College Basketball Crown payout format, winner's share: How much do teams make in CBC?
How much do College Basketball Crown winners make? Here's a look at the consolation tournament's payout structure and winner's share in 2026:
One team will head home with a national championship trophy when Michigan, Arizona, UConn and Illinois face off in the Final Four and national championship game this weekend. Another team across the country won't be winning a national title, but will be going home with $300,000 in name, image and likeness cash. The second annual College Basketball Crown, which Nebraska won during its inaugural tournament in 2025, is a five-day tournament in Las Vegas, where eight teams that didn't make the Men's NCAA Tournament compete for cash prizes.
REQUIRED READING: March Madness games today: Final Four schedule and game breakdowns Oklahoma, Baylor, Creighton and West Virginia already earned at least $50,000 each for reaching the semifinals of the tournament, which are being played Saturday, April 4. The championship game will be held Sunday, April 5. The CBC is a similar postseason tournament to the National Invitational Tournament (NIT), which usually features the top non-NCAA Tournament teams in a given season.
NIL, though, is shaking up which consolation tournament teams choose to be a part of, especially with the CBC featuring all power conference teams. Here's a look at the payout structure for the CBC in 2026, which features $500,000 in prize money: CBC winner's share: How much does champion make in prize money? CBC champions: $300,000 The champion of the College Basketball Crown earns $300,000 in NIL money.
College Basketball Crown payout structure 2026 Teams competing in the CBC are guaranteed to earn NIL cash prizes as long as they won their first-round game in 2026. Here's how the CBC payout structure works: CBC champions: $300,000 CBC runners-up: $100,000 Semifinalists: $50,000 each College Basketball Crown bracket, scores Here's a look at the full College Basketball Crown bracket so far, with scores for each game: Wednesday, April 1 Oklahoma 90, Colorado 86 Baylor 67, Minnesota 48 Thursday, April 2 West Virginia 82, Stanford 77 Creighton 82, Rutgers 69 Saturday, April 4 Oklahoma vs. Baylor | 1:30 p.