Sixteen teams compete in this new postseason event, hosted at on-campus arenas throughout the country. The CBI provides a meaningful opportunity for teams that are deserving of a postseason experience.

The College Basketball Invitational is a single-elimination tournament up until the Championship Series, with all games being played at campus sites. The Championship Series will be a best-of-three series, home-away-home, in which the higher seed will get the first and last (if necessary) home games.

The event features eight first-round games, four second-round games, a semifinal round and then a Championship Series. The opening round of the event takes place on the Tuesday and Wednesday nights following the final weekend of conference tournament games. (March 18 and 19 in 2007). The winner of each opening round game advances to the round of eight on the following Monday, with the semifinals to be held on Wednesday of that week. The Championship Series take place on Monday, Wednesday and Friday (if necessary) after the semifinals.

Bracketing is done geographically into four regions of the country (East, West, South, Midwest) to minimize missed class time. Brackets will be balanced competitively within each region. The final selection and bracketing process takes place after the NCAA Tournament field is announced.

The 16-team field consists of teams that are not selected for the NCAA Tournament. Teams will be invited based upon their performance during their conference and non-conference schedule, as well as how well the team is playing at the end of the regular season.