UC Riverside quietly finished with more than 20 wins during the 2024-25 college basketball season. As a result, the Highlanders earned an invite to both the NIT and CBI, which made for a rather awkward sequence of events on Selection Sunday because they accidentally accepted both.
Changes have since been made to the corresponding brackets but the fourth-place finisher in the Big West Conference was initially slated to compete in the lesser of the two postseason tournaments.
The University of California, Riverside’s college basketball program eclipsed the 20-win mark for just the second time in Division-I history this year and the second time under head coach Mike Magpayo. Its signature wins came against Cal Baptist, UC Santa Barbara, St. Thomas, Big West runner-up UC Irvine and three NCAA Tournament teams in Colorado State, St. Francis and Big West champion UC San Diego.
The Highlanders have, quite literally, never played in any of the three major postseason tournaments. Thus, the administration likely jumped at the chance to play in the College Basketball Invitational— a.k.a. the CBI. They were thrilled to accept a bid.
🚨🚨YOUR 2025 CBI BRACKET IS HERE 🚨🚨 pic.twitter.com/hTciyufBbz
— Purple CBI (@CBITourney) March 16, 2025
However, UC Riverside’s plans very quickly changed when the NIT called with the same offer. Of course, a team would much rather compete in the secondary postseason tournament over the tertiary. The administration happily accepted the opportunity. It will play against two-seed Santa Clara in the first round of the National Invitational Tournament in the Irvine Region.
Behold, the #NIT2025 bracket.
— NIT (@NITMBB) March 17, 2025
The road to Indy starts Tuesday night. pic.twitter.com/fLk4FwzhQN
Here is where things get awkward. The Highlanders obvious did not expect to receive an invite to play in the NIT and initially announced its plans to play in the CBI with a first-round bye.
That post was ultimately deleted in favor of a new announcement after a couple hours of uncertainty. The schedule also reflects the updated plans.
UCR Men’s Basketball is heading to the NIT for the first time ever! @UCRMBB has officially accepted an invitation to the 2025 National Invitation Tournament.
— Highlander Athletics (@UCR_Athletics) March 17, 2025
Full story here: https://t.co/hHU04p8iZ1#GoHighlanders pic.twitter.com/O5NQDICIgW
The CBI has since updated its plans to reflect the lack of Riverside.
🚨Updated bracket for the 2025 Purple CBI🚨 pic.twitter.com/eOoQKAEKza
— Purple CBI (@CBITourney) March 17, 2025
What a time to be alive! We are living in a timeline where UC Riverside basketball is involved in a bidding war for the postseason. It had to turn down an invite to a lesser tournament to compete on a higher level. That is a new one for a program that only moved up from the Division-II level in the early 2000s!
The Highlanders will begin their quest to become the 69th-best team in the country on late Tuesday night.