By Jackson Posey | Sports Editor
Baylor is looking for redemption.
After a disappointing regular season featured three season-ending injuries and the program’s worst finish since 2006-07, the Bears (16-16, 6-12 Big 12) will have a chance to flip the narrative at the College Basketball Crown.
The Las Vegas-based postseason tournament, which began in 2025 as part of FOX’s push for exclusivity, features automatic qualifiers from three conferences (Big 12, Big Ten, Big East) and tiered NIL payouts for competing teams.
The Bears accepted their autobid offer on Monday, officially thrusting the program into an alternative postseason tournament for the first time since 2017-18, when it made the second round of the NIT.
Baylor will likely be favored in its opening match against Minnesota (15-17, 8-12 Big Ten) at 9:30 p.m. April 1. After missing five straight NCAA Tournaments, the Golden Gophers hired Niko Medved, who was widely heralded for taking Colorado State to three NCAA Tournaments in four years. So far, the improvement have been minimal, as Minnesota finished with the same record as a year ago.
The Golden Gophers win games defensively, crawling the game to 62.5 possessions per 40 minutes, fourth-slowest in the nation per KenPom, and hold opponents under 70 points per game. Their biggest offensive threat is Cade Tyson (19.6 points, 5.4 rebounds), a 6-foot-7 North Carolina transfer who shot 50.0/42.2/82.6 and finished sixth in the Big Ten in scoring.
If the Bears advance, they would face the winner of Oklahoma (19-15, 7-11 SEC) and Colorado (17-15, 7-11 Big 12) in the tournament semifinals at 12:30 p.m. April 4.
Porter Moser’s Sooners were the first team out of the NCAA Tournament field. Led by sixth-year guard Nijel Pack (16.5 points), who has started 155 career games, Oklahoma ranks 18th in adjusted offensive rating and 25th in net strength of schedule. The team ranks No. 40 in KenPom’s adjusted efficiency margin, best in the field.
The Bears felled the Buffaloes in Waco on Feb. 4, 86-67, breaking a month-long home losing streak. Tad Boyle’s squad is led by the guard duo of freshmen Isaiah Johnson (16.9 points per game) and Barrington Hargress (14.2 points, 4.5 assists). They have the lowest NET ranking of the three Big 12 teams in the field.
The semifinal winner will move on to the championship game at 4:30 p.m. April 5. The other side of the bracket features Stanford vs. West Virginia — whom Baylor beat Jan. 31 — and Rutgers vs. Creighton, whom the Bears beat in Las Vegas in November.
Baylor will tip off its College Basketball Crown opener against Minnesota on April 1 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The game will be broadcast at 9:30 p.m. on FS1.
