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 16 teams that are not selected for the NCAA Tournament or the

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitational Tournament (NIT) is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Played at regional sites and traditionally at Madison Square Garden (Final Four) in New York City ...

(NIT), and who are willing to pay a $50,000 entry fee to participate. In the CBI, prior to 2020 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 2020, 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.

The inaugural CBI

The

2008 College Basketball Invitational The 2008 College Basketball Invitational (CBI) was a single-elimination tournament of 16 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I teams that did not participate in the 2008 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament or the 20 ...

was the first new postseason tournament since the

Collegiate Commissioners Association Tournament The National Commissioners Invitational Tournament was an eight-team postseason men's college basketball tournament run by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It was introduced in 1974 as the Collegiate Commissioners Association T ...

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. Tulsa was crowned the champion in the 2008 tournament.

Television

On February 1, 2016, the CBI announced an exclusive television partnership with ESPN to broadcast the Championship Series of the CBI. In the inaugural year, games were available in local markets on Fox Sports Net and DirecTV. The games could also be viewed on the official website. The 2009 tournament broadcast was changed to

HDNet AXS TV is an American cable television channel. Majority-owned by Anthem Sports & Entertainment, it is devoted primarily to music-related programming (such as concert films, documentaries, and reality series involving musicians) and combat sport ...

with four first-round games, two quarterfinal games, both semifinal games, and all three championship games being broadcast. HDNet changed its name to AXS and aired the 2013 tournament. CBS Sports Network televised the 2014 and 2015 tournaments.

ESPNU ESPNU is an American multinational digital cable and satellite sports television channel owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Disney Media Networks division of The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and the Hears ...

televised the best-of-three Championship Series from 2016 to 2019, and again in 2021. The following is an overview and list of the announcers and television networks to broadcast the tournament.

Champions

Presenting sponsors

*2008–2010: ''none'' *2011–2012: Zebra Pen *2013:

Buick Buick () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Started by automotive pioneer David Dunbar Buick in 1899, it was among the first American marques of automobiles, and was the company that established General ...

*2014–2016: ''none'' *2017:

Five Four 5 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 5, five or number 5 may also refer to: * AD 5, the fifth year of the AD era * 5 BC, the fifth year before the AD era Literature * ''5'' (visual novel), a 2008 visual novel by Ram * ''5'' (comics), an awar ...

*2019, 2021–present: Roman

References

External links