By: Scott Greaney (@ScottGreaney_)
The George Washington Revolutionaries have accepted an invitation to participate in the first-ever College Basketball Crown tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada, which was announced on “Breakfast Ball” on FS1 Monday morning. It’s a significant milestone for the program as GW will be making its first postseason appearance since 2017.
GW’s remarkable season, its best in nearly a decade, will continue with a matchup against the Boise State Broncos on Monday, March 31, at 5:30 p.m. EST.
For GW, this marks the program’s 20th overall postseason appearance and its first since reaching the second round of the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) in 2017. Head Coach Chris Caputo emphasized the significance of this opportunity for the team, stating after the team’s loss to George Mason in the Atlantic-10 tournament quarterfinals:
“This group of guys, the synergy that they had this year, I think the sum of their parts are better than the individual pieces,” Caputo said after the team’s 80-65 A-10 quarterfinal loss to George Mason. “They deserve to play in the postseason, and I think that’ll be great for our program.”
The Broncos, finalists in the Mountain West Conference tournament, narrowly missed securing a spot in the NCAA Tournament after falling to Colorado State.
The Broncos finished the season with a 24-10 record, including a 14-6 mark in conference play. Their impressive nonconference victories against Clemson and Saint Mary’s bolster their resume, though they do have losses in Quad 3 and Quad 4 to Washington State and Boston College, respectively. Boise State has also made the NCAA Tournament for three consecutive seasons, adding to their postseason experience.
Led by first-team All-Mountain West selection Tyson Degenhart, Boise State enters the tournament as a strong favorite to win the title. Degenhart, who averaged 17.9 points per game while shooting over 51% from the field this season, is widely regarded as one of the top all-around players in the inaugural event. The 6-foot-8 senior forward has scored in double figures in each of the last 19 games of the season, and the Broncos will enter this tournament with a chip on their shoulder after being one of the First Four Out of the NCAA Tournament and being left out of the NIT.
The College Basketball Crown has a unique postseason format distinct from the NCAA Tournament. Scheduled between the Elite Eight and Final Four, this tourney provides teams that narrowly missed the NCAA and NIT fields an opportunity to compete in postseason play. With a $500,000 NIL prize fund for semifinalists and finalists, the event offers student-athletes an opportunity to gain national exposure on a major stage.
Unlike the NIT, which features early-round games at home venues, all College Basketball Crown matchups will be held at neutral sites in Las Vegas. The first two rounds take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena from March 31 to April 3, airing on FS1. Should GW advance, the semifinals and finals will be held at T-Mobile Arena on April 5 and 6, with the championship game set for 5:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, April 6, airing on Fox.
GW’s invitation to the College Basketball Crown comes after being the only Atlantic-10 team with a .500 or better conference record to be left out of both the NCAA Tournament and the NIT. Now, the Revolutionaries have the chance to extend their best season in nearly a decade and make a statement on the national stage.
