated for April 1 and 2 at MGM Grand Garden Arena. The semifinals and final will be played April 4 and 5 at T-Mobile Arena, home of the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights.
The Crown was reduced from 16 teams to eight after its debut year saw Nebraska take home the title and a $300,000 NIL package. Runner-up UCF won $100,000 while semifinalists Boise State and Villanova received $50,000 apiece.
Several teams declined to be considered for the field. The tournament had stated criteria of giving automatic bids to the top two teams not in the NCAA field from the Big Ten, Big 12 and Big East conferences — each of which have a partnership with Fox — based on their final NET rankings.
Higher-profile teams such as Indiana, Cincinnati and Seton Hall — the top available teams from their respective conferences — declined. San Diego State of the Mountain West also reportedly turned down consideration from the Crown or NIT.
Rutgers (14-19) has the lowest NET of any team in the field, at No. 134.
Oklahoma (19-15) won six straight games late in the season to make a push for NCAA Tournament inclusion before falling to eventual champion Arkansas in the SEC tournament quarterfinals.
