CBI Basketball: Why the College Basketball Invitational matters for programs

The CBI final between DePaul and South Florida will wrap up either Wednesday or Friday; but why should the non-NCAA postseason tournaments even matter in college basketball?

We just had one of the most exciting Elite Eight’s in recent memory and most of the college basketball world is focused on the Final Four, which begins on Saturday in Minneapolis. The NCAA Tournament is one of the most exciting postseason tournaments in all of sports, but it’s not the only college basketball event still ongoing. Very few people follow the other tournaments even if their own teams are involved, with most of the nation’s focus on brackets and Cinderella teams in March Madness.

On Monday night, South Florida knocked off DePaul on a last-second shot to win the first of a best-of-3 CBI championship series. A group of power conference teams made the NIT semifinals and the CIT is wrapping up very soon as well. There’s still some exciting basketball happening away from the NCAA Tournament, but why should anybody really care? If we look at recent history, there’s a significant reason why these tournaments, specifically the CBI, are very important.

The CBI began play in 2008, operating as a postseason option aside from the NCAA and NIT, mostly for mid-major schools. Beginning in 2016, the tournament’s champion series has been broadcast by ESPN. The final between DePaul and South Florida will decide the 12th CBI champion, but we have to take a closer look at some of those previous champions to make this case.

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The 2010 CBI champions were the VCU Rams, led by first year coach Shaka Smart and CBI MVP Joey Rodriguez. One year later, Smart’s Rams won five straight NCAA Tournament games and made an incredible run to the Final Four. The 2015 CBI champions were the Ramblers of Loyola-Chicago, in their second year in the MVC under Porter Moser. Just three years later, these Moser-led Ramblers made their own fantastic run to the Final Four. The following year, the 2016 CBI was won by Nevada, led by first year coach Eric Musselman. The Wolf Pack would win 28 or more games in each of their next three years, including a Sweet Sixteen run in 2018.

The CBI and the other postseason tournaments give these players and these coaches legitimate experience. They play more games, get more practice in, and put themselves in a better position to contend in the future and to build a winning culture. For a team like VCU, they used that experience to power their way to the Final Four. Moser’s Ramblers team in 2018 was far different from his 2015 CBI champs, but you bet it helped him build that program back into success.

These are just the great examples, but there has been success experienced by a number of CBI teams. The 2011 CBI final featured Oregon defeating Creighton; a pair of first-year head coaches and a young freshman named Doug McDermott getting their first postseason experience. Last year’s title went to North Texas, led by first year man Grant McCasland. While their season ended miserably, the Mean Green started this past year 15-1.

The CBI is all about building momentum and experience for these schools, a big reason why teams like Oregon and West Virginia (this year) accept these invitations. It’s a place for first-year coaches to spend more time with their programs and adjust to their jobs, and a chance for some of these players to shine on the postseason stage.

I don’t expect many people to watch the rest of the series between DePaul and South Florida, but these are definitely two teams on the rise. Brian Gregory has a young team at South Florida and could parlay this year’s run into AAC success next season. Dave Leitao is starting to bring in some solid recruits to DePaul, trying to get the Blue Demons finally back to the NCAA Tournament.

We’re not going to pretend that CBI success guarantees NCAA Tournament success, but nobody expected to see VCU or Loyola in the Final Four. Instead of making fun of the weird acronyms, tune into one of these games. College basketball games are about to end for seven months, and it’s a few more exciting contests before the season really ends. Who knows, you may be seeing one of these teams on the national stage this time next season.