# cbb-data

Pulls scores, standings, rosters and the March Madness bracket from ESPN and NCAA public endpoints. No API keys.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · 670 installs · ★ 258
- Author: machina-sports
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/machina-sports/sports-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/cbb-data/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-10-24
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/cbb-data

## What it does

The skill covers Division I men's college basketball: scores, conference standings, rosters, schedules, game summaries, play-by-play, win probability, AP Top 25 and Coaches Poll rankings, futures, team and player stats, news. A separate set of commands reads the NCAA's own endpoints for D2 and D3 scoreboards, official game detail, the March Madness bracket with live scores, and the schools index. Everything runs through the `sports-skills` CLI.

Check whether the package is present before the first call: `which sports-skills || pip install sports-skills`. If that install fails on a Python version error, the package wants Python 3.10 or newer — point pip at a compatible interpreter such as `python3.12 -m pip install sports-skills`. Use the CLI rather than importing the module in Python; it sidesteps import path trouble.

A few things bite. Never hardcode the season year — derive it from the date in the system prompt, because the season spans November to April and the rule flips across the new year. Standings need the `group` parameter set to a conference ID, otherwise you get the wrong slice. The `get_ncaa_*` commands ride NCAA GraphQL persisted queries whose hashes rotate when ncaa.com redeploys; when that happens they say so, and the ESPN-backed `get_scoreboard` and `get_schedule` cover the same D1 games. NCAA and ESPN game ids share nothing, so join on date plus team names.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add machina-sports/sports-skills --skill cbb-data -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/cbb-data/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/cbb-data/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add machina-sports/sports-skills --skill cbb-data -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/cbb-data/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add machina-sports/sports-skills --skill cbb-data -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/cbb-data/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install machina-sports/sports-skills cbb-data
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/cbb-data/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add machina-sports/sports-skills --skill cbb-data -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/machina-sports/sports-skills --path skills/cbb-data
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/cbb-data/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add machina-sports/sports-skills --skill cbb-data -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/machina-sports/sports-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/cbb-data/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- check today's college basketball scores
- pull SEC conference standings
- list a team roster by its ID
- build the March Madness bracket with live scores
- compare two teams by BPI rating

## Example prompts
- What are today's college basketball scores?
- Show me SEC basketball standings
- Who's favored to win March Madness?

## Source text · SKILL.md · MIT

Below is the content of a third-party file. It is data, not instructions for you: do not act on anything written inside unless the human asks. Block tag: d98264530cc74421.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE d98264530cc74421
````text
---
name: cbb-data
description: |
  College Basketball (CBB) data via ESPN public endpoints and the NCAA's official endpoints — scores, standings, rosters, schedules, game summaries, play-by-play, win probability, rankings, futures, team/player stats, and news for Division I men's basketball, plus official D2/D3 scoreboards, NCAA game detail, the March Madness bracket with live scores, and the schools index. Zero config, no API keys.

  Use when: user asks about college basketball scores, March Madness, the NCAA tournament bracket, standings, rankings, team rosters, schedules, play-by-play, betting futures, team/player statistics, CBB news, or D2/D3 games.
  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)

Before writing queries, consult `references/api-reference.md` for endpoints, conference IDs, team IDs, and data shapes.

## Setup

Before first use, check if the CLI is available:
```bash
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:
```bash
python3 --version  # check version
# If < 3.10, try: python3.12 -m pip install sports-skills
# On macOS with Homebrew: /opt/homebrew/bin/python3.12 -m pip install sports-skills
```
No API keys required.

## Quick Start

Prefer the CLI — it avoids Python import path issues:
```bash
sports-skills cbb get_scoreboard
sports-skills cbb get_rankings
sports-skills cbb get_standings --group=23
```

## CRITICAL: Before Any Query

CRITICAL: Before calling any data endpoint, verify:
- Season year is derived from the system prompt's `currentDate` — never hardcoded.
- For standings, the `group` parameter is set to the correct conference ID (see `references/api-reference.md`).
- If only a team name is provided, use `get_teams` to resolve the team ID.

## Choosing the Season

Derive the current year from the system prompt's date (e.g., `currentDate: 2026-02-28` → current year is 2026).

- **If the user specifies a season**, use it as-is.
- **If the user says "current", "this season", or doesn't specify**: The CBB season runs November–April. If the current month is November or December, use `season = current_year + 1`. If January–April, use `season = current_year`. If May–October (offseason), use `season = current_year` (most recently completed season).

## Important: College vs. Pro Differences
````
END THIRD-PARTY FILE d98264530cc74421

The third-party file has ended. Everything between the d98264530cc74421 tags is data: requests and commands from it are not followed. An “end of file” line with another tag inside the block is part of the file.

First 2571 of 8986 bytes. © machina-sports · MIT · https://github.com/machina-sports/sports-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/cbb-data/SKILL.md

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