Announcement Regarding Happening Hoops CBI/Basketball Classic Bracketology

By: Ethan Hennessy

Before I get into this instalment of the bracketology I am reporting breaking news that the Basketball Classic Postseason Tournament will not be played in the 2022-23 season. Collegeinsider.com ran a postseason tournament for mid major teams not selected to participate in the NCAA Tournament or NIT from 2009-2019. After taking a two year hiatus during the pandemic CollegeInsider rebranded their postseason tournament as the Basketball Classic this past year in 2021-22. I personally suspected that the Basketball Classic would have difficulty pulling off a tournament this year given a number of challenges such as the tournament getting well below its anticipated 32 team field last season and the CBI solidifying itself as clear third place behind the NIT both in caliber of teams in the event and professionalism of the tournament, but now it is official.

Despite the difficulties the Basketball Classic may have had last year I personally would like to congratulate and thank everyone at CollegeInsider for giving basketball fans and programs a decade plus of quality entertaining postseason tournaments. The very first postseason tournament game I ever went to was a game in the second round of the 2013 CIT, Kent State at Loyola Maryland, and that game helped to spark my love for the postseason tournaments that get shown little love come March. From early on in the days of Happening Hoops I desired to shed a light on the little guys and the CIT and CBI were the little guys of the college basketball postseason. In 2018 I began officially trying to predict the fields of both the CBI and CIT. It became a fun and unique challenge every February and March. As the years went on I saw that other fans were interested in trying to find out the fields of these tournaments, and what started as a little niche in the sport grew into thousands of people coming to my website for the weeks leading up to Selection Sunday. For that I will always be grateful to the CIT. Looking to the future I will still be predicting the College Basketball Invitational, so check back into HappeningHoops.com for bracketology updates.

January 22nd 2023 Prediction

College Basketball Invitational (16 teams Daytona Beach Florida)

• Air Force (12-8 Mountain West)
• Ball State (13-6 MAC)
• Bryant (13-6 America East)
• California Baptist (12-8 WAC)
• Coastal Carolina (10-9 Sun Belt)
• Cornell (14-5 Ivy)
• Duquesne (13-7 A-10)
• Fort Wayne (13-8 Horizon)
• Loyola Marymount (14-7 WCC)
• Queens (13-9 ASUN)
• Radford (12-9 Big South)
• Rice (14-5 CUSA)
• Saint Thomas (13-9 Summit)
• San Jose State (12-8 Mountain West)
• Southern Indiana (12-9 OVC)
• Stetson (11-8 ASUN)

Yearly breakdown

2022: 97% (36/37) Perfect CBI

2021: 100% (8/8) Perfect CBI

*2020: 88% minimum *It was later determined three days from Selection Sunday (at the time of the cancelations) I had already correctly predicted 37 of the would-be 42 teams confirmed in the fields.

2019: 93% (39/42)

2018: 75% (27/36)