Here's Why Oklahoma Chose The Crown Over the NIT for Postseason Hoops

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What better place for college basketball in 2026 to evolve its postseason than Las Vegas?

Now it’s up to Porter Moser and the streaky Sooners to literally cash in on the opportunity.

In two weeks, Oklahoma will tip off in a new tournament called the College Basketball Crown.

OU didn’t make the NCAA Tournament. Debate the details and merits of that fact however you want: Quad 1 and 2 wins, nine straight losses, winning eight of their last 11, four games under .500 in SEC play, 12-4 in non-con action, zero bad losses.

Two years ago, when OU was snubbed, Moser and his squad turned down an invitation to college basketball’s oldest tournament and chose not to play in the NIT.

But that team, despite achieving 20 wins, had been wracked with injuries to key players like Javian McCollum, Rivaldo Soares and John Hugley, and with an unprecedented five bids “stolen” by upsets in conference tournaments, OU was the first at-large team left out of the Field of 68.

In addition to three stars in street clothes at the Big 12 Tournament, despite 20 wins, the Sooners’ hearts had been ripped out by the selection committee.

“This decision, though difficult, was made with the well-being of our student-athletes as the top priority,” Moser said in 2024.

So when this year’s post-March Madness bracket reveal news broke on Sunday night that OU had again been relegated to “First Team Out” with a 19-15 record, the Sooners again declined an NIT invite.

On the surface, that rubbed a lot of OU fans the wrong way.

Why say no to an opportunity to play? What are you afraid of? How bad can it be? Fan replies in the pejorative are still coming in.

As Moser tries to establish just a shred of consistency and positive momentum for a program that has had little of either during his tenure, saying no to the NIT seemed confusing. It made sense two years ago, but this year’s team was healthy and was on a roll and seemed ripe for a potential deep run in the NIT.

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But two years ago, college basketball players didn’t have the College Basketball Crown as an option.

The Crown launched last season — when Moser’s squad finally made the NCAA Tournament — with a 16-team field.

This year’s field was reduced to eight teams — all big-name programs with large and passionate fan bases, and seven of the eight come from Power 4 conferences — and does something the NIT does not.

The Crown pays the players.

That's right. What happens in Vegas pays in Vegas — if that includes winning basketball games.

Last year’s College Basketball Crown payday was a $500,000 NIL purse — which guaranteed $300,000 to the winning team.

That’s so Vegas.

You win, you cash in happy. You lose, you go home sad.

But in The Crown, the runner-up also gets $100,000 guaranteed to split among its players. Even those who only win their first-round game and then fall in the semifinals get $50,000 per team, guaranteed.

Sorry, first-round losers are simply sent home — or, turned out to the blackjack tables, whichever they prefer.

But win that first game, and you’ll need to let your tax advisor know you had a good week in Vegas.

In the era of NIL, the NIT — the granddaddy of college basketball postseason tournaments, launched in 1938 — has sadly failed to keep up.

While NIT home teams get to keep gate receipts, concessions and parking revenue and NIT visitors are compensated for their travel expenses, the financial reward for playing in the NIT comes to about $4,000 per school per game.

In 2023, the payout was $334,000 — total, for the entire tournament field. And that goes to the university’s athletic department.

Which, while we’re on the subject: those ongoing millions of dollars that CBS pays out to conferences for NCAA Tournament units? The ones that are delivered over a six-year span, with the 2023 payout running about $339,000 for each game won (prior to the title game, which oddly pays nothing)? Those dollars go to the schools, too. Players in many cases could receive some minor NIL trickle down from that, depending on how schools label the columns in their ledger.

But in The Crown, it’s the players who get the paychecks, not the schools. Win just one game, and 15 rostered players get to split fifty grand guaranteed — that’s $3,300 per player, before taxes. That doubles with two wins, and becomes $20,000 per player if they win the whole thing.

No players in the NCAA Tournament will take home twenty grand this year just for winning — unless they have a personal NIL deal on the side.

That’s what every Nebraska player got last year for winning a 16-team bracket (first- and second-round wins didn’t pay out then, only the semis and beyond).

The total kitty is delivered in what is termed an “NIL Package,” which the school decides how to pay out (walk-ons versus backups versus starters versus all-stars, for example). Huskers coach Fred Hoiberg said last year that every player would get an equal share.

With OU’s games scheduled for April 1, April 4 (semifinals) and April 5 (championship), Moser would be wise to follow Hoiberg’s model as he tries to either retain or recruit talent for next year. The transfer portal is open April 7-21 this year, and Moser may be looking at another complete roster overhaul.

And what’s a better recruiting tool in 2026 than the promise of cold, hard cash?

All the games are televised by Fox or FS1, so what seems like a significant chunk of change is a mere drop in the bucket for the TV leviathan, which has exclusive contracts with the Big Ten and Big East and also carries Big 12 games.

The Crown also has major sponsors like Vivid Seats, Ghost Energy Drinks and MGM Grand, among others.

The once-prestigious NIT, now in its 88th year, has been on a slow road to purgatory for decades, but sealed its demise only three years ago when the tournament and Madison Square Garden didn’t renew their longstanding contract.

Now the NIT final four is played in exotic locales like Indianapolis.

Take away the prize of NYC and MSG, and the NIT can RIP.

Meanwhile, OU gets to face old conference rival Colorado (7 p.m. on April 1), and could be in line for dates with Baylor and West Virginia.

“We were obviously extremely disappointed to not be selected for the NCAA Tournament,” Moser said in a statement on Monday night, “as we felt we played some of the best basketball in the country down the stretch. … 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.”

And to get paid to keep competing? Is there a higher calling in college sports today?