| Teams | 8 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finals site | Ocean Center, Daytona Beach, Florida | ||||
| Champions | Pepperdine Waves (1st title) | ||||
| Runner-up | Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (2nd title game) | ||||
| Semifinalists |
| ||||
| Winning coach | Lorenzo Romar (1st title) | ||||
| MVP | Kessler Edwards (Pepperdine) | ||||
| Attendance | 1,358 (1 game not reported) | ||||
| |||||
The 2021 College Basketball Invitational (CBI) was a single-elimination men's college basketball tournament consisting of eight National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I teams that did not participate in the 2021 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament or the NIT. It was held from March 22 to 24. This event marked the 13th year the tournament has been held, after the 2020 edition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In February 2021, the CBI was reported to be exploring holding its annual postseason tournament in a neutral site format rather than on campus. [1] Subsequently, the site was announced as being the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Florida. Pepperdine won the tournament.
The 2021 bracket was unveiled on March 15. [2] For the 2021 event the championship game was a single game instead of a three game series.
| Team | Conference | Overall record | Conference record | Appearances | Last bid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Army | Patriot | 12–9 | 7–7 | 1st | Never |
| Bellarmine | A-Sun | 13–7 | 10–3 | 1st | Never |
| Bowling Green | MAC | 14–11 | 10–8 | 1st | Never |
| Bryant | NEC | 15–6 | 10–4 | 2nd | 2013 |
| Coastal Carolina | Sun Belt | 16–7 | 9–5 | 3rd | 2019 |
| Longwood | Big South | 12–16 | 10–10 | 2nd | 2019 |
| Pepperdine | West Coast | 12–12 | 7–6 | 3rd | 2016 |
| Stetson | A-Sun | 11–14 | 7–9 | 1st | Never |
| Date | Time* | Matchup | Television | Score | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarterfinals | |||||
| March 22 | 11:30 am | Stetson vs. Bowling Green | FloSports | 53–52 | 101 |
| 2:30 pm | Coastal Carolina vs. Bryant | 93–82 | 75 | ||
| 5:30 pm | Longwood vs. Pepperdine | 66–80 | 102 | ||
| 8:30 pm | Bellarmine vs. Army | 77–67 | 601 | ||
| Semifinals | |||||
| March 23 | 5:30 pm | Stetson vs. Coastal Carolina | FloSports | 72–77OT | |
| 8:00 pm | Pepperdine vs. Bellarmine | 82–71 | 286 | ||
| Championship | |||||
| March 24 | 8:00 pm | Coastal Carolina vs. Pepperdine | FloSports | 61–84 | 193 |
| *All times are listed as Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4). Winning team in bold. | |||||
| Quarterfinals March 22 | Semifinals March 23 | Championship March 24 | ||||||||||||
| Stetson | 53 | |||||||||||||
| Bowling Green | 52 | |||||||||||||
| Stetson | 72 | |||||||||||||
| Coastal Carolina | 77* | |||||||||||||
| Coastal Carolina | 93 | |||||||||||||
| Bryant | 82 | |||||||||||||
| Coastal Carolina | 61 | |||||||||||||
| Pepperdine | 84 | |||||||||||||
| Longwood | 66 | |||||||||||||
| Pepperdine | 80 | |||||||||||||
| Pepperdine | 82 | |||||||||||||
| Bellarmine | 71 | |||||||||||||
| Bellarmine | 77 | |||||||||||||
| Army | 67 | |||||||||||||
* Denotes overtime period.
