Madness of March

Number of Tournament Games Remaining: 47

We're gonna be winners!

Tournament Status: First Round, Day 2

Key Dates (all times Eastern)
Hat Pool picks available	Hat Pool 4 still available
Bracket Pool brackets available	CLOSED
ENTRIES DUE	Squares/Blocks still available
Tournament Begins	UNDERWAY

*** Hat Pool 4 still has picks remaining. You can still get random picks of teams in games that have not started at time of request. ***

*** The Squares Pool (Block Pool) still has blocks available and it's FREE. It will remain open until all blocks are claimed. ***

We are underway!

Now sit back and relax

From marchmadman

Updated 03/19/26, 1:00pm

This website and all of the standings will be updated frequently. The Hat Pools will be updated after a group of games finish. The other pools are supposed to be updated almost immediately. But those standings are updated by a third-party vendor on a wonky platform that is (mostly) free.

You get what you pay for. And you don't have to pay much to participate in these pools. In fact, our new Squares/Block pool was free. But somehow that did not "sell out".

If you have any issues or notice any bad links, please feel free to contact me immediately. I will do my best to address your issue, unless of course I am already in the Caribbean with all of your money.

In the meantime please continue to GET ME YOUR ENTRY FEES if you have not done so already. I need your money to pay for these Pina Coladas.

Any of the following payment methods work (in order by preference):

1. PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/brianbaldwin

2. Venmo: https://venmo.com/BrianBaldwin570

3. In person

4. US Postal Service (it still has value)

Good Luck!

GOOD STUFF

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Conference Championships

Selection Committee Rankings

Lehigh Mountain Hawks

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!

Their official colors are Brown and White. They have over a century of mediocre basketball. But I bet you remember that one thing they did well

Bracket Pool >>

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Tournament News >>

Lehigh >>

TOURNAMENT NEWS

Headlines

Stat(s) of the Day (cont.)

Quote(s) of the Day

Updated 03/20/26, 12:00pm

ESPN.com

Amid scandal, CSUB eyes USC's Lee, sources say

UNC's Davis: Fatigue not to blame for collapse

Duke dodges scare, tips cap to McNamara, Siena

Sources: W. Michigan to hire UTRGV's Fennell

Tuskegee coach files suit vs. Morehouse, officers

BYU's Dybantsa to mull future in upcoming weeks

Georgia Tech names ex-Troy coach Cross as HC

Johnston, High Point stun 5th-seeded Badgers

Stat(s) of the Day

Updated 03/20/26, 12:30am

Penn has not won a Tournament game since 1994.

#11 VCU came back from a 19 point deficit to win against #6 UNC, 82-78 a record for a Round of 64 comeback.

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 03/19/26, 4:50pm

Before today, Nebraska had been the only major conference school without a win in the men's NCAA tournament. Among all conferences, Boise State has the most tourney losses without a win (0-10).

High Point's Chase Johnston had not hit a 2-pointer ALL SEASON until the eventual game-winning layup against Wisconsin. He is a 3-pt specialist, and prior to this game, he was 64-132 (49%) from three and 0-4 from two.

Miami (OH) and High Point were the only 30-win teams to not earn top-3 seeds.

Both won as underdogs in their NCAA tournament openers.

Updated 03/19/26, 7:30am

Miami OH had its first double-digit win in an NCAA tournament game in program history last nignt, beating SMU 89-79 in the First Four round.

Updated 03/18/26, 9:45pm

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

Updated 03/16/26, 8:15pm

Cal Baptist is making their first appearance in Tourney as the last Western Athletic Conference champion the WAC is rebranding as the United Athletic Conference next season.

Cal Baptist began transition from DII to DI in 2018 and became eligible for postseason 3 seasons ago. They will be joining the Big West Conference next year.

Hofstra's last appearance in tournament was when current Hofstra coach Speedy Claxton was playing for then coach Jay Wright in 2001.

Updated 03/16/26, 8:15pm

Rick Barnes is the fourth coach to reach 30 or more tournaments.

Idaho won the Big Sky Tournament as a 7 seed, making their first appearance since 1990.

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 03/15/26, 10:30pm

Queens University (in NC, not NYC), is making its first appearance in the NCAA tournament after qualifying in its first year of eligibility.

Fran McCaffery, fired last year after 15 seasons at Iowa, is taking Penn to the Tourney in his first year there. McCaffrey has taken 5 teams the tournament: Penn, Iowa, Siena, UNC Greensboro, and Lehigh.

Miami (OH) becomes the first MAC school to receive an at-large bid since they did it 27 years ago. After having only 1 loss this season, they were relegated to a play-in game in Dayton only 45 miles away.

Santa Clara is in the Tournament for the first time since 1996. This is the fourth team that Santa Clara coach Herb Sendek will take to the Tournament after previously leading Miami (OH), NC State and Arizona State there.

TJ Power scored 44 of Penn s 88 points to lead the Quakers to their first NCAA Tournament berth since 2018. His 44 points are the 2nd most in any men s conference tournament final over the last 30 seasons.

Duke is the first school in ACC history to win a football, women's basketball and men's basketball title in the same year.

Updated 03/15/26, 8:00pm

Duke, UConn, Kansas, UCLA and Michigan State are ALL in the East Region in the men's bracket. Those 5 schools have combined for 496 tournament wins and 28 national championships (excluding vacated wins/titles).

Updated 03/20/26, 12:30am

Tom Izzo on his enjoyment and appreciation for hard work: "Tonight, I can't think of anything more fun than going back and watching film until I can't stay up."

And that was genuine.

Hofstra Head Coach Speedy Claxton on preparing for Alabama: "I told our guys think of William and Mary on steroids."

Updated 03/19/26, 9:45pm

#12 High Point HC Flynn Clayman after upsetting #5 Wisconsin:

"It's pretty obvious to me that something has to be done about these non-conference scheduling. High Point and Miami (Ohio) are 2-0 in Quad 1 games. We couldn't get games. They couldn't get games. Akron couldn't get games. UNCW couldn't get games. Belmont couldn't get games. We won 22 of our last 23 games, and we didn't move up one spot in the metrics...We won 25 games by double digits. That team right there is a fantastic team that beat 5 Top-10 teams. If we could get games like this on neutral courts and some home games, I think we'd know really who are the best teams."

Duke coach Jon Scheyer on Siena coach Gerry McNamara after the #1 Blue Devils come back from down 13 to avoid a shocking upset and beat the #16 Saints in the first round 71-65:

"I've known GMac a long time He outcoached me It took everything we had to win it"

Updated 03/1926, 7:30am

NC State's HC Will Wade after losing in the Play-in game:

"Disappointing end to a pretty disappointing season for us, the way I look at it. We haven't been very good in close games. We hadn't earned the right to win close games, and our season ended very similarly to the reason we're sitting in Dayton. You are who you are in pressure moments, and we tried to mask some stuff, and we couldn't do it. So, that's why we're here, and that's why we're heading home."

You paid these players a lot of money to play for you.

But that's something you have been doing long before NIL was a thing.

Updated 03/18/26, 9:30pm

Penn head coach Fran McCaffery on the status of his top two leading scorers:

"TJ Power is sick. We'll see... We really won't know until tomorrow."

"Ethan Roberts has a concussion. He's not playing... His health and welfare is our priority."

Updated 03/18/26, 12:10am

Texas coach Sean Miller after holding on to win their First Four game against NC State:

"One thing about the tournament, it can bring some anxiety."

CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS

SELECTION COMMITTEE SEED LIST

Updated 03/20/26, 12:40am

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: 5-10

Updated 03/20/26, 12:40am

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 03/20/26, 11:30am

GAMES	Time (ET)	TV
First Round: Friday, March 20
(10) Santa Clara vs. (7) Kentucky	12:15 PM	CBS
(12) Akron vs. (5) Texas Tech	12:40 PM	truTV
(16) LIU vs. (1) Arizona	1:30 PM	TNT
(14) Wright State vs. (3) Virginia	1:50 PM	TBS
(15) Tennessee State vs. (2) Iowa State	2:50 PM	CBS
(13) Hofstra vs. (4) Alabama	3:15 PM	truTV
(9) Utah State vs. (8) Villanova	4:10 PM	TNT
(11) Miami (OH) / ~~SMU~~ vs. (6) Tennessee	4:25 PM	TBS
(9) Iowa vs. (8) Clemson	6:50 PM	TNT
(12) Northern Iowa vs. (5) St. John's	7:10 PM	CBS
(10) UCF vs. (7) UCLA	7:25 PM	TBS
(15) Queens (NC) vs. (2) Purdue	7:35 PM	truTV
(16) Prairie View / ~~Lehigh~~ vs. (1) Florida	9:25 PM	TNT
(13) Cal Baptist vs. (4) Kansas	9:45 PM	CBS
(15) Furman vs. (2) UConn	10:00 PM	TBS
(10) Missouri vs. (7) Miami (FL)	10:10 PM	truTV
GAMES	Time (ET)	TV
Second Round: Saturday, March 21
(9) Saint Louis vs (1) Michigan	12:10 PM	CBS
(6) Louisville vs. (3) Michigan State	2:45 PM	CBS
(9) TCU vs. (1) Duke	5:15 PM	CBS
(10) Texas A&M vs. (2) Houston	6:10 PM	TNT
(11) Texas vs. (3) Gonzaga	7:10 PM	TBS
(11) VCU vs. (3) Illinois	7:50 PM	CBS
(5) Vanderbilt vs. (4) Nebraska	8:45 PM	TNT
(12) High Point vs. (4) Arkansas	9:45 PM	TBS

Updated 03/20/26, 11:30am

GAMES	Time (ET)	TV
First Round: Friday, March 20
(3) Duke vs. (14) Col. of Charleston	11:30 AM	ESPN2
(3) TCU vs. (14) UC San Diego	12:00 PM	ESPN
(8) Oregon vs. (9) Virginia Tech	1:30 PM	ESPN2
(6) Baylor vs. TBD	2:00 PM	ESPN
(6) Washington vs. (11) South Dakota St	2:30 PM	ESPNews
(5) Maryland vs. (12) Murray State	3:00 PM	ESPNU
(5) Ole Miss vs. (12) Gonzaga	3:30 PM	ESPN2
(1) Texas vs. TBD	4:00 PM	ESPN
(2) Michigan vs. (15) Holy Cross	5:30 PM	ESPN2
(4) UNC vs. (13) Western Illinois	5:30 PM	ESPNews
(2) LSU vs. (15) Jacksonville	6:00 PM	ESPN
(4) Minnesota vs. (13) Green Bay	6:00 PM	ESPNU
(5) Michigan State vs. (12) Colorado St	7:30 PM	ESPNews
(7) NC State vs. (10) Tennessee	8:00 PM	ESPN
(7) Texas Tech vs. (10) Villanova	8:30 PM	ESPNU
(4) Oklahoma vs. (13) Idaho	10:00 PM	ESPN
GAMES	Time (ET)	TV
First Round: Saturday, March 21
(3) Ohio State vs. (14) Howard	11:30 AM	ESPN2
(3) Louisville vs. (14) Vermont	12:00 PM	ESPN
(1) South Carolina vs. TBD	1:00 PM	ABC
(7) Georgia vs. TBD	1:30 PM	ESPN2
(6) Notre Dame vs. (11) Fairfield	2:00 PM	ESPN
(6) Alabama vs. (11) Rhode Island	2:30 PM	ESPNews
(5) Kentucky vs. (12) James Madison	2:30 PM	ESPNU
(1) UConn vs. (16) UTSA	3:00 PM	ABC
(8) Clemson vs. (9) Southern California	3:30 PM	ESPN2
(2) Iowa vs. (15) FDU	4:00 PM	ESPN
(4) West Virginia vs. (13) Miami (Ohio)	5:00 PM	ESPNU
(8) Iowa State vs. (9) Syracuse	5:30 PM	ESPN2
(2) Vanderbilt vs. (15) High Point	7:00 PM	ESPNews
(8) Oklahoma State vs. (9) Princeton	7:30 PM	ESPN2
(7) Illinois vs. (10) Colorado	9:30 PM	ESPN2
(1) UCLA vs. (16) California Baptist	10:00 PM	ESPN

2026 TEAM PROFILES

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

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.