2026 March Madness Thread

[longtimefan]

Totally meaningless.

Yeah, how can anybody even guess?

[Oldtimer_UC_fan]

No surprise with the final outcome. It was a lower scoring game than anticipated.

Here are the way-too-early preseason picks for 2026-27:
Men's NCAA basketball 2026-27 way-too-early top 25 rankings

Totally meaningless.

[bearcatbret]

No surprise with the final outcome. It was a lower scoring game than anticipated.

Here are the way-too-early preseason picks for 2026-27:
Men's NCAA basketball 2026-27 way-too-early top 25 rankings

[leo from jersey]

Leo, there have not been fundamentals in the college game for some time now.

that final 4 game proved it. No passing, boxing out , moving without the ball -- just jacking up.

[bearcatbret]

Leo, there have not been fundamentals in the college game for some time now.

[leo from jersey]

I was at my daughter's and they had the Ill.v. U Conn game on. What garbage. Just 3 point shooting and very little else. perhaps I was too rough on the Cats as I saw supposedly two of the best and they didn't impress. My sons who played a lot of BB said they don't watch any more as what is played is not BB. The fans want showmanship and not fundamental BB with teamword. Very disappointed. I didn't see UM but perhaps they play the game of BB.

[bearcatbret]

UM up by 19 with just over 6 minutes left.

In the earlier game, UConn lead the entire game. Illinois tried to make a run and closed the gap to 4 but ran out of steam.

[London 'Cat]

Michigan is annihilating Arizona. It’s not even
remotely close. Arizona had been dominant all year but has no answer to Michigan.

[bearcatbret]

This is a bit off topic, but what idiots scheduled sporting events to overlap the Final 4 semifinals? With Illinois-UConn tipping off at 6:09, followed by Arizona-Michigan at 8:49, here are other games going on at the same time:

7:00: UC @ Okie State baseball (among a host of NCAA games during the basketball games);
7:05: Reds @ Rangers (one of nine MLB games played in the evening);
7:30: FC Cincinnati @ NY Red Bulls (of twelve MLS evening matches).

The people running these events most certainly will see attendance/TV viewership drop.

Not to mention that the Crown is going on right now with WVU and Creighton. However, I suspect that it may be over by tip-off.

[bearcatbret]

The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd All-Time All-American teams. Yes, Oscar is on the first team.
SN 140: Ranking the greatest college basketball players on our all-time All-America team | Sporting News

[swilsonsp4]

This is a bit off topic, but what idiots scheduled sporting events to overlap the Final 4 semifinals? With Illinois-UConn tipping off at 6:09, followed by Arizona-Michigan at 8:49, here are other games going on at the same time:

7:00: UC @ Okie State baseball (among a host of NCAA games during the basketball games);
7:05: Reds @ Rangers (one of nine MLB games played in the evening);
7:30: FC Cincinnati @ NY Red Bulls (of twelve MLS evening matches).

The people running these events most certainly will see attendance/TV viewership drop.

[GoBearcats31]

Who is pumped for the College Basketball Crown? Oklahoma/Colorado, Baylor/Minnesota tonight - Dan Skillings!

[leeraymond372@gmail.com]

The SEC have one team remaining (TN), exactly the same as the ACC (Duke), BE (UConn), and B12 (AZ).

Yeah, you are correct. However, the BIG 10 had 6 teams in the Sweet 16, the SEC had 4, and the BIG XII had only 3. The Final Four has two BIG 10 teams and 1 each from the BIG XII and Big East. We will see what two teams remain. By the way, the end of the Duke and UConn game was thrilling. UConn just seems to find a way to win when you think that there is no way.

I never gauge a conference at the beginning of the season. I always assess its success by how many of its teams are in the Sweet 16 and beyond. The problem is no matter how good a conference is, eventually you run out of teams because they kill each other off. I guess the last two teams left standing represent the two best conferences. I know, I know, that argument has a lot of holes in it.

[longtimefan]

What an amazing comeback. I hate Duke more than UConn so I was glad to see it but you can’t argue with UConn’s fight to the buzzer.

I think they get a few luck points on KenPom after that one.

[bearcatbret]

Did you see the ending? Duke had the ball with a 2-point lead with just over 3 seconds. All they had to do was to hang on to the ball or make a crisp pass. Duke had two guys under the basket for an easy basket if the pass was made. However, the pass was deflected and UConn made a desperation three at the buzzer to win the game. Duke did not need to score. They just needed to run the clock out.