4 Takeaways From Day 1 of the 2026 College Basketball Crown

MGM GRAND GARDEN ARENA (LAS VEGAS) — As the national anthem reached its conclusion on Wednesday evening, moments before Oklahoma and Colorado tipped off to begin the second annual College Basketball Crown, a call-and-response chant of “Boomer! …. Sooner!” rang out across the building for all to hear.

Scores of fans proudly sporting crimson and cream dominated the crowd as this year’s tournament began, eager to support head coach Porter Moser and a squad that arrived in Sin City having won eight of its last 11 games. On the strength of that run, along with strong roster retention ahead of the transfer portal opening next week, Oklahoma entered as the overwhelming favorite to win the event — though the Sooners didn’t play that way for most of the evening. 

A double-clutch 3-pointer from redshirt freshman forward Kuol Atak (16 points) leveled the score with 9:12 remaining, eliciting an eruption from the Oklahoma faithful. Another 3-pointer from senior guard Nijel Pack (20 points) on the following possession finally nudged the Sooners in front. Slowly but surely, the most accomplished team in the field awoke in time to survive, 90-86, in overtime. Oklahoma will now face Baylor in the semifinals on Saturday. 

Here are my takeaways from Day 1 of the College Basketball Crown.

1. Oklahoma defense clamps down when it matters

When Oklahoma head coach Porter Moser was running rampant at Loyola Chicago, guiding the Ramblers to the Final Four in 2018 and the Sweet 16 in 2021, his program was revered for its miserly defense. Two of Moser’s last four teams before taking over the Sooners finished among the top 17 nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency, according to KenPom, including a second-place finish in his final year.

The leap in competition from the Missouri Valley Conference to the Big 12 — and now the SEC — has been accompanied by a slight regression in Moser’s defensive potency. His first three teams at Oklahoma all ranked among the top 48 nationally, but last year’s group sunk to 60th and this year’s squad entered Wednesday night having plummeted to 108th overall. It looked that way when the Sooners allowed Colorado to shoot nearly 54% from the field in the opening half. 

But with the second half came a renewed focus and intensity on the defensive end, one that challenged the Buffaloes on seemingly every shot and conceded almost nothing around the rim. Moser’s group, which trailed by as many as 10, clawed back by limiting Colorado to just 24% shooting after the break, including a dreary 2-for-10 from beyond the arc. Twice, the Sooners forced strings of at least seven consecutive missed shots. 

“The last 10 games, we’ve really relied on each other playing more protect-the-paint defense,” Moser said during the postgame news conference in response to my question about the second-half improvement. “I thought we really protected the paint. They put so much pressure on you because they go downhill very hard, and then they can draw fouls. They got us in the bonus fast. For us to play that physical, still, through that foul [trouble], I thought was a credit to those guys playing together defensively.”

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2. Colorado battles attrition with early transfer departures 

Even though the transfer portal doesn’t officially open until April 7, one day after the national championship game in Indianapolis, the Buffaloes were dealt a trio of early blows from players announcing their intention to leave. That saddled head coach Tad Boyle and his staff with the challenge of reshuffling rotations and playing time ahead of the College Basketball Crown. 

The Buffaloes arrived in Las Vegas without the services of leading scorer Isaiah Johnson (16.9 points per game), third-leading scorer Sebastian Rancik (12.3 points per game) and fourth-leading scorer Bangot Dak (11.5 points per game). All three players made their transfer decisions public within a four-day span the week before this event began. 

“We’ve had a few weeks now to prepare for this,” Boyle told me after the game. “We started, obviously, when we found out that those three guys weren’t playing. I knew it would give guys opportunities that hadn’t maybe been in the rotation up to this point.”

Without most of its top-end firepower, Colorado leaned heavily on guard Barrington Hargress (14.2 points per game), the only other double-figure scorer still on the roster. Hargress scored a team-high 31 points on Wednesday against the Sooners, including 13 in the first half on an array of impressive shots: a transition 3-pointer from the top of the key, a difficult baseline turnaround and a crossover-turned stepback on the left wing. 

But after a sizzling first half that saw the Buffaloes shoot 53.6% from the floor, both Hargress and his teammates cooled significantly after the break. Colorado went more than five minutes without a field goal from the 17:47 mark to the 12:19 mark of the second half, during which time their slim advantage dwindled and, ultimately, disappeared for good. Boyle’s team bowed out after missing 24 of their final 30 field goal attempts. 

3. Flashes from Baylor stars underscore looming draft decisions

When the Big 12 released its preseason basketball poll in mid-October, the Bears were picked seventh in the 16-team league. There were reasons to be optimistic about what Baylor could do during the 2025-26 campaign after head coach Scott Drew signed a recruiting class that finished 25th nationally and added seven players via the transfer portal, two of whom were ranked among the top 40 by 247Sports. 

But five months later, when the regular season mercifully ended, the Bears had sunk to 14th in the conference standings with just six Big 12 wins. It was a shocking outcome for a team that includes multiple future pros in guards Cameron Carr (19.2 points per game) and Tounde Yessoufou (17.8 points per game). Both project as late first-round picks in the 2026 NBA Draft.

Their presence at the College Basketball Crown made Baylor one of the more intriguing teams in Las Vegas, where NBA personnel got an extra chance to watch them before draft decisions are eventually made. What those evaluators saw against Minnesota on Wednesday night were two players whose physical and athletic profiles remain wildly enticing, even if consistency eludes them at times. 

Carr, who scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds, soared for an alley-oop dunk in which his 7-foot-1 wingspan seemed to scrape the ceiling and exhibited dynamic body control for two acrobatic layups. Yessoufou, who scored 19 points and snagged seven rebounds, flashed versatility by operating out of the high post against the Gophers’ zone and showed his open-floor ability with back-to-back buckets on fast breaks early in the second half.

“As a coach, you want to start the season together and you want to finish the season together,” Baylor head coach Scott Drew told me after the game. “I think it just speaks to their character, wanting to play for Baylor, wanting to have a chance to win a championship. That speaks volumes to them. I know everybody is entitled to their own decisions and every situation is different, but I know we’re excited that they’re playing.”

4. Obi Agbim breaks out of shooting slump for the Bears

There’s no question that Baylor guard Obi Agbim, a transfer from Wyoming, is a 3-point specialist. Last season, 80 of his 184 made field goals originated beyond the arc during his lone campaign with the Cowboys. And this year, his first with the Bears, he splashed 72 of his 112 field goals from 3-point range entering the College Basketball Crown.

However, Agbim arrived in Las Vegas on a cold streak from downtown: He’d only made six of his last 27 attempts (22.2%) across Baylor’s last four games, two of which were losses. 

That changed immediately in the Bears’ opening-round blowout of Minnesota on Wednesday night when Agbim exploded for 17 points, his highest point total since scoring 19 against Colorado on Feb. 4. Agbim buried five of eight shots from beyond the arc to tie his season high for most 3s in a single game. 

He made more perimeter jumpers by himself than Minnesota did as a team. 

“Just slowing down a little bit,” Agbim told me after the game when asked what contributed to his strong shooting performance. “Playing with a pace that I’ve always played with. In the games before this, I was kind of rushing my shot a little bit. So just slowing down, taking my time when I shoot the ball. I feel like that affected my jumper really well today.”

4½. What’s next? 

Here are a few storylines to watch as we move toward Thursday’s action:  

Stanford vs. West Virginia — Had Stanford not lost to Pittsburgh in its opening game at the ACC Tournament, the Cardinal might have been in position to reach the Big Dance given their uptick over the final month. Led by head coach Kyle Smith, the Cardinal won six of their last eight regular season games, including four in a row to end the year. The Mountaineers, meanwhile, finished 18-14 overall and 9-9 in the Big 12 under new head coach Ross Hodge, who previously guided North Texas to consecutive NIT appearances the last two seasons. 

Rutgers vs. Creighton — This week marks the end of an era for Creighton head coach Greg McDermott, who is retiring after 16 seasons with the program. He guided the Bluejays to incredible heights during that span with 365 victories and 10 NCAA Tournament appearances, headlined by three trips to the Sweet 16. Now, McDermott will face a Rutgers team that bounced back from a lengthy losing streak in the middle of the season to win five of its previous nine games before traveling to Las Vegas.