Jim Nantz, Ryan Arcidiacono
 

The confetti had fallen, and Villanova senior Ryan Arcidiacono was holding his team's NCAA Championship trophy when Jim Nantz approached him. Earlier, Nantz had been on the podium to interview Arcidiacono and to host the championship presentation's broadcast on TBS.

But after the show was over, Nantz found the senior again. He started to untie his tie.

"Jim Nantz came up to me, stopped me," Arcidiacono told CBS Sports. "I just thanked him for a great tournament, everything he did. He said, 'At the end of the tournament, I always go to the winning team and I pick a senior' who has inspired him throughout the tournament.

"He gives him the tie at the end. He said it was me [this year]. I was in awe. I didn't know what to say. It was just a great honor from a really nice person."

The tradition is one Nantz started on his own. His explained its origins after the game:


"It's a personal Final Four tradition," Nantz says in the video. "The tie symbolizes a lot for me: My father, who taught me how to tie a tie. I just felt years ago I wanted to do something to honor a senior on the team that wins the title, to give them something to take home.

"I bring a new tie every year to the game and I find a player that I'm inspired by everything about them. What they do on the floor, what they do in the classroom. That was an easy one tonight."

Arcidiacono continued to wear the tie throughout his postgame interviews:


Arcidiacono also won the Final Four Most Outstanding Player award. That's a lot of hardware to bring home. Hopefully he finds a nice place to put Nantz's tie.

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