WVU unlocks rare achievement with thrilling College Basketball Crown Championship win

It's rare to see a college basketball program have their season come to a close with a win. This year, the West Virginia Mountaineers are one of the few teams that have earned the chance to do so.

The Mountaineers were able to do so via the College Basketball Crown, as WVU earned a bid to the postseason tournament after missing the NCAA Tournament field, and then reeled off three consecutive wins over Power 4 competition to emerge as the Crown Champions in Las Vegas.

And with their thrilling overtime victory on Sunday, they've done something that has rarely been accomplished in program history.

WVU basketball captures third postseason tournament victory in program history

West Virginia's win on Sunday is special for the program outside of the NIL payday they earned for capturing the tournament title, as it marks just the third time in the program's history they have emerged victorious in a postseason tournament.

The last time it occurred was nearly 20 years prior, as the West Virginia Mountaineers, when the Mountaineers secured the 2007 NIT Championship. And while it was a different era and nowhere near as many players from this team are eligible to return to the Mountaineers, that group of freshmen would advance to the Final Four in 2010 for WVU.

The only other time the Mountaineers captured a postseason tournament win was during the 1942 NIT, where they emerged as champions – at the time, the NIT was considered more prestigious than the NCAA Tournament.

And while the Mountaineers hoped that this season would have ended with an NCAA Tournament appearance, capturing $300,000 in NIL and adding hardware to the trophy case isn't a bad way to finish the year – and now, this edition of WVU basketball will go down in history in a way few have done before.