2026 March Madness Thread

[bearcatlifer]

Zycarious mentioned that he would like the next coach to be beating the bushes already. Presumably that job is being done by Corey Evans, our GM. The wheels can keep turning even in the absence of a HC.

[bearcatbret]

Iowa State crushed Kentucky. St. Johns took down Kansas by 2. Arizona up by 11 with under six to go in the first half against Utah State.

[Oldtimer_UC_fan]

Bye bye Florida

[Rufus]

Who's the guy on Utah States staff that look like Vladamir Putin?

[longtimefan]

UCLA with a late game collapse, yet another year Mick Cronin doesn’t get out of the first weekend. 2 point game with 5 minutes left, UConn wins by 16.

[longtimefan]

Houston down by 18 in the second half. They just can’t score against Illinois. Under 12 TO down 44-26.

[bearcatbret]

Purdue 79 - Texas 77. Iowa 77 - Nebraska 71. Arizona 109 - Arkansas 88. Illinois 65 - Houston 55. Houston was a big disappointment.

[GoBearcats31]

One of the pre-tournament storylines was whether it was fair for #1 seed Florida (defending champs) to have to go through #2 Houston in Houston. Well, Florida didn't even make it to Houston. And Houston lost a round before the hypothetical Elite 8 matchup.

Fran McCaffery made 0 Sweet 16s in 15 years at Iowa, despite some very solid teams (they were a 2 seed in 2021). New coach takes them to the Elite 8 in year 1.

3 Big Ten teams in the Elite 8, with #1 Michigan and #3 Michigan State still to play.

[London 'Cat]

3 Big Ten teams in the Elite 8, with #1 Michigan and #3 Michigan State still to play.

B1G certainly showing very well this year. With two more potential teams in the elite eight, I would say it has proved to be the best conference this year.

[bearcatbret]

B1G certainly showing very well this year. With two more potential teams in the elite eight, I would say it has proved to be the best conference this year.

Give them their due. Sometimes it is about matchups and I think that some of the B1G teams got that matchups that favored them.

[swilsonsp4]

Houston down by 18 in the second half. They just can’t score against Illinois. Under 12 TO down 44-26.

The Cougars spent most of their time on offense jacking up 15-foot jumpers, often fadeaways. Way too many bad shots.

[longtimefan]

The Cougars spent most of their time on offense jacking up 15-foot jumpers, often fadeaways. Way too many bad shots.

It reminded me of so many of our tournament losses under Cronin. No matter how good your defense is, you’ll have games where you have to score too.

[bearcatbret]

Duke 80 - St. Johns 75 This was a really good game, and St. Johns is much better than I realized.
UConn 67 - MSU 63 I went to bed at half-time, but it looks like MSU tried to get back into it after being down by so much early in the first half.
UM 90 - Bama 77 This was a close game for 30 minutes.
Tenn 76 - ISU 62 Another Big 12 disappointment.

[longtimefan]

ISU lost at the free throw line. They started 7-7, just 8-18 the rest of the way, including missed front ends. Without Jefferson they had no margin of error. And they were murdered on the glass.

[leeraymond372@gmail.com]

Give them their due. Sometimes it is about matchups and I think that some of the B1G teams got that matchups that favored them.

The Big 10 had 6 (six) teams in the Sweet 16 and has 4 (four) teams in the Elite 8. It is useless to gauge what the best conferences are in the pre-conference season. I always judge what conferences are best based on the Sweet 16 and Elite 8.

The Big 10 clearly is the best conference this year. The Big 10 is a big conference. You do not see many little guards in the Big 10 as you do elsewhere. The Big 10 also has tall big men. Lastly, the Big 10 is a good scoring league. That combination is hard to beat.

However, Duke, Arizona, and UConn are teams outside the Big 10 that can deal with the Big 10. Do not be surprised if one of those teams walks away with the championship trophy.