This season’s men’s college basketball postseason is different from anything the sport has ever seen before.

Last April, Fox Sports and the Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) announced a brand-new postseason tournament: College Basketball Crown. The 16-team tournament will award bids to the top two non-NCAA Tournament teams in the Big Ten, Big 12 and Big East.

“Postseason college basketball is one of the most exciting times of year and FoX Sports is proud to be at the forefront of efforts to evolve and elevate the sport,” Fox Sports Executive Vice President Jordan Bazant said in a press release. “Alongside AEG and the Big Ten, Big 12 and Big East, we are thrilled to provide more opportunities for student-athletes to compete in high quality postseason college hoops and for viewers to enjoy the chase for the College Basketball Crown.”

Las Vegas’ MGM Garden Arena and T-Mobile Arena will host the tournament from March 31 to April 6, 2025, with games airing on Fox and FS1.

“We are thrilled to join Fox Sports, the Big Ten, Big 12 and Big East who share our vision and our enthusiasm to create one-of-a-kind experiences and events that benefit both fans and the entire global sports landscape,” AEG Chief Revenue Officer Todd Goldstein also said in the press release.  “The time is right, Las Vegas is the ideal destination and the College Basketball Crown is the perfect additive event to further elevate the most exciting postseason in sports.”

The time is right. College basketball’s postseason will only continue to get bigger and bigger, and the fans aren’t complaining. The more competitive postseason basketball, the better.

The National Invitation Tournament, or NIT, is changing its format to account for College Basketball Crown.

The 32-team NIT will now have four automatic bids for the top two non-NCAA Tournament teams in the ACC and SEC. The tournament’s remaining 12 automatics bids will be the highest-ranked non-NCAA Tournament teams from the nation’s top 12 conferences, decided by the NIT selection committee, which uses a variety of numbers and statistics. These 16 schools will be guaranteed to host a first-round game, while the 16 at-large programs will be forced to travel.

But what does this mean for the SEC, and specifically, LSU?

In 2023, LSU was the last SEC team looking to sneak into March Madness. Unfortunately for the Tigers, they were effectively eliminated from NCAA Tournament contention following a 70-60 loss to Mississippi State in the opening round of the SEC Tournament.

The Bayou Bengals returned home to Baton Rouge for the opening round of the NIT looking for redemption, but failed to catch fire in their 84-77 loss to North Texas. The purple and gold’s postseason hopes had ended as soon as they had started.

This year’s LSU men’s basketball squad could surprise with their speed, shooting, and athleticism, but if the madness of March isn’t in the cards yet, avoiding a one-and-done in the SEC Tournament and NIT should be at the forefront of Matt McMahon’s mind.

The Tigers qualified for last year’s NIT without the automatic SEC bid, so the extra safety net gives the purple and gold more room for error if they were to somehow worsen from last year.

However, all signs point to a development for purple and gold, and with NIT’s new format, LSU has a great shot of making a deep postseason run.