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Who Will Win the College Basketball Crown? CBC Odds, Predictions & Tournament Preview

C Jackson Cowart

Last Updated: March 31, 2025 1:42 PM EDT • 3 min 16 sec read.

College Basketball Crown Odds & Predictions: CBC Bracket, Schedule, Tournament Preview
Pictured: Cincinnati Bearcats forward Dillon Mitchell (23) dunks against the Iowa State Cyclones. Photo by William Purnell / Imagn Images.

With nearly a week between the Elite Eight and the Final Four, there's a hoops vacuum to be filled. Cue the College Basketball Crown - a new 16-team tournament tipping off tonight as an appetizer to the NCAA Tournament's final few games.

With $500,000 in NIL money on the line, there will be real stakes for the coaches and players taking the court in Las Vegas through April 6 as we break down the latest College Basketball Crown odds and predictions in our tournament preview.

💰 College Basketball Crown odds & favorites to win 2025 CBC tournament

Here are the odds to win the 2025 College Basketball Crown via FanDuel, which has Cincinnati as the betting favorite over Boise State and Nebraska.

  • Cincinnati, +400 ($10 to win $40)
  • Boise State, +500 ($10 to win $50)
  • Nebraska, +500 ($10 to win $50)
  • Villanova, +700 ($10 to win $70)
  • USC, +700 ($10 to win $70)
  • UCF, +1000 ($10 to win $100)
  • Utah, +1400 ($10 to win $140)
  • Colorado, +1600 ($10 to win $160)
  • Butler, +1800 ($10 to win $180)
  • Georgetown, +2000 ($10 to win $200)
  • Arizona State, +4300 ($10 to win $430)
  • Oregon State, +6500 ($10 to win $650)
  • Washington State, +6500 ($10 to win $650)
  • George Washington, +8500 ($10 to win $850)
  • Tulane, +10000 ($10 to win $1,000)
  • DePaul, +11000 ($10 to win $1,100)

👉 Want to bet on the NCAA Tournament? Check out our March Madness predictions.    

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🏆 College Basketball Crown bracket, full schedule & odds for 1st round

Here's the bracket for the 2025 College Basketball Crown, along with a full schedule and odds for the first round of the tournament (all listed times are Eastern Time):

2025 College Basketball Crown bracket and full schedule
2025 College Basketball Crown bracket and full schedule

📅 Monday's CBC schedule & betting lines

  • Utah (-1.5, 155.5) vs. Butler, 3 p.m. (FS1)
  • George Washington vs. Boise State (-7.5, 141.5), 5:30 p.m. (FS1)
  • Nebraska (-5.5, 153.5) vs. Arizona State, 8:30 p.m. (FS1)
  • Georgetown (-3.5, 158.5) vs. Washington State, 11 p.m. (FS1)

📅 Tuesday's CBC schedule & betting lines

  • DePaul vs. Cincinnati (-8.5, 139.5), 3 p.m. (FS1)
  • Oregon State vs. UFC (-5.5, 159.5), 5:30 p.m. (FS1)
  • Colorado vs. Villanova (-3.5, 140.5), 8:30 p.m. (FS1)
  • Tulane vs. USC (-7.5, 153.5), 11 p.m. (FS1)

📜 How does the College Basketball Crown work? Prize pool & format

Much like the NCAA Tournament, the College Basketball Crown is a single-elimination tournament featuring 16 teams from seven different conferences - including a combined 11 teams from three power conferences in the Big 12, Big East, and Big Ten.

The biggest twist? There's half a million dollars on the line for the programs that reach the final few rounds of this inaugural tournament, which looks to take advantage of the hype around college basketball between the Elite Eight and Final Four.

Here's a look at the payout structure for the winning teams:

🥇 Champion: $300,000
🥈 Runner-up: $100,000
🥉 Semifinalists: $50,000 each

The tournament runs from Monday, March 31, through Sunday, April 6. Games will be hosted at MGM Grand Garden Arena and T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas; FOX will broadcast the semifinals and championship with FS1 showing the first two rounds.

👑 Who will win the College Basketball Crown in 2025?

College Basketball Crown Odds & Tournament Preview: Bracket, Schedule, Predictions & More
Pictured: Nebraska Cornhuskers guard Brice Williams (3) dribbles. Photo by Dylan Widger / Imagn Images.

There are only two teams in this tournament ranked inside the top 50 by KenPom's adjusted efficiency margin: Boise State and Nebraska. The Broncos have the better resume on paper, but I've learned my lesson trusting teams from the Mountain West, which went 2-4 in the Big Dance with zero Sweet 16 teams.

Meanwhile, Nebraska lost its final five games to miss out on March Madness but beat four NCAA Tournament teams earlier in the season and still fielded a top-50 defense across the entire campaign. The Cornhuskers are also one of the most experienced teams in the field with a strong inside attack behind seniors Brice Williams (6-7) and Juwan Gary (6-6).

📊 Nebraska's odds to win College Basketball Crown: +500 via FanDuel

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📺 How to watch the 2025 College Basketball Crown: TV schedule

1️⃣ 1st round + quarterfinals: FS1
🏆 Semifinals + championship: FOX
💻 Streaming: FOX Sports App

💰 March Madness betting odds pages

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Women's March Madness oddsMarch Madness MVP predictions
Final Four oddsMarch Madness prop bets

👑 Best March Madness betting sites

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Written By:
C Jackson Cowart
C Jackson Cowart is a publishing editor and lead writer for Sportsbook Review. An award-winning writer, reporter, and editor with a decade of sports media experience, "C-Jax" has worked with ESPN, Forbes, theScore, and various daily newspapers before joining the Sportsbook Review team. He's a proud graduate of the University of North Carolina, where he served as a beat writer for the Tar Heels' championship run through the NCAA men's basketball tournament in 2017. Jackson has spent the last five years covering sports betting as a predictive analyst, features writer, and industry reporter. Since joining the team in 2023, he's played a key role in Sportsbook Review's coverage of the Super Bowl, March Madness, and NBA playoffs while serving as the lead writer for the growing WNBA and NASCAR betting scenes. Though he's cashed some big bets over the years -- including Lamar Jackson to win MVP (twice) -- he's still haunted by enough second-place bet slips to wallpaper his home office. While Jackson is a committed "process over results" bettor with a keen eye for advanced stats and subtle bias in futures markets, he also embraces sports betting as a vehicle for entertainment and personal investment. He's written about everything from hot dogs to groundhogs and still hasn't forgiven his "inside source" for a sabotaged bet on the Gatorade color in Super Bowl LV.