**What If College Basketball Had Its Own Champions League? Here’s the 2025 Version**
Everyone knows soccer is *the* sport in Europe. And if you know soccer, you’ve probably heard of the UEFA Champions League — that annual tournament where the best clubs from across Europe battle it out for bragging rights and a shiny trophy.
Well, this year’s Champions League final is almost here: PSG (France) vs. Inter Milan (Italy). Huge matchup. But let’s talk about what makes the tournament so cool — and what college basketball could learn from it.
In UEFA’s setup, if you win your country’s top league — whether you’re England or San Marino — you’re in the Champions League. Teams from the strongest leagues (like England, Spain, Italy, Germany, and France) get multiple slots, not just the champ. So, for 2024-25, 81 teams are in, and after a mix of auto-qualifiers and several qualifying rounds, it all funnels into a knockout-style tournament with a sweet 16, then 8, 4, and the final two.
Now imagine this: College basketball, but with that kind of setup. Instead of waiting until March to care, what if there were high-stakes games in *November* and *December*?
Welcome to the idea of the **College Basketball Champions League** — or CBBCL, if you want to sound cool.
This isn’t a brand-new idea. Sportswriters and podcasters have tossed it around since at least 2012. We’ve even run mock versions before, and we’re doing it again this year because, well, college basketball could *really* use some early-season spice.
### So How Would It Work?
There are 31 D1 basketball conferences, so every regular-season champ gets a spot. In case of a tie, whoever was the top seed in the conference tourney gets the nod.
That gives us 31 teams. To make it a clean 32-team group stage, we toss in one extra — like the reigning NCAA champ (if they didn’t already win their league). But we want more TV money, so let’s go bigger: **48 teams total**.
* Top 24 go straight to the group stage.
* Next 8 teams get a bye into Round 2 of qualifying.
* The bottom 16 play each other in Round 1.
The extra spots are handed out based on how strong the conference was last year (using KenPom rankings). Here’s what that looked like:
* **SEC** – 5 teams
* **Big Ten, Big 12** – 4 each
* **Big East, ACC** – 3 each
* **Mountain West, WCC, A-10** – 2 each
It’s all based on regular-season standings, with ties broken by conference tournament seeding. These allotments could change yearly, depending on conference strength.
This year, Florida won the NCAA Tournament, so they’re in. If they hadn’t already qualified, we’d bump the lowest-ranked at-large team to make room.
### The Teams
Teams are seeded using NCAA NET rankings. That’s what decides who goes where in the qualifying rounds. The bottom 16 play in Round 1 (think: Lipscomb vs. Southern). Winners move on to face the teams that got a bye.
We randomly picked a few upsets (just for fun) and ended up with Bryant, Norfolk State, and Southeast Missouri making it through. They join teams like Colorado State and Memphis in Round 2. More high-stakes matchups, more early-season hype.
### Group Stage Vibes
Once we have our 32, they’re sorted into four pots based on NET rankings. A random draw (yes, just like the real Champions League) creates eight groups of four.
Example pot breakdown:
* **Pot 1**: Duke, Houston, Auburn, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, Gonzaga, Texas Tech
* **Pot 4**: Akron, Bryant, High Point, Yale, etc. (teams that fought through qualifying)
Each team plays six games in group stage — home and away. Top two teams in each group advance to the Round of 16.
Imagine the drama: Bryant winning two road games to sneak into group play and then hosting Duke? Huge moment for a small school. Plus, it gives mid-majors more chances at at-large bids — and more visibility in general.
### Knockouts & Beyond
After group play wraps up, we move to the knockout rounds. The top 16 battle it out: 16 > 8 > 4 > final two. You could host these rounds on neutral courts, or give group winners home-court advantage. Either way, high-stakes, can’t-miss TV.
And yes, all games would count as part of the regular season and factor into NCAA tournament résumés.
### When Would It Happen?
Ideally, everything finishes by January 1. That means starting CBBCL games earlier than the regular season and giving eliminated teams some backup games to fill out their schedules. But hey — the buzz, the TV money, the spotlight? Worth it.
So yeah, this might be a lot of words, but the idea’s simple: Big-time college hoops *before* March Madness, with a format that rewards regular-season success, boosts small schools, and delivers killer matchups every week.
Someone just needs to pull the trigger
Imagine Duke vs. Kansas in Paris – Here’s What a 2025 Hoops Champions League Could Look Like
