Madness of March

Number of Tournament Games Remaining: 23

Don't mess with Texas!

Tournament Status: Day 4, Second Round

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 03/22/26, 11:20am

ESPN.com

Huskers survive after Vanderbilt's heave rims out

Providence hires USF's Hodgson as new coach

Miller: Texas not Cinderella despite Sweet 16 run

Sources: UNC, Davis discussing future after loss

Acuff revels in 'big moment,' helps Hogs advance

Michigan handles Saint Louis to make Sweet 16

Iowa State F Jefferson unlikely to play vs. UK

Calderon back with Kansas after father's death

Stat(s) of the Day

Updated 03/22/26, 1:30pm

Most Sweet 16 appearances since the round formally began in 1975:

Duke: 31

UNC: 31

Kentucky: 29

Kansas: 24

UCLA: 23

Texas had its 11th win as a double-digit seed in the men's NCAA tournament, most by any program since seeding began (1979).

Updated 03/20/26, 12:30am

#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.

Updated 03/18/26, 9:45pm

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

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

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 03/22/26, 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..."

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"

CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS

SELECTION COMMITTEE SEED LIST

Updated 03/22/26, 11:30am

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

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

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

while 23 At-Large Bids are still alive.

Updated 03/22/26, 11:30am

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 03/22/26, 11:30am

Updated 03/22/26, 12:50pm

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.