Madness of March

Number of Tournament Games Remaining: 11

Sweet 16

Tournament Status: Day 6, Sweet 16

DC is the place to be

East Regional feels like the Final 4

From marchmadman

Updated 03/27/26, 1:00pm

Only 12 teams and 11 games remain in this year's Tournament.

But tonight is first day of the East Regional being played in Washington, DC.

First game is #1 Duke vs. #5 St. John's (7:10pm) followed by #2 UConn vs #3 Michigan State (30 minutes after).

Storied programs with some storied coaches.

For one reason or another (often legitimate), there is at least one reason to hate at least three of these programs.

Do the good guys always win?

Are you kidding?! You're living in the past, man!

Bad guys always get back on their feet and often continue to prosper. St. John's coach Rick Pitino has a not-so-squeaky-clean track record, but is now considered one of the best coaches and is loved by many.

Then you have guys like Will Wade. He's not coaching a Sweet 16 team, but he's all over the news.

Back in 2019 when it was still illegal to bribe/pay players to come to your university, Wade was head coach at LSU and was recorded on an FBI wiretap discussing a then-illegal offer to a recruit. LSU suspended Wade but left him keep his job for another 3 years before eventually firing him due to all of the investigations and NCAA sanctions.

That did not stop McNeese State from hiring him. Wade coached there for two seasons before jumping to NC State at the beginning of this season.

In NC State's first (and only) season under Wade, NC State got back to the middle of the ACC but generally did not live up to their preseason hope.

But while all this transpired, LSU got a new president and a new athletic director, both of which were at McNeese when they hired Wade.

These two worked behind the scenes to offer the LSU job to Wade before even firing their current coach. And of course Wade accepted, driving himself to the airport on the first flight out of Raleigh.

Wade is now getting paid more at LSU in an NCAA world where you can now LEGALLY pay a lot of money to recruits it's even expected!

Wade was just ahead of his time during his first go-around at LSU.

What a visionary.

Sweet 16 is tonight and tomorrow

Get your coffee

From marchmadman

Updated 03/26/26, 11:30am

The NCAA or CBS or both hate the East Coast.

Four games of the Sweet 16 are tonight (Thursday). The other four are tomorrow (Friday).

The last game for each night is "scheduled" to begin just after 10pm. The likelihood of those games starting at the scheduled time is low (I'm sure there is some betting line on that). Which means it will again be well after midnight until they are over.

Most of us have work tomorrow!

In fact, almost 50% of the US population lives in the Eastern Time Zone and another 30% lives in the Central Time Zone.

Only about 17% live in the Pacific.

If I live in California, the first game starts just after 4pm and final game is over about 9:30pm.

Wow that is reasonable!

Meanwhile we gotta drink coffee to stay up and then a ton more to get to work Friday morning.

You Californias can go sit in traffic!

"The Californians", SNL YouTube

Hawkeyes' win was crushing

Biggest loss in Bracket Pool

From marchmadman

Updated 03/22/26, 11:00pm

Iowa had the biggest upset of the Tournament thus far when the No. 9 Hawkeyes took down defending champion and No.1 seed Florida off a late three-pointer to win 73-72.

The win is sending Iowa to their first Sweet 16 since 1999, and it is the first loss of a No. 1 seed this tournament.

It also was the game with most losses in our Bracket Pool. Only 10 out of 164 brackets correctly picked Iowa to advance to the Sweet 16. The next most significant game was the No. 11 Texas win over No. 3 Gonzaga (picked by 13 brackets), then it was the No. 12 High Point victory over No. 5 Wisconsin (40 brackets).

Don't mess with Texas

First Four to Sweet 16

From marchmadman

Updated 03/22/26, 11:55am

No. 11 seed Texas became the first team in five years to go from the NCAA Tournament's First Four to the Sweet 16, beating No. 3 seed Gonzaga 74-68 on Saturday.

First-year coach Sean Miller's Longhorns, who lost five of six entering the tournament, is the first First Four team to reach the Sweet 16 since UCLA, which made it all the way to the Final Four in 2021.

This is the second year in a row where Gonzaga lost in the Second Round. They previously reached the Sweet 16 in nine consecutive tournaments, a run that included two losses in the national title game.

And that loss killed our brackets well most of our brackets. Gonzaga's loss meant a loss for 151 of our brackets. But it meant a sweet victory and huge jump in points for the 13 brackets who picked Texas to advance to the Sweet 16.

The next most impactful game on our bracket was the #12 High Point upset of #5 Wisconsin 124 brackets took a loss on that game.

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HIgh Point Panthers

We give PROPS to those that deserve it. And humiliate those that don't.

Everybody has an equal chance here. Your pick can lose and you STILL might advance to the next round. How does that work? We play the spreads. Check it out!

This is the real stuff. You might not care about most of it, but I weed out the junk and give you the good stuff, Baby!

This school is top-notch in just about everything. They even flew 200 students across country just to cheer the Panthers on.

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TOURNAMENT NEWS

Headlines

Stat(s) of the Day (cont.)

Quote(s) of the Day

Updated 03/27/26, 12:15pm

ESPN.com

Arizona rolls, hands Calipari worst tourney loss

Illini defense gets tough to oust No. 2 Houston

UH's Sampson on future: 'We all have our time'

Kaufman-Renn's tip-in sends Purdue into Elite 8

Judge: DraftKings can use tourney terms for now

Huskers' Hoiberg shoulders personnel blunder

Texas' Pope played with broken foot vs. Purdue

Wade rejoining LSU; NC State AD feels 'lied to'

Stat(s) of the Day

Updated 03/26/26, 11:00am

Duke and UConn are in the same region. One of those teams have made each of the last 4 Final Fours.

UConn is in its third Sweet 16 under Dan Hurley. The first two ended in national championship appearances.

Duke has won 5 national championships each time beating St. John's during that season. Duke plays St. John's in the Sweet 16.

9 of this year's Sweet 16 teams were there last year: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Duke, Houston, Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, and Tennessee.

At least one mid-major has made the Sweet 16 every year from 1985-2024. Zero mid-majors have made the Sweet 16 in the past two seasons. Power conferences have gone 27-4 against mid-majors in this year s bracket.

The Big Ten has a league record 6 teams in the Sweet 16, SEC has 4, Big 12 has 3, Big East has 2, ACC has one.

This is the first time since 1954 none of these teams made the Sweet 16: Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, UCLA.

Schools with both men's and women's teams in Sweet 16: Duke, UConn, Michigan, Texas

Houston is in the Sweet 16 for a seventh consecutive time, the longest active streak of any school. The record is North Carolina with 13 straight from 1981-93.

6 of the 9 Big Ten teams made it to the Sweet 16, including the ninth-seeded Hawkeyes, who finished ninth in the conference at 10-10. The Big Ten has not won a national championship since Michigan State in 2000. Current Big Ten member Maryland won the championship in 2002 as a member of the ACC. There is a possible all-Big-Ten Final Four which would be a first for any conference.

Updated 03/22/26, 10:30pm

#9 Iowa's upset of #1 Florida sent Iowa to their first Sweet 16 since 1999.

Six Big Ten teams have advanced to the Sweet 16. That is the most teams the Big Ten has sent to the Sweet 16 since the round was created in 1975.

Updated 03/20/26, 12:30am

North Carolina has now lost in the round of 64 in consecutive tournaments for the first time since 1985.

Updated 03/19/26, 9:50pm

Duke is the 8th 1-seed in NCAA Tournament history to win by 6 or fewer points against a 16-seed. Three of the previous seven LOST their next game and only one of them went on to reach the Final Four (Illinois in 1989).

Updated 03/18/26, 9:45pm

Texas has the most tournament appearances without a Final Four: 40.

Updated 03/16/26, 8:15pm

NCAA Teams by Conference:

SEC	10
Big Ten	9
ACC	8
Big 12	8
Big East	3
WCC	3
A-10	2
MAC	2

Sum of Top 4 Seeds by Region

E: 31

S: 32

W: 37

MW: 36

The lower the sum, the stronger the region.

Teams in East region this year have combined 31 National Championships.

Updated 03/2726, 12:30pm

NC State athletic director Boo Corrigan said in a news conference Thursday after HC Will Wade announced his resignation to leave for LSU: "[I] commiserate with [fans] in terms of feeling lied to. And I'd let them know that I'm as surprised as they are by what's gone on."

"As far as the resignation letter, it was an email that we received from his agent. I'm disappointed in how it went down. I really am."

Updated 03/22/26, 10:30pm

St. John's coach Rick Pitino said after the game regarding Dylan Darling's winning layup at the buzzer to beat Kansas:

"This is the amazing thing, and the funniest thing I've ever been involved with. [Darling] comes up to me and says, 'Run power,' which is a high, back-screen pick-and-roll. So, I walk away and I said, wait a second. He hasn't scored a bucket and he wants to run a play for himself . but as soon as [Darling] said to me to run power, I knew he could get to the rim because he hadn't done a damn good thing the whole night, so I knew he was going to do it."

Kansas coach Bill Self after the loss to St. John's when asked about his coaching future, knowing he has had health problems:

"I'll get back and get with family and visit and see what's going on. I love what I do, I need to be able to do it where I'm feeling good and healthy to do it fairly well. I'll get back home, and it'll all be discussed."

Updated 03/22/26, 1:00pm

Gonzaga coach Mark Frew when asked about expanding the tournament field beyond what it is now:

"Other things are broken within college basketball, but the one thing that isn't, the shining light of everything in college athletics is the NCAA tournament. I don't know why they would ever mess with that especially not with everything else that's so tragically messed up."

Updated 03/21/26, 2:50pm

In an in-game interview during a timeout, AJ Ross asked Prairie View A&M coach Brian Smith: "Coach, Florida on an 18-0 run here. What more do you need from your guys to slow this down and get into their game?"

Coach Smith: "We need some help from the lord. They're very good..."

CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS

SELECTION COMMITTEE SEED LIST

Updated 03/27/26, 12:30pm

2026 Conference Tournament Champions
CONFERENCE	CHAMPIONSHIP (TV) / CHAMPION
America East	UMBC Retrievers (24-8)
American	South Florida Bulls (25-8)
Atlantic 10	VCU Rams (27-7)
ACC	Duke Blue Devils (32-2)
ASUN	Queens Royals (21-13)
Big 12	Arizona Wildcats (32-2)
Big East	St. John's Red Storm (28-6)
Big Sky	Idaho Vandals (21-14)
Big South	High Point Panthers (30-4)
Big Ten	Purdue Boilermakers (27-8)
Big West	Hawaii Rainbow Warriors (24-8)
CAA	Hofstra Pride (24-10)
Conference USA	Kennesaw State Owls (21-13)
Horizon League	Wright State Raiders (23-11)
Ivy League	Pennsylvania Quakers (18-11)
MAAC	Siena Saints (23-11)
MAC	Akron Zips (29-5)
MEAC	Howard Bison (23-10)
Missouri Valley	Northern Iowa Panthers (23-12)
Mountain West	Utah State Aggies (28-6)
Northeast	Long Island Sharks (24-10)
Ohio Valley	Tennessee State Tigers (23-9)
Patriot League	Lehigh Mountain Hawks (18-16)
SEC	Arkansas Razorbacks (26-8)
SoCon	Furman Paladins (22-12)
Southland	McNeese Cowboys (28-5)
SWAC	Prairie View A&M Panthers (18-17)
Summit League	North Dakota State Bison (27-7)
Sun Belt	Troy Trojans (22-11)
West Coast	Gonzaga Bulldogs (30-3)
WAC	California Baptist Lancers (25-8)

Record of Conference Champions in this year's Tournament

First Four: 2-2 (almost always the case)

First Round: 9-20

Second Round: 2-3

Sweet 16: 2-1

Record of At-Large Bids in this year's Tournament

First Four: 2-2 (almost always the case)

First Round: 23-12

Second Round: 6-5

Sweet 16: 2-3

After First Round, only 9 out of 31 Conference Champions are still alive

while 23 At-Large Bids are still alive.

After Second Round, only 5 out of 31 Conference Champions are still alive

while 11 At-Large Bids are still alive.

Updated 03/27/26, 12:30pm

2026 Selection Committee Seed List

Rk	Team	Record	Rk	Team	Record
1	Duke	32-2	33	Utah St.	28-6
2	Arizona	32-2	34	TCU	22-11
3	Michigan	31-3	35	Saint Louis	28-5
4	Florida	26-7	36	Iowa	21-12
5	Houston	28-6	37	Santa Clara	26-8
6	UConn	29-5	38	UCF	21-11
7	Iowa St.	27-7	39	Missouri	20-12
8	Purdue	27-8	40	Texas A&M	21-11
9	Michigan St	25-7	41	NC State	20-13
10	Illinois	24-8	42	Texas	18-14
11	Gonzaga	30-3	43	SMU	20-13
12	Virginia	29-5	44	Miami (OH)	31-1
13	Nebraska	26-6	45	VCU	27-7
14	Alabama	23-9	46	South Florida	25-8
15	Kansas	23-10	47	McNeese	28-5
16	Arkansas	26-8	48	Akron	29-5
17	Vanderbilt	26-8	49	UNI	23-12
18	St. John's	28-6	50	High Point	30-4
19	Texas Tech	22-10	51	California Baptist	25-8
20	Wisconsin	24-10	52	Hofstra	24-10
21	Tennessee	22-11	53	Troy	22-11
22	North Carolina	24-8	54	Hawaii	24-8
23	Louisville	23-10	55	North Dakota St	27-7
24	BYU	23-11	56	Penn	18-11
25	Kentucky	21-13	57	Wright St	23-11
26	Saint Mary's	27-5	58	Kennesaw St	21-13
27	Miami (FL)	25-8	59	Tennessee St	23-9
28	UCLA	23-11	60	Idaho	21-14
29	Clemson	24-10	61	Furman	22-12
30	Villanova	24-8	62	Queens (NC)	21-13
31	Ohio St	21-12	63	Siena	23-11
32	Georgia	22-10	64	LIU	24-10
			65	Howard	23-10
			66	UMBC	24-8
			67	Lehigh	18-16
			68	Prairie View	18-17

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

WOMEN'S SCHEDULE

Updated 03/27/26, 12:30pm

GAMES	Time (ET)	TV
Sweet 16: Friday, March 27
(1) Duke vs. (5) St. John's	7:10 PM	CBS
(1) Michigan vs. (4) Alabama	7:35 PM	TBS/truTV
(2) UConn vs. (3) Michigan St	9:45 PM	CBS
(2) Iowa St vs. (6) Tennessee	10:10 PM	TBS/truTV
Elite Eight: Saturday, March 28
(3) Illinois vs. (9) Iowa	6:09 PM	TBS/truTV
(1) Arizona vs. (2) Purdue	8:49 PM	TBS/truTV

Updated 03/26/26, 11:00am

GAMES	Time (ET)	TV
Sweet 16: Friday, March 27
(2) Vanderbilt vs. (6) Notre Dame	2:30 PM	ESPN
(1) UConn vs. (4) North Carolina	5:00 PM	ESPN
(1) UCLA vs. (4) Minnesota	7:30 PM	ESPN
(2) LSU vs. (3) Duke	10:00 PM	ESPN
Sweet 16: Saturday, March 28
(2) Michigan vs. (3) Louisville	12:30 PM	ABC
(1) Texas vs. (5) Kentucky	3:00 PM	ABC
(1) South Carolina vs. (4) Oklahoma	5:00 PM	ESPN
(3) TCU vs. (10) Virginia	7:30 PM	ESPN

2026 TEAM PROFILES

High Point Panthers

This university really is top-notch. It's regularly rated top in the country in campus beauty, campus facilities, and campus dining. They even chartered a plane to fly 200 students to Oregon to watch their First Round game.

Yeah! No kidding!

Cal Baptist Lancers

This is not de ja vu.

Their colors are almost identical to Queens.

They have something else in common too.

Queens Royals

This is their first NCAA Tournament in their first year they are eligible.

But come next year, they might go the way of the dodo bird.

LIU Sharks

Fins up!

Cuz when I think of Long Island, I immediately think of Sharks.

Lehigh Mountain Hawks

Their official colors are Brown and White.

They have over a century of playing mediocre basketball.

But I bet you remember that one thing they did well

Howard Bison

This team was in the Tournament in 2023 and 2024 and two other times prior to that. No wins though.

I completely forgot about those teams.

Most will forget about this team too.

2026 MM ARTICLES

Nobody is perfect

Updated 03/21/26

Only 244 perfect brackets remain across the country, and yours ain't one of them.

Sit back and enjoy

Updated 03/19/26

We are underway. Enjoy the games. Do not worry about your brackets. You did not win.

We're gonna be winners!

Updated 03/19/26

And most important, don't get caught up thinking about winning or losing If you put your effort and concentration into playing to your potential, to be the best that you can be, I don't care what the [standings] say at the end of the game, in my book we're gonna be winners!

Going Greyhound

Updated 03/18/26

You might think being close to home for your first game is a benefit. But close is a relative term. Would you rather a 4-hour bus ride or a 4-hour plane ride and you are probably close to 7 feet tall.