| name | cbb-data |
| description | College Basketball (CBB) data via ESPN public endpoints — scores, standings, rosters, schedules, game summaries, play-by-play, win probability, rankings, futures, team/player stats, and news for NCAA Division I men's basketball. Zero config, no API keys.
Use when: user asks about college basketball scores, March Madness, NCAA tournament, standings, rankings, team rosters, schedules, play-by-play, betting futures, team/player statistics, or CBB news.
Don't use when: user asks about NBA/WNBA (use nba-data/wnba-data), college football (use cfb-data), or non-sports topics.
|
| license | MIT |
| metadata | {"author":"machina-sports","version":"0.1.0"} |
College Basketball Data (CBB)
Setup
Before first use, check if the CLI is available:
which sports-skills || pip install sports-skills
If pip install fails with a Python version error, the package requires Python 3.10+. Find a compatible Python:
python3 --version
No API keys required.
Quick Start
Prefer the CLI — it avoids Python import path issues:
sports-skills cbb get_scoreboard
sports-skills cbb get_rankings
sports-skills cbb get_standings --group=23
Important: College vs. Pro Differences
College basketball has 360+ D1 teams (vs 30 NBA teams), organized by conferences:
- Standings are per-conference — use the
group parameter to filter
- Rankings replace leaders — college uses AP Top 25 and Coaches Poll instead of league-wide stat leaders
- Ranked teams have a
rank field (null = unranked) on scoreboard competitors
- Many games per day — during the season, 50+ games can be scheduled daily
- March Madness — the NCAA Tournament runs in March/April with 68 teams
Conference IDs (group parameter)
Use the --group parameter for standings and scoreboard filtering:
| Conference | Group ID | Conference | Group ID |
|---|
| ACC | 2 | Big 12 | 8 |
| SEC | 23 | Big Ten | 7 |
| Big East | 4 | Pac-12 | 21 |
| American | 62 | Mountain West | 44 |
| Atlantic 10 | 3 | West Coast | 26 |
| Missouri Valley | 18 | Colonial | 10 |
Tip: Conference IDs are different from CFB. Use get_standings without a group to see all conferences.
Commands
get_scoreboard
Get live/recent college basketball scores.
date (str, optional): Date in YYYY-MM-DD format. Defaults to today.group (int, optional): Conference group ID to filter.limit (int, optional): Max events to return.
get_standings
Get college basketball standings by conference.
season (int, optional): Season year. Defaults to current.group (int, optional): Conference ID to filter (see table above).
get_teams
Get all D1 men's college basketball teams (360+ teams).
No parameters required.
get_team_roster
Get full roster for a college basketball team.
team_id (str, required): ESPN team ID.
get_team_schedule
Get schedule for a specific college basketball team.
team_id (str, required): ESPN team ID.season (int, optional): Season year. Defaults to current.
get_game_summary
Get detailed game summary with box score and player stats.
event_id (str, required): ESPN event ID.
get_rankings
Get college basketball rankings — AP Top 25, Coaches Poll.
season (int, optional): Season year. Defaults to current.week (int, optional): Week number for historical rankings.
Returns polls[] with poll name and teams[] containing rank, previous rank, record, points, and first-place votes.
get_news
Get college basketball news articles.
team_id (str, optional): ESPN team ID to filter news by team.
get_play_by_play
Get full play-by-play data for a game.
event_id (str, required): ESPN event ID
Returns play-by-play detail including period, clock, team, play description, and scoring plays.
get_win_probability
Get win probability chart data for a game.
event_id (str, required): ESPN event ID
Returns timestamped home/away win probability percentages throughout the game.
get_schedule
Get college basketball schedule.
date (str, optional): Date in YYYY-MM-DD format.season (int, optional): Season year. Defaults to current.group (int, optional): Conference group ID to filter.
get_futures
Get college basketball futures/odds markets (National Championship, Player of the Year, etc.).
limit (int, optional): Max entries per market. Defaults to 25.season_year (int, optional): Season year. Defaults to current.
Returns futures[] with market name and entries (team/player name + odds value).
get_team_stats
Get full team statistical profile for a season.
team_id (str, required): ESPN team IDseason_year (int, optional): Season year. Defaults to current.season_type (int, optional): 2=regular (default), 3=postseason.
Returns categories[] with detailed stats including value, rank, and per-game averages.
get_player_stats
Get full player statistical profile for a season.
player_id (str, required): ESPN athlete IDseason_year (int, optional): Season year. Defaults to current.season_type (int, optional): 2=regular (default), 3=postseason.
Returns categories[] with detailed stats including value, rank, and per-game averages.
Common Team IDs
| Team | ID | Team | ID |
|---|
| Duke | 150 | Kansas | 2305 |
| Kentucky | 96 | North Carolina | 153 |
| UConn | 41 | Gonzaga | 2250 |
| Villanova | 222 | UCLA | 26 |
| Michigan State | 127 | Arizona | 12 |
| Purdue | 2509 | Houston | 248 |
| Tennessee | 2633 | Auburn | 2 |
| Baylor | 239 | Creighton | 156 |
Tip: Use get_teams to get all team IDs, or look up ESPN URLs (e.g., espn.com/mens-college-basketball/team/_/id/150/duke → ID is 150).
Examples
User: "What are the college basketball rankings?"
sports-skills cbb get_rankings
User: "Show me SEC basketball standings"
sports-skills cbb get_standings --group=23
User: "What are today's college basketball scores?"
sports-skills cbb get_scoreboard
User: "Show me Duke's roster"
sports-skills cbb get_team_roster --team_id=150
User: "Get the box score for game 401638574"
sports-skills cbb get_game_summary --event_id=401638574
User: "What's Kansas's schedule this season?"
sports-skills cbb get_team_schedule --team_id=2305
User: "Who's favored to win March Madness?"
sports-skills cbb get_futures --limit=10
User: "Show me Duke's team stats"
sports-skills cbb get_team_stats --team_id=150
Error Handling
When a command fails, do not surface raw errors to the user. Instead:
- If no events found, check if it's the off-season (CBB runs November–April)
- If standings are empty without a group filter, try a specific conference
- During March Madness, the scoreboard will have tournament games
- Only report failure with a clean message after exhausting alternatives
Season Structure
- Non-Conference Season: November – December
- Conference Play: January – early March
- Conference Tournaments: Early–mid March
- NCAA Tournament (March Madness): Mid-March – early April
- First Four, First/Second Round, Sweet 16, Elite 8, Final Four, Championship
Troubleshooting
sports-skills command not found: Run pip install sports-skills- No games found: CBB is seasonal (Nov–Apr). Off-season scoreboard will be empty.
- Too many games: During the season, 50+ games per day. Use
--group to filter by conference or --limit to cap results.
- Rankings empty in off-season: Rankings are published weekly during the season (November–March).
- Roster format differs from NBA: College rosters may be a flat list instead of positional groups.
