How to watch, stream Utah vs. Butler College Basketball Crown game: TV channel, tipoff time

Runnin’ Utes, Bulldogs to meet in opening game

Utah Utes guard Gabe Madsen (55). | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

The Utah men’s basketball team will open the inaugural College Basketball Crown tournament against Butler.

Tipoff between the Utes (16-16) and the Bulldogs (14-19) is scheduled for 1 p.m. Mountain time Monday at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. 

Picked to finish 16th and last in the Big 12 Conference in the preseason coaches poll, Utah finished the regular season in 11th place. The Runnin’ Utes lost their conference tournament opener to No. 14 seed UCF, 87-72.

This is the second straight season Utah has played in a postseason tournament, although they haven’t made it to the NCAA Tournament since 2016. They made a run to the NIT semifinals last season.

Utah, which played its last game on March 11, will be well-rested for the Crown.

With NIL a huge focus in college sports, this tournament is important for Utah, which is in a coaching transition after Craig Smith was fired in late February and replaced by interim coach Josh Eilert. Former Utes star Alex Jensen was hired as the new head coach on March 6 and will take over once the season ends for the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, where he’s an assistant to Jason Kidd. 

Eilert spoke of the importance of NIL with the Deseret News.

“Yeah, you’re not gonna put that cat back in the bag. I mean, it’s going in a certain direction, and either you adapt or perish and so schools are going through different ways of navigating it, but if you don’t start going forward, you will perish,” he said.

“You’ve got to kind of embrace the new professional angle of college athletics, and that’s kind of the way it’s going. This tournament speaks volumes to which way it is going, the direction of which college athletics is going.”

Utah will have all of its main players for the Crown, including many who have announced they are entering the transfer portal. They include leading scorer Gabe Madsen (15.1 points) and leading rebounder Keanu Dawes (6.3), who is the latest Runnin’ Utes player to enter the portal.

All five starters are expected to play for the Bulldogs, who finished eighth in the Big East standings. Fifth-year forward Jahmyl Telfort is the leading scorer with 16 points per game, while senior forward Pierre Brooks is next at 15.2 points. Fifth-year center Andre Screen is the leading rebounder at 5.9 per game. 

Utah vs. Butler, TV channel, live stream, betting odds

Who: Utah and Butler meet in opening round of College Basketball Crown

When: 1 p.m. Mountain time | Monday, March 31 

Live stream: Watch Utah vs. Butler live on fuboTV (Start your free trial) 

TV channel: FS1 

Betting odds: Butler -1

Odds are courtesy of DraftKings. Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.