GW Hoops / Official College Basketball Crown Thread

**Posted by GW0509** 3/17/2025 8:37 am

GW earns a spot in FS1's College Basketball Crown.

Will play Boise State in the first round on March 31st in Vegas.

Georgetown is in GW's region. Could potentially play each other in the "Final Four."

**Posted by Florida Colonial** 3/17/2025 8:41 am

Guys on Fox are saying Boise State are the best team on that side of the bracket

**Posted by GW0509** 3/17/2025 8:43 am

They're #50 on KenPom. Would be second best team GW has played this season (VCU is 30).

**Posted by Florida Colonial** 3/17/2025 8:44 am

Then he (John Fanta) picked them to win the whole thing

**Posted by gwstudent2024** 3/17/2025 8:48 am

Most interesting part of this is the fact that it'll be 2.5 weeks between the A10 quarterfinal loss to Mason and this game + the portal will have already been open for a week. Caputo said he believes they can do the portal and postseason play so we'll see how it works out

**Posted by BGF** 3/17/2025 8:52 am

I'm glad to see they're doing this tournament. We have six A-10 teams in the NIT, and while it's clearly not the big dance, I feel like this is good for the team and our program.

**Posted by dmvpiranha** 3/17/2025 9:04 am

Doesn't this tournament have some sort of NIL component? May provide motivation for guys at this point of the year after missing out on the NCAAs. Quite frankly, the Crown field is straight up better than the NIT. Boise seems more likely to be motivated than some of the P6 teams and the Broncos are in general one of the better teams in the field. It will be a good test for the team.

A potential semifinal matchup against Georgetown is intriguing should both teams make it that far. It would be hilarious that both teams would have to travel all the way to Las Vegas in order to finally play each other. Wouldn't be against seeing Wazzu again either. That last second scramble 3 still haunts me.

**Posted by Free Quebec** 3/17/2025 9:07 am

Great news!

Boise St gonna be tough. There’s only 4 P4 teams in the NiT this year, so seems like a lot opted for the Crown over the NIT. Plus Boise St was first four out and would have been a 1 seed in the NIT.

**Posted by Free Quebec** 3/17/2025 9:08 am

Also, if we win 2 games and Georgetown wins two games, we would play them in the semis.

**Posted by Gwmayhem** 3/17/2025 9:37 am

Beyond pleasantly surprised by this development. GW truly lucked out in that the NIT bids came first. This Fox tournament was conceived so that majors would have a tournament to play in, largely amongst themselves, as opposed to feeling bitter over missing the Dance and having to settle on the NIT. After doing the math, the organizers likely concluded that it would make more sense to have a GW in the field than say an NC State.

And as a bonus, we get a nice 5:30 start time to our first game while Georgetown fans will be staying up until 1:00 to watch their team.

Last edited by Gwmayhem (3/17/2025 11:03 am)

**Posted by Blue Foggy** 3/17/2025 9:55 am

Confused as to why Bonnies (tied in conference and lost to GW) got into NIT ahead of GW?

Hate to see our first game against Boise St.... I hope its not one and done....

**Posted by DC Native** 3/17/2025 10:01 am

I had never even heard of the Crown tournament until yesterday, but I would take any opportunity to play a game against a quality opponent. Boise State has a NET ranking of 44 and a KenPom of 50. Its a great opportunity for our team to play a quality opponent in a single elimination tournament. I hope they decide to just have fun with it an play loose.

**Posted by H&R..71** 3/17/2025 10:45 am

I think the timeframe wait of 2.5 weeks is fascinating for the sake of drama and priorities. Look at West Virginia! They declined the NIT and their coach might not even be with them if he takes the Iowa job. Did they have a team meeting and decide that a trip to Vegas and chance for dividing $500K make accepting the CBC invite appealing? Same goes for CC and his guys. There had to be ambivalence over balancing losing to Mason, start considering the portal, recruiting, and now preparing for Boise? Talk about a roller coaster of emotions. How does CC and this team devote the next 2.5 weeks to staying on the same page and maintaining loyalty to the team and program. A tall order IMO.

**Posted by Gwmayhem** 3/17/2025 10:51 am

Blue Foggy wrote:
Confused as to why Bonnies (tied in conference and lost to GW) got into NIT ahead of GW?

Hate to see our first game against Boise St.... I hope its not one and done....

There should not be any confusion about this. GW and SBU each played 12 OOC games against Division 1 opponents. Against schools in the top 200 of the Net rankings, GW played 2 (of 12) games while SBU played 6. Against the top 280, GW played 4 games while the Bonnies played 8. Against the top 100, the Bonnies went 2-1 while GW went 0-1. The Bonnies also went 4-0 in true road games while GW went 1-1.

Back in October, I raised issues about the schedule (as I seemingly do every year) and the overwhelming sentiment was that this year's team wasn't going to be receiving an at large bid anyway so the schedule really didn't matter. I guess it doesn't matter until it does. I guess NIT consideration isn't important until we're good enough to be left out of the field and have legitimate concerns. We are fortunate to have found a landing spot in Vegas so good for us. However, without this event, this schedule would have completely burned us. It was the worst OOC schedule in the country which is not a hyperbolic statement but rather a factual one.

With respect to scheduling, this has to start changing. Don't be surprised about getting burned when we're playing so close to fire.

Last edited by Gwmayhem (3/17/2025 1:51 pm)

**Posted by Thomas** 3/17/2025 11:01 am

H&R..71 wrote:
I think the timeframe wait of 2.5 weeks is fascinating for the sake of drama and priorities. Look at West Virginia! They declined the NIT and their coach might not even be with them if he takes the Iowa job. Did they have a team meeting and decide that a trip to Vegas and chance for dividing $500K make accepting the CBC invite appealing? Same goes for CC and his guys. There had to be ambivalence over balancing losing to Mason, start considering the portal, recruiting, and now preparing for Boise? Talk about a roller coaster of emotions. How does CC and this team devote the next 2.5 weeks to staying on the same page and maintaining loyalty to the team and program. A tall order IMO.

Great points!! With the new landscape of college basketball where EVERYONE transfers immediately after the real season ends, having a tournament start on March 31 is puzzling. I guess GW and the other participating teams see it as an opportunity for the staffs to coach games regardless of who is still on the team.

Last edited by Thomas (3/17/2025 11:03 am)

**Posted by GW Alum Abroad** 3/17/2025 11:29 am

Oh goody, Will there be a banner-raising ceremony next season at the first home game? Are there slot machines at the seats? Will Elvis impersonators singe (or sing, stupid typo) the national anthem?
Actually a little surprised a team from a non-Fox property (like an A10 team) would be invited to the made-for-TV programing filler event. Notice ACC teams Stanford, SMU and GA Tech all went to the NIT. And interesting that the Pac12(minus10) sent both its teams to Vegas, although I guess they are on the Fox dole.
So this team gets a road trip to Vegas and a game (or more) extra to play. Fine. Am I excused if I do not get too excited? (OK, if they play those twats from That School Down the Street I will get very interested, but otherwise...)

Last edited by GW Alum Abroad (3/17/2025 11:30 am)

**Posted by Alum1** 3/17/2025 11:34 am

The wait period here sucks, it it is what it is. I was very pleasantly surprised by the strength of this field and it should be a fun watch. Wish we didn’t get Boise in the 1st Round. Did they decline an NIT bid??????

Mayhem is spot on when he says the OOC scheduling philosophy has to change. CC’s stated rationale for building wins as a means to get tourney looks was completely blown up this year, in my view. It’s not about scheduling home and aways with P5’s - that’s just an excuse. It’s about scheduling more STRATEGICALLY in my opinion. Hope Lipitz takes some control over this.

**Posted by BC** 3/17/2025 11:39 am

Is the Crown tournament your good news, Rising?

**Posted by Basketball Jones** 3/17/2025 12:11 pm

all A-10 teams with a conference winning percentage >= .500
made a post season tournament.

**Posted by GWRising** 3/17/2025 12:26 pm

BC wrote:
Is the Crown tournament your good news, Rising?

Yes