{"id":6115,"date":"2025-04-08T18:16:06","date_gmt":"2025-04-08T23:16:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/butler360\/?p=6115"},"modified":"2025-04-08T18:16:06","modified_gmt":"2025-04-08T23:16:06","slug":"college-basketball-crown-recap-a-wild-week-in-vegas-ends-with-nebraska-on-top","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/butler360\/2025\/04\/08\/college-basketball-crown-recap-a-wild-week-in-vegas-ends-with-nebraska-on-top\/","title":{"rendered":"College Basketball Crown Recap: A Wild Week in Vegas Ends with Nebraska on Top"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The first-ever College Basketball Crown brought postseason excitement to Las Vegas, giving 16 teams left out of the NCAA Tournament a second shot at glory\u2014and a share of cash in NIL prizes. The games were fast, the stakes were high, and the drama didn\u2019t disappoint.<\/p>\n<p>Here are a few highlights from a classic debut tournament:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Butler Sets the Tone Early<\/strong><br \/>\nThe opening round kicked off with a bang as our very own Butler Bulldogs edged out Utah 86\u201384 in a nail-biter. The Bulldogs held off a late push from the Utes, and this was one of those games where every possession truly mattered. It was a perfect tone-setter for a tournament with close games and high energy.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Boise\u2019s 100-Point Statement<\/strong><br \/>\nHowever, Butler\u2019s run didn\u2019t last long as Boise State lit it up in the quarterfinals with a 100\u201393 win over the Bulldogs. The Broncos couldn\u2019t miss, knocking down threes, running in transition, and putting on an offensive clinic. It was a second-round classic and a warning shot that Boise was there to compete.<\/p>\n<p><strong>UCF\u2019s Gritty Underdog Run<\/strong><br \/>\nDespite missing star guard Keyshawn Hall, who entered the transfer portal and committed to Auburn mid-tourney, UCF strung together a gutsy run. They won three tight games, including a thrilling 104\u201398 shootout over Villanova in the semifinals. The Knights showed resilience, energy, and serious scoring power.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Nebraska\u2019s Comeback Crowning Moment<\/strong><br \/>\nNebraska entered the tournament with a chip on its shoulder after a late-season collapse cost them a shot at March Madness. In the title game, they trailed UCF by 14 early in the second half\u2014but roared back to win 77\u201366. Brice Williams scored 21 points, while Juwan Gary added 20 and took home MVP honors, capping a red-hot run and delivering Nebraska its first postseason title since 1996.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Monetary Prizes<\/strong><br \/>\n\ud83e\udd47 Champions \u2013 Nebraska: $300,000 in NIL<br \/>\n\ud83e\udd48 Runner-up \u2013 UCF: $100,000 in NIL<br \/>\n\ud83e\udd49 Semifinalists \u2013 Boise State &amp; Villanova: $50,000 each<\/p>\n<p>From buzzer-beaters to breakout stars, the College Basketball Crown delivered a fun, high-energy postseason tournament that proved there\u2019s still room for more madness in March\u2014and April. With big performances, real stakes, and a Vegas twist, this could be the start of a new spring tradition.<\/p>\n<p>Check out the final bracket below<a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/butler360\/files\/2025\/04\/Screenshot-2025-04-08-at-7.13.41\u202fPM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-6116 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/butler360\/files\/2025\/04\/Screenshot-2025-04-08-at-7.13.41\u202fPM-496x238-custom.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"496\" height=\"238\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The first-ever College Basketball Crown brought postseason excitement to Las Vegas, giving 16 teams left out of the NCAA Tournament a second shot at glory\u2014and a share of cash in NIL prizes. The games were fast, the stakes were high, and the drama didn\u2019t disappoint. Here are a few highlights from a classic debut tournament: [&hellip;]<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9198443,"featured_media":6117,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[11891],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/butler360\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/butler360\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/butler360\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/butler360\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9198443"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/butler360\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6115"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/butler360\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6115\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6118,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/butler360\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6115\/revisions\/6118"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/butler360\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/butler360\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/butler360\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/butler360\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}