2026 March Madness Thread

[Carthage World]

Bubble teams in action today (3/11)
Pittsburgh vs NC State (NET #35) - 12 pm
SMU (NET #37) vs Louisville - 2:30 pm
Mississippi St vs Auburn (NET #39) - 3:00 pm
Northwestern vs Indiana (NET #38) - 6:30 pm
Ole Miss vs Texas (NET #42) - 7:00 pm

[GoBearcats31]

Virginia Tech joins Stanford with a brutal first round ACC loss. UC can make some moves with a win over UCF though more work to be done.

Also Northwestern downs Penn State, likely ending the college career of Josh Reed.

[GoBearcats31]

Pitt is down by 1 with 13 minutes left against Stanford. We need Pitt to win.

The game ended 30 mins before this post …

[GoBearcats31]

Pitt is down by 1 with 13 minutes left against Stanford. We need Pitt to win.

The game ended 30 mins before this post …

[GoBearcats31]

“Source: The WAC has been informed that Utah Valley University has provided the $1 million in escrow which, per judge’s orders, was necessary for them to play in the WAC men’s and women’s conference tournaments.”

[bearcatbret]

Pitt is down by 1 with 13 minutes left against Stanford. We need Pitt to win.

[GoBearcats31]

Three ACC bubble teams in action today:
- Stanford plays Pitt at 2 p.m.
- SMU plays Syracuse at 4:30 p.m.
- Virginia Tech plays Wake Forest at 7 p.m.

Stanford has kind of come out of nowhere (winning the last four games helps)

SMU and Virginia Tech are both 8-10 in the ACC, which is overrated in my opinion

Seems that a loss by any of the above today could knock themselves out -- for some reason SMU seems in according to most

Stanford falls on a last second tip-in at the hands of Pitt, whose coach Jeff Capel is on his way out. Stanford is likely done.

[GoBearcats31]

Three ACC bubble teams in action today:
- Stanford plays Pitt at 2 p.m.
- SMU plays Syracuse at 4:30 p.m.
- Virginia Tech plays Wake Forest at 7 p.m.

Stanford has kind of come out of nowhere (winning the last four games helps)

SMU and Virginia Tech are both 8-10 in the ACC, which is overrated in my opinion

Seems that a loss by any of the above today could knock themselves out -- for some reason SMU seems in according to most

[London 'Cat]

It appears that the WCC will have three teams in The Dance. Santa Clara most likely sewed up a bid by knocking off St. Mary's in the semifinals last night, 76-71. St. Mary's and Gonzaga are clearly in. The Broncos and Zags will play for the WCC title tonight at 9:00 EDT on ESPN.

Not good for the 'Cats, not that they have a realistic shot at an at-large bid anyway.

[swilsonsp4]

It appears that the WCC will have three teams in The Dance. Santa Clara most likely sewed up a bid by knocking off St. Mary's in the semifinals last night, 76-71. St. Mary's and Gonzaga are clearly in. The Broncos and Zags will play for the WCC title tonight at 9:00 EDT on ESPN.

[longtimefan]

I find that very hard to believe if they go 4-1. Even 3-1 should be an interesting sunday. 4 wins and they aren't even playing in Dayton...

3-1 means they beat Arizona, in that case they’re in. Maybe even 2-1 gets them in based on what other people. They’re only 3-11 in Q1 games, but their best wins are better than nearly all the other bubble teams.

[kskenyon4]

The ‘Cats only path to an NCAA appearance is to win the BigXII tournament. They do not have a hope for an at large bid. Win or bust.

I find that very hard to believe if they go 4-1. Even 3-1 should be an interesting sunday. 4 wins and they aren't even playing in Dayton...

[longtimefan]

Of course, first we have to beat Utah, and I have a creepy bad feeling about that game.

[zykarious]

I read somewhere that the committee is too lazy to take into consideration the conference tournaments. UC will have to beat Arizona but I also believe that they will need to at least make the finals in the tournament. I suspect that nothing short of winning it will be good enough. The loss yesterday took a huge beating on the teams hope of being selected in one week.

Chad Brendel likes to claim that, but I've also heard it's not really shown to be true. It's more that bubble teams tend to lose, which doesn't move the needle much.

The question for us, is how far do we need to move the needle? If the committee gives credence to the argument that we are a different team with Jizzle (and with Celestine healthy), we may not need to move it much if at all. In which case, beat Utah and UCF may be enough, losing to Arizona shouldn't hurt us. Compare to other bubbles teams who may take worse losses and not pick up much in the way of wins and I still think there's a reasonable chance we'll sneak in. Need other bubble teams to lose early in their tournaments and few bid thieves.

[London 'Cat]

The ‘Cats only path to an NCAA appearance is to win the BigXII tournament. They do not have a hope for an at large bid. Win or bust.