Oklahoma's Season to Continue in the College Basketball Crown

Oklahoma’s basketball season isn’t quite over after all.

After getting left out of the 2026 NCAA Tournament field, OU declined a bid to the NIT.

But Porter Moser’s Sooners will continue to play in the College Basketball Crown.

Oklahoma will open the Crown on April 1 against Colorado at 7 p.m. in a contest that will be broadcast on FS1.

"We were obviously extremely disappointed to not be selected for the NCAA Tournament," Moser said in a press release, "as we felt we played some of the best basketball in the country down the stretch, winning six of our last seven and eight of our last 11 against SEC teams. Our guys were devastated Sunday night. We spent time talking about whether to continue our season in another tournament and we decided as a group we wanted to do that.

“We're not ready for this ride to end and we want to keep competing together. The Crown had a very successful first year in 2025 and is comprised of all high-major teams. We're looking forward to the opportunity to travel to Las Vegas and pursue a championship."

The opening round of the tournament will be played on April 1 and April 2 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Well, the #Sooners aren't done with MBB this year 👀

Oklahoma will face former Big 12 foe Colorado in the first round of the College Basketball Crown in Las Vegas on April 1.

Baylor and Minnesota on the other side of the bracket. pic.twitter.com/For2OROXjS
— Carson Field (@CarsonDField) March 16, 2026

Teams that advance to the semifinals will move to T-Mobile Arena on April 4, and the title game will be on April 5 at T-Mobile Arena.

Both semifinals and the championship game will air on Fox.

The winner of OU-Colorado will meet the winner of Baylor and Minnesota.

On the other side of the bracket, Stanford is matched up with West Virginia and Rutgers will take on Creighton.

What is the College Basketball Crown?

The Crown is a new college basketball postseason event in its second year of competition.

Backed by Fox, the Crown invites teams that were not selected for the NCAA Tournament, cutting into the pool of schools that went to the NIT or CBI in the past.

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Last year, Nebraska won the Crown’s inaugural championship.

The Crown’s first field consisted of 16 teams, but that pool was slashed down to eight teams for the 2026 Crown.

The Sooners are the first SEC team to participate in the Crown.

Hostilities Renewed With Colorado

Oklahoma has a chance to play a handful of former Big 12 foes at the Crown.

The Sooners own an 88-48 all-time record against Colorado in a series that dates back to the 1938-39 season.

OU hasn’t squared off against Colorado since the 2010-11 season, and the Sooners last met Colorado in the postseason in 1991, when Billy Tubbs’ squad rolled over the Buffaloes 88-78 in the postseason NIT.