Nebraska basketball makes a strange sort of history with CBC title run

It’s a safe bet that on Sunday evening, the Nebraska basketball team is busy blasting some Billie Eilish in the locker room. After all, anyone who thought they might have had a terrible end to the 2024-25 season should have seen them in The Crown.

The Huskers found their footing, the kind of footing that they hadn’t seen since they started the season 12-2 and looked like a sure thing to get to the NCAA Tournament. Things didn’t work that way. Thanks in large part to a rough end to the Big Ten conference play that saw them lose 12 of their final 17 games and miss the conference tournament, let alone the big dance.

Despite the disappointment of not making the tourney, the Nebraska basketball team made the most of their postseason run. And in the process made a little history. They just happen to be the only team in the country that has won an NIT Title (back when that was an impressive feat) and a CBC Title, and never won an NCAA Tournament game.

Nebraska basketball finishes strong with CBC championship and MVP honors

Some might dismiss the CBC title as an also ran tournament. And they wouldn’t be totally wrong. But the Huskers took these trips to Las Vegas seriously. They rallied against Arizona State. 

Then they mostly dominated Georgetown and Boise State. And then, after getting off to the kind fo second-half start that has doomed the Cornhuskers so often this year, they made one of their patented runs. 

In the end, the Nebraska basketball team beat a UCF squad that was at least decent, and they beat them by dominating the second half en route to a 77-68 victory. The Huskers now finish the season winning four in a row. That may not be momentum that can carry over to next winter, but it’s a spark none the less. Now the rebuilding begins in earnest. But for today, the Cornhuskers can celebrate a victory that saw Juwan Gary named the CBC MVP as he and Brice Williams end their NU careers.