2026 March Madness Thread

[GoBearcats31]

Also this team is apparently safe (for now) and projected around a 9 seed

Jeff Borzello:

NC State drops to 1-5 in its last six games.

Those five losses:
- By 41 to Louisville
- At home to Miami after leading by seven with 55 seconds left
- By 29 to Virginia
- Notre Dame, which was 3-12 in the ACC entering the game
- By 29 at home to Duke

[Carthage World]

There were no real bubble teams in action last night. NC State got blown out at home by 29 to Duke, but is still safely in the field as of now. They'd have to lose at home to Stanford this weekend to be put on the bubble.

Games of interest tonight (3/3)
TCU @ Texas Tech (need a Texas Tech win - a blowout would be nice for metrics)
Nebraska @ UCLA (need a Nebraska win)
George Mason @ VCU (could use a George Mason win although it appears unlikely to happen)
Oklahoma State @ UCF (could use an OK St win although it appears unlikely to happen)
Seton Hall @ Xavier (a Xavier win helps keep Seton Hall off the bubble)
Kentucky @ Texas A&M (need a Kentucky win)
West Virginia @ Kansas St (a KSU win helps keep WVU off the bubble)
San Diego St @ Boise St (need a Boise St win)
Boston College @ Virginia Tech (could use a BC win although it appears unlikely to happen)
LSU @ Auburn (could use an LSU win although it appears unlikely to happen)

TCU beat Texas Tech 73-65 and jumped from 45 to 42 in NET.

UCLA beat Nebraska 72-52 and jumped from 39 to 36 in NET.

VCU beat George Mason 70-65 and rose from 47 to 46 in NET

Oklahoma State beat UCF 111-104 in OT. UCF dropped from 46 to 48 in NET. Oklahoma State (NET #79) is now a Q3 loss for UCF.

Seton Hall beat Xavier 77-68 and jumped from 56 to 52 in NET.

Texas A&M beat Kentucky 96-85 and stayed at 43 in NET.

Kansas St beat WVU 65-63. WV dropped from 58 to 62 in NET.

Boise St beat San Diego St 86-77. San Diego dropped from 44 to 47 in NET.

Virginia Tech beat BC 72-63 and dropped from 55 to 54 in NET.

Auburn beat LSU 88-74 and dropped from 38 to 39 in NET.

[bearcatbret]

I believe that there are 32 conferences each being awarded an automatic bid. Add eight more from both the B1G and SEC, that is already up to 48 teams. Add in the teams ahead of UC in the Big 12, the at large from both the ACC and Big East and there is very little space for UC.

[GoBearcats31]

A cool storyline, potentially -- OSU boosted its chances with a big win versus Purdue on Sunday. But the Buckeyes could really hurt themselves with a loss tonight at Penn State -- last place team in the Big Ten. Third leading scorer for PSU? Josh Reed. He scored 22 and 25 in two of his last three games. Let's go Josh!

[GoBearcats31]

Also, good discussion of UC's chances to dance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvHSbDNsRAY&t=177s

[Carthage World]

Games of interest tonight (3/4)
Minnesota @ Indiana (NET #40)
Texas (NET #38) @ Arkansas
Miami (NET #31) @ SMU (NET #37)
Cal (NET #64) @ Georgia Tech
Ohio State (NET #34) @ Penn State
Villanova (NET #33) @ DePaul
Colorado St @ New Mexico (NET #44)
USC (NET #63) @ Washington

[GoBearcats31]

"Cincinnati is now #1 in the country in our Momentum metric at http://Haslametrics.com. After a home loss to West Virginia on February 5th, the Bearcats were left for dead with an 11-12 mark. Since then, Cincinnati has turned on the jets, going 6-1, including a 90-68 victory over BYU last night. The win over the Cougars earned the Bearcats a +35.15 game efficiency rating, their fourth-best of the season. ALL of Cincinnati's five top-rated games this season have come after the aforementioned West Virginia loss. The rapid climb can largely be attributed to the Bearcats' offense, which has outperformed expectations in six of its last seven showings. Cincinnati is also #1 nationally in our Offensive Momentum metric. An impactful win at TCU on Saturday could put Cincinnati (17-13) squarely into the bubble discussion for the upcoming NCAA Tournament. They are currently ranked 43rd at http://Haslametrics.com."