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The College Basketball Invitational announced that its 2026 tournament will not be held due to the dreaded phrase “circumstances beyond our control.” In the increasingly strange world of postseason college basketball tournaments, at least this one offered an explanation.
The CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament took a different approach last year and simply vanished. That is unfortunate because the CBI has always filled a unique niche. Having attended this several times over the years when the tournament was held at the Ocean Center, the event is chaotic in the best possible way.
Often there are massive cheerleading competitions happening simultaneously in other parts of the building, but that is part of the charm. Most importantly, the CBI gives teams one more chance to compete and players one more opportunity to extend their season.
Much like college football’s bowl season, even the so-called “small bowls” that critics claim nobody cares about still matter deeply to the players involved. The same has always been true for the CBI.
Why the 2026 tournament was canceled remains something of a mystery. The announcement provided little additional explanation. The event also does not appear on the events calendar at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, where the tournament had been held annually since 2021.
If the CBI returns, hopefully in 2027, there are a few things organizers can control.
Make it unique
Right now the tournament begins the Saturday after Selection Sunday. That timing is not ideal. College basketball fans spend Thursday and Friday glued to the television watching the opening rounds of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament.
The CBI needs to get in front of that. The level of teams being invited would already know their NCAA and NIT fate days earlier.
Here’s an idea: Start the tournament on Selection Sunday with a marathon eight-game slate. Tip the first game at 7 a.m. and keep games rolling all day until the final matchup tips after 11 p.m. Turn the entire day into a hoops festival.
Come back Monday afternoon and evening with four more games. On Tuesday, the losers go home while the winners get a day at the beach. Or send everybody to the beach, I don’t care. Either way, return Wednesday for early semifinals and finish the night with the championship game.
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Embrace the Florida setting
If the tournament is going to stay in Daytona Beach, invite more Florida schools regardless of record. Postseason tournaments do not always have to be perfectly fair.
Truthfully, very few people are worried about whether Presbyterian’s CBI bubble gets burst.
Programs like Stetson, Florida Gulf Coast, Bethune-Cookman Wildcats, and Jacksonville have all participated before. Why not make them regulars when they miss March Madness?
Add regional programs such as Florida International, North Florida, Florida Atlantic, and South Florida. Local teams mean local fans, and that creates an atmosphere.
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Make it fun
If the CBI wants attention, get creative. Add a dunk contest. Add a three-point shootout. Give fans something entertaining between the semifinals and championship game. With a little creativity, it could also become something people genuinely look forward to watching.
And if nothing else, it would once again give college basketball fans a reason to spend a few chaotic days in Daytona Beach watching hoops while cheerleaders practice routines somewhere down the hall.
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