The Nebraska Cornhuskers are on top of the men’s college basketball world. Well, sort of.
No, there wasn’t a last-minute change to the March Madness tournament where Nebraska took the place of Florida or Houston in Monday’s final. The Cornhuskers were taking part in the first ever “College Basketball Crown” (CBC) tournament, in which the winner took home a $300,000 cash prize.
On Sunday, Nebraska etched themselves in the CBC history books and walked away a few hundred grand richer.
The Cornhuskers topped the UCF Knights 77-66 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. UCF led by as many as 14 in the second half, but Nebraska scored 42 of the final game’s 59 points. Connor Essegian and Brice Williams each had a team-high 21 points for Nebraska.
Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola was in attendance and loving the comeback from his school.
Juwan Garey took home tournament MVP honors.
Does winning this tournament bring the same level of recognition as winning March Madness? Of course not. But does emerging victorious from the 16-team field and winning 300 large feel good? Heck yeah.
Many of the games throughout this tournament were tight and high quality games. It might not give the same value as other tournaments, but its certainly a step up from the NIT and the players obviously seemed vested in winning it all.
Frankly, I say this tournament is going to be a success. If the CBC can find away to build off this foundation and keep the hype sustained, the CBC could become a spring sports fixture for years to come.
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