Eleven top mid-major conference teams converge on Daytona Beach's Ocean Center for the 17th installment of the College Basketball Invitational, tipping off March 23 on FloCollege. 

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The CBI has blossomed into the premier postseason event for representatives of mid-major leagues to extend their seasons and provide a springboard into future NCAA Tournaments. 

Recent CBI participants have made their marks in March Madness, including 2022 CBI champion UNC Wilmington and 2024 runner-up High Point appearing in the 2025 NCAA Tournament field. FAU, returning the core of its 2022 CBI roster, made a run to the Final Four in 2023. 

Who's next to leave Daytona Beach a champion and positioned for big things in the immediate future? Get to know the 2025 field and find out. 

Army West Point 

The Cadets return to the Ocean Center after appearing in the 2021 CBI. This time, under second-year head coach Kevin Kuwik, Army West Point looks to make its stay last beyond the 1st Round. 

Army features one of the most versatile playmakers in the CBI field and a dynamic scoring leader in combo guard Jalen Rucker. The three-time All-Patriot League honoree returned to the lineup after missing the entire 2023-24 campaign and didn't miss a beat, putting up a career-high 17.8 points per game. He also dished out 3.1 assists per game. 

2024 Patriot League Rookie of the Year and 2025 All-Patriot League selection Josh Scovens is putting up 15.4 points per game, while 3-point specialist Ryan Curry adds 12.4 points per game.  

Jalen Rucker, Master of Handles 🤩

📺: https://t.co/EiY8T8REet
📊: https://t.co/D81zxInz3b
📻: https://t.co/Fa5Gk1hYtD#TTD || #GoArmy || @espn || @PatriotLeagueHQ pic.twitter.com/gtS1Dc0qjZ

— Army Men's Basketball (@ArmyWP_MBB) March 7, 2025

Cleveland State 

One of three teams with a bye into Monday's games, Cleveland State won 21 regular-season games and finished second in the Horizon League behind conference NCAA Tournament representative Robert Morris. This marks the Vikings' fourth straight 20-win season and third consecutive with 21 wins, the latter all coming under coach Daniyal Robinson. 

Robinson's teams have become fixtures in the CBI, this being Cleveland State's third straight trip to Daytona Beach. The Vikings aim to break through to the championship with a tough defense that ranked 33rd nationally through the regular season. 

Cleveland State held opponents to 66 points per game, thanks in part to a 13-game winning streak in which it held 10 teams to 64 points or fewer. Dylan Arnett and Tevin Smith both average more than a blocked shot per game, while Smith, Je'Shawn Stevenson, Chase Robinson and Ebrima Dibba produce at least a steal per game. 

Elon 

Elon continues its best season since the 18-win 2016-17 campaign with a CBI 1st Round date against Army. The Phoenix reached some significant milestones in coach Billy Taylor's third season at the helm, knocking off ACC opponent Notre Dame and beating Coastal Athletic Association regular-season champion Towson late in the campaign. 

Veteran big man Sam Sherry had the best year of his tenure at Elon in 2024-25, putting up 14.5 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. Seven-foot-four rim-protecting presence Matthew Van Komen joins Sherry to give Elon the longest frontcourt in the CBI.

The Phoenix will feature a new-look backcourt rotation, providing a preview of the 2025-26 season. Elon lost Nick Dorn to injury in February, while brothers TK and TJ Simpkins are reportedly headed to the transfer portal. That leaves Andrew King, who scored in double-figures in the final two games of the regular season, with an opportunity to take over as the primary perimeter scoring option. 

It's down to five!#phoenixrising #SALT pic.twitter.com/H5qhbUtc0o

— Elon Men's Basketball (@ElonMBasketball) March 8, 2025

Florida Gulf Coast 

It's been 12 years since Dunk City captivated the nation its an unprecedented run to the Sweet 16. Florida Gulf Coast has remained a winning program in the decade-plus since. The 2025 Eagles have an opportunity to reach the program's greatest postseason milestone since that 2013 NCAA Tournament run with a CBI championship. 

FGCU finished third in the ASUN in 2024-25 behind a balanced offensive approach with four Eagles scoring in double-figures per game. Dallion Johnson's 14.9 points per game lead the quartet. Johnson's also among the most prolific 3-point shooters in college basketball with more than three triples hit per game. Meanwhile, Keeshawn Kellman and Zavian McLean, averaging 13.9 and 11.6 points per game, both shoot better than 60 percent from inside the arc. 

Complementing the Eagles' multifaceted scoring ability is a defense that held opponents to fewer than 70 points per game this season, and kept teams off of the offensive glass. FGCU ranked No. 37 nationally per KenPom.com in percentage of offensive rebounds allowed throughout 2024-25, meaning you better get off a clean look against the Eagles the first time. 

Illinois State

Illinois State carries the flag for the Missouri Valley Conference into the Ocean Center, one win away from the program's first 20-win campaign since 2016-17. The Redbirds have seen year-to-year improvement in each campaign under head coach Ryan Pedon, which in 2024-25 included a fourth-place finish in the always-tough Valley. 

Reflective of Illinois State's team improvement, forward Chase Walker garnered MVC Most Improved Player with his jump in production as a sophomore. Walker averages 14.8 points per game, matching guard Johnny Kinziger for team-high, and pulls down a team-best 6.1 rebounds per game. With Walker announcing his return to Illinois State for 2025-26, the Redbirds are well-positioned for the CBI to be a launching pad into next season. 

Walker, Kinziger, and guards Landon Wolf and Ty Pence are all sophomores. Another year with that corps leading the way should see the Redbirds' next step under Pedon be in contention for the Valley championship. Daytona Beach is a significant point on that journey. 

🧗 pic.twitter.com/zBX023O9fg

— Illinois State Men's Basketball (@Redbird_MBB) March 13, 2025

Jacksonville 

Making the short trip south to Daytona Beach, Jacksonville is equally close to its second 20-win season under coach Jordan Mincy. Mincy's four seasons with the Dolphins had produced the program's best-sustained run of success since 2008-2011 when JU reached 20 wins twice. 

All-ASUN combo guard Robert McCray has been central to Jacksonville's winning ways, particularly this season with outputs of 16.6 points, and 4.9 rebounds. 4.5 assists and 1.4 steals per game. McCray, who called Jacksonville "my home" in an excellent feature on JUDolphins.com this season, can leave the most significant legacy of any Dolphin basketball player since the great Artis Gilmore in the early 1970s. 

McCray is one of the top players to watch in the 2025 CBI, and the Dolphins will advance as far as he's able to take them. 

Manhattan 

If you don't know freshman forward Will Sydnor, you will soon. Sydnor broke out as an immediate sensation for Manhattan this season, winning MAAC Rookie of the Year with team-leading averages of 13.9 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. 

The versatile Sydnor is one of five Jaspers who average in double-figures scoring per game. Manhattan's second-leading scorer, Devin Dinkins, is a sophomore sharpshooter shooting 44 percent from 3-point range on the season en route to 13.6 points per game. The Jaspers have another multi-dimensional forward alongside Sydnor with Fraser Roxburgh, an Australian import who returned from a two-month absence due to injury to put up more than eight points and four assists per game. 

Manhattan's young rotation makes this a team to watch for its development beyond the CBI. While in Daytona Beach, the Jaspers have an opportunity for the program's best finish since the NCAA Tournament-qualifying teams of a decade ago. 

Northern Arizona

Two of the most statistically productive players in college basketball this season wrap up their senior seasons at the CBI, as Northern Arizona makes the cross-country trip to the Sunshine State with 22.3-point per game scorer Trent McLaughlin; and double-double averaging forward Carson Towt. Towt put up a regular-season ledger of 13.1 points and 12.4 rebounds per game. 

Towt led the nation in rebounding, while McLaughlin trailed only Villanova's Eric Dixon for Div. I's top scoring average in the regular season. The CBI provides a final stage for these two standouts to send out NAU with 20-plus wins for the first time since 2008, and potentially a postseason championship. 

Presbyterian 

The CBI bracket shakes out in such a way that Presbyterian's Sunday matchup with Illinois State is a quarterfinal, with the winner advancing to Tuesday's semifinal. The Blue Hose thus have a ton to gain from a tough matchup. 

Presbyterian won 4-of-5 to close the Big South Conference regular season, including knocking off a Radford team that had an impressive showing at the 2023 CBI. The Blue Hose's final two losses were by just four points to a Winthrop bunch that had High Point on the ropes in the Big South Championship Game, and an overtime loss in a rematch against Radford at the conference tournament. 

The backcourt duo of Kobe Stewart and Kory Mincy pace Presbyterian at 15.3 and 14.8 points per game. The point guard Mincy closed the regular season with games of 21 points; an 18-point, seven-assist outing; and performances with eight and nine assists in the Blue Hose's final two. 

Queens

The newest addition to Div. I among the CBI field, Queens very nearly threw the ASUN's bid to the NCAA Tournament into disarray. Queens is not through the mandatory probationary period for Big Dance eligibility, but that didn't stop the Royals from taking eventual conference champion Lipscomb to overtime in the ASUN semifinals. 

With a productive and unselfish offense — the Royals' 16 assists per game rank 42nd among all Div. I program at the regular season's end — Queens plays a fun brand of basketball that allows multiple scorers to potentially break out. Among them is Leo Colimerio, who emerged as the Royals' most consistent big-scoring threat down the stretch. He put up five of his nine 20-plus-point games in the back half of the schedule, including a 35-point effort against fellow CBI participant Florida Gulf Coast. 

His backcourt mate, Chris Ashby, went for 20 or more seven times, including a 6-of-11 3-point shooting performance in Queens' resume win over Lipscomb. 

UIW 

Incarnate Word began to click late in the regular season, going 6-3 over its final nine en route to the program's first postseason appearance in a decade. Riding that wave into the CBI, the Cardinals look to cap coach Shane Heirman's second season with the program by bringing home a championship. 

UIW's late-season surge included a defeat of 20-win Lamar. The Cardinals also took Nicholls to overtime in the Southland Conference semifinal behind Dylan Hayman's 29-point effort. 

Hayman is one of three primary scorers for the Cardinals at 14.7 points per game, joining Jalin Anderson, who had a 29-point game late in SLC play vs. Houston Baptist; and Davion Bailey. Bailey finished the regular season averaging 16.5 points per game. All three shoot better than 38 percent from 3-point range, so opposing defenses better be ready to guard sideline-to-sideline when UIW crosses midcourt. 

CBI Bracket 2025

Here's the bracket:

🚨Updated bracket for the 2025 Purple CBI🚨 pic.twitter.com/eOoQKAEKza

— Purple CBI (@CBITourney) March 17, 2025

CBI Tournament 2025 Schedule

The CBI will begin on March 23 and finish on March 26. 

Sunday, March 23 (First Round)

• Manhattan vs. UIW, 12:00 p.m. | FloCollege
• Elon vs. Army West Point, 2:00 p.m. | FloCollege
• Queens vs. Northern Arizona, 4:00 p.m. | FloCollege
• Illinois State vs. Presbyterian, 6:00 p.m. | FloCollege

Monday, March 24 (Quarterfinals)

• TBA vs. Jacksonville, 12:00 p.m. | FloCollege
• TBA vs. FGCU, 2:00 p.m. | FloCollege
• TBA vs. Cleveland State, 6:30 p.m. | FloCollege

Tuesday, March 25 (Semifinals)

• 7:00 p.m. | ESPNU
• 9:00 p.m. | ESPNU

Wednesday, March 26 (Championship)

• 5:00 p.m. | ESPN2

How To Watch The CBI Tournament 2025

The opening rounds and the quarterfinals will stream live on FloCollege and the FloSports app. The reminder of the tournament will be on ESPN2. 

Where Is The CBI Tournament 2025?

The College Basketball Invitational is played at one spot, the Ocean Center in Dayton Beach. 

2024 CBI Tournament Recap

Catch up on what happened last year at the CBI.

Watch NCAA Women's Basketball On FloHoops

The NCAA Women's Basketball is streaming live on FloHoops and the FloSports app. 

The BIG EAST Digital Network is also on FloHoops and the FloSports app.

FloHoops Archived Footage

Video footage from all events will be archived and stored in a video library for FloCollege subscribers to watch for the duration of their subscription.

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