An eight-team field. Loaded with talent. Half-a-million in NIL money on the line.
The College Basketball Crown returns to Las Vegas this week with some must-see stars and matchups.
Several all-conference performances will take the court in the single-elimination tournament, which tips off with first-round games scheduled for April 1-2, followed by the semifinals on April 4 and the championship game on April 5. The tournament will be played at MGM Grand Garden Arena and T-Mobile Arena with a $500,000 NIL prize pool.
The complete bracket features Oklahoma, Colorado, Baylor, Minnesota, Stanford, West Virginia, Rutgers and Creighton.
Baylor, Minnesota and Creighton highlight the 2026 College Basketball Crown Tournament Bracket
Who are the top names in this year’s College Basketball Crown, and what should fans expect to see this weekend in the desert?
Here is a breakdown of the top-10 players to watch in this year’s event.
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This 6-foot-2, 182-pound guard from New Hampshire is an elite-level scorer with the potential to be the star of this tournament. He averaged 22.8 points per game, which ranked eighth among Division I players, joining BYU’s AJ Dybantsa, Arkansas’ Darius Acuff Jr. and Duke’s Cameron Boozer as the only first-year players to average more than 22 points per contest this season. Okorie scored at least 30 points on seven occasions this season, including a memorable 40-point outing in Stanford’s 95-72 win over ACC foe Georgia Tech back on Feb. 7. He is the best pure scorer in the field and has the ability to lead the Cardinal on a run to the College Basketball Crown title.
(Photo by David Buono/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
After spending the past two seasons at Tennessee, Carr transferred to Baylor and made an immediate impact in Waco. The 6-foot-5 redshirt sophomore leads the Bears in scoring at 19.2 points per game while also contributing 5.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.3 blocks per contest. He shoots 51% from the field and sports a 39% clip from 3-point range. Carr has put up 21 or more points in four of Baylor’s last five games heading into the College Basketball Crown, including a 25-point outing against Arizona State in the opening round of the Big 12 Tournament.
A five-star recruit out of Benin, Yessoufou has lived up to his billing during his first year on campus. The 6-foot-5 guard is averaging 17.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game en route to being named All-Big 12 honorable mention this season. He has elite physical strength for a guard, but he has shown to be inconsistent at times on the defensive end of the court. His best game of the season came in a mid-February matchup against BYU when he put up 37 points and six rebounds on 12-of-19 shooting from the floor and 5-of-8 from 3-point range.
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With Colorado freshman guard Isaiah Johnson reportedly set to enter the transfer portal, a massive opportunity awaits for Hargress, who was the team’s second-leading scorer behind Johnson this season. Hargress, a 6-foot-1 junior guard from Inglewood, California, put up 14.2 points and a team-best 4.5 assists this season for the Buffaloes. He is coming off one of the best games of his career, an 18-point, nine-rebound, four-assist showing against Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Tournament. Look for Hargress to step into a leading role for the Buffs in Las Vegas this week.
(Photo by Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images)
Dix spent the first three seasons of his college career at Iowa and made the decision to transfer to Creighton last offseason. He has made an instant impact, averaging a team-high 13 points per game on the season. Dix has topped the 20-point mark in three of his last six games heading into the Crown, including a memorable 21-point, eight-rebound performance in Creighton’s 91-84 upset win over UConn back on Feb. 18.
Tyson is on his third stop in four years after spending the first two seasons of his collegiate career at Belmont with a year at North Carolina in between. He has developed as the Gophers’ most consistent offensive threat in his senior season, averaging a team-high 19.6 points per game, the sixth-highest average in the Big Ten. He is also an above-average 3-point shooter, hitting at a 42% clip from beyond the arc.
Francis, a junior guard out of Pittsburgh, is one of the top bucket-getters in this tournament. He is a crafty scorer who averaged 16.9 points per game this season, which led the Scarlet Knights. He had 30 or more points on three separate occasions this season, as well as a 29-point showing on 5-of-7 shooting from downtown in a Big Ten Tournament win over fellow Crown participant, Minnesota.
8. Honor Huff, G, West Virginia
(Photo by WJ/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Huff is not only one of the top 3-point shooters in this year’s College Basketball Crown, but the 5-foot-10 senior guard is also one of the most successful shooters from downtown in West Virginia program history. Huff knocked down 109 3s this season, which ranked third among Big 12 players this season. He led the Mountaineers in scoring at 15.8 points per game and has scored in double-figures in eight straight games.
Pack is a sixth-year senior who began his career at Kansas State, where he played for two years before transferring to Miami. He spent three years at Miami and is now in his final year at Oklahoma. The 5-foot-10 senior guard has been a scoring threat throughout his collegiate career, totaling more than 2,300 points. He led the Sooners in scoring this season, averaging 16.5 points per game while shooting 47% from the field and 45% from 3-point range.
After playing his freshman and sophomore year at S. Joe’s, Brown transferred to Oklahoma this offseason and became a full-time starter in the Sooners’ backcourt, averaging 15.3 points per game, which ranked second on the team. He led the Sooners in both assists (3.2) and steals (1.3), while shooting 46% from the field.
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