March Madness 2026 - Updated: Join the BF.net NCAA Bracket!

[HarryDoyle]

TCU taking over late in the first half with an 11-0 run. I picked all #9 seeds to win. Off to a good start.

[Jim French Stepstool]

10 minutes ago, HarryDoyle said:

TCU taking over late in the first half with an 11-0 run. I picked all #9 seeds to win. Off to a good start.

They were seriously outworking OSU on the boards, and now are hitting shots, too. It'll take a real turnaround for Ohio State to survive.

[RedStickBrew]

No idea why OSU spent so much time in zone D. They look a little better in man the second half so far. Going to be a difficult comeback for them though. 

[HarryDoyle]

TCU hangs on thanks to a bad play design by OSU. Great last minute of the game.

[HarryDoyle]

On 3/17/2026 at 6:42 PM, HarryDoyle said:

Upsets in seeding only. 5-12 and 6-11 matchups are more like 7-10, 8-9 matchups. It's really not an upset until you get down to the 4-13 and lower. (Or is it higher?) One is going to happen but I don't know where. If I had to guess I'd say Troy over Nebraska.

Yeah, that didn't happen.

[HarryDoyle]

Well, that should put me in first place in our bracket.

[young guns]

The vcu/unc game was really good.  Huge comeback from vcu.  Unc led by as much as 19. I'm not sure where it ranks in all time tourny combacks, but its gotta be up there.

[HarryDoyle]

28 minutes ago, young guns said:

The vcu/unc game was really good.  Huge comeback from vcu.  Unc led by as much as 19. I'm not sure where it ranks in all time tourny combacks, but its gotta be up there.

Hubert Davis performed one of the worst coaching jobs I’ve seen in a while. Didn’t trap to make Hill Jr. give the ball up and let him go wild. Losing early in ACC tourney, losing this big lead, it's going to be hard convincing alumni/president he should remain as coach. Had a great run to the title game a few years ago but hasn't done squat since.

[HarryDoyle]

Robbie Avila looks like a guy who knows where a catalytic converter is.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

12 hours ago, HarryDoyle said:

Hubert Davis performed one of the worst coaching jobs I’ve seen in a while. Didn’t trap to make Hill Jr. give the ball up and let him go wild. Losing early in ACC tourney, losing this big lead, it's going to be hard convincing alumni/president he should remain as coach. Had a great run to the title game a few years ago but hasn't done squat since.

5-second call late with a timeout in the pocket. Oof.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

Looking forward to a few tips on Saturday:

Michigan-SLU: Tough break for SLU having to turn around and play the early game after finishing after midnight Eastern last night. Three teams scored 100 Thursday. These are two of them. Should be fun. I'm skeptical that SLU's offense will work against Mara and Yaxel (if I were Dusty, I'd just station one of both of them in the paint and not late the Billikens get those easy cuts to the rim), but Georgia had a week to prepare and looked like they were playing on ice. If nothing else, expect points. 

Duke-TCU: Let's see if the Blue Devils learned anything from getting pushed to the absolute brink by Siena. The injuries are catching up to them a little bit, and, as Badger fans saw up close, the Frogs are a dangerous team. If there's a 1-seed upset lurking, it's probably this one.

Louisville-Michigan St.: Two very balanced teams, one of whom wants to play relatively slow (MSU) and one of whom wants to run (Louisville). Looks like the Cardinals have Brown healthy enough to contribute. One hall of fame coach against one who might get there when all is said and done. Two big, big names in the sport, both of whom have been under the radar lately, for different reasons. 

Nebraska-Vandy: GAME OF THE DAY. OKC going to be rocking with Husker fans. I think Vandy is a sneaky FF team. They looked like far and away the best 5 on the board; you could argue they deserved a three. Put that up against the best team in Nebraska history, and you're going to get a very meaningful S16 for somebody. Expect off-the-charts intensity in this one. Nebraska would be the vibes favorite, but Vandy's the better team (the bookmakers seem to be on board with that--'Dores a 1.5-pt. favorite). Must-see.

VCU-Illinois could be fun (I could see anything from a narrow Rams win to an Illinois blowout); same for Gonzaga-Texas. That's six games with a ton of potential.

I'm not sure High Point can keep it going against Arkansas and Acuff (the Hogs terrified me as a potential Badger opponent--I think they're another great SEC team), but always good to see a mid-major playing for a S16. 

Houston-Texas A&M feels like the clunker of the day, but maybe that press works against the Cougars. 

It's March!

[Jim French Stepstool]

3 hours ago, Cool Hand Lucroy said:

Looking forward to a few tips on Saturday:

Michigan-SLU: Tough break for SLU having to turn around and play the early game after finishing after midnight Eastern last night. Three teams scored 100 Thursday. These are two of them. Should be fun. I'm skeptical that SLU's offense will work against Mara and Yaxel (if I were Dusty, I'd just station one of both of them in the paint and not late the Billikens get those easy cuts to the rim), but Georgia had a week to prepare and looked like they were playing on ice. If nothing else, expect points. 

Duke-TCU: Let's see if the Blue Devils learned anything from getting pushed to the absolute brink by Siena. The injuries are catching up to them a little bit, and, as Badger fans saw up close, the Frogs are a dangerous team. If there's a 1-seed upset lurking, it's probably this one.

Louisville-Michigan St.: Two very balanced teams, one of whom wants to play relatively slow (MSU) and one of whom wants to run (Louisville). Looks like the Cardinals have Brown healthy enough to contribute. One hall of fame coach against one who might get there when all is said and done. Two big, big names in the sport, both of whom have been under the radar lately, for different reasons. 

Nebraska-Vandy: GAME OF THE DAY. OKC going to be rocking with Husker fans. I think Vandy is a sneaky FF team. They looked like far and away the best 5 on the board; you could argue they deserved a three. Put that up against the best team in Nebraska history, and you're going to get a very meaningful S16 for somebody. Expect off-the-charts intensity in this one. Nebraska would be the vibes favorite, but Vandy's the better team (the bookmakers seem to be on board with that--'Dores a 1.5-pt. favorite). Must-see.

VCU-Illinois could be fun (I could see anything from a narrow Rams win to an Illinois blowout); same for Gonzaga-Texas. That's six games with a ton of potential.

I'm not sure High Point can keep it going against Arkansas and Acuff (the Hogs terrified me as a potential Badger opponent--I think they're another great SEC team), but always good to see a mid-major playing for a S16. 

Houston-Texas A&M feels like the clunker of the day, but maybe that press works against the Cougars. 

It's March!

I'm skeptical about HP playing at the same level on Saturday, too. But Martin matching skills with Acuff might be worth the price of admission.

Sometimes Illinois seems to forget they have a size advantage. If they do VCU might hang around.

I agree Nebraska-Vandy is an intriguing matchup (I'd go Vandy). Also agree TCU has it in 'em to knock off Duke. If they do I think it'll have to be a 59-57 type deal.

The loss of Cason might catch up to Michigan eventually. But not Saturday.

[yourout]

Quite a few first round upsets with a significant seating difference.

[Jim French Stepstool]

Apologies to Cal Baptist, who I underrated. Kansas IMO has had a lot of 'dog' in them over the years, but regardless CBU mounted a run & gave a heck of an effort.

[Jim French Stepstool]

Happy for Texas. Third game in five days, they matched Gonzaga through crunch time, and had to overcome a couple of bad call/non calls by the zebras but still won.

[yourout]

I don't think Bucky was going to get by Arkansas anyway

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

High Point very impressive. Johnston had a couple rim out with under 3 to go that would've given HPU the lead. Those were the shots that went in against the Badgers. That's the way the ball bounces.

Nebraska-Vandy delivered. Wow. What a final sequence. No timeouts. Fluid. Trading buckets. Then the near miss. Happy for Hoiberg and the whole state. Not sure people realize how unique Nebraska is. It's the only high-major where there are no pro teams in the state and NO D1 football competitors. It's just all Nebraska all the time (apologies to Creighton fans, but I imagine many of them are happy to root for the Huskers on the gridiron and in a lot of other arenas too). You felt that in OKC.

Not a great day of games, but a very good night. Gonzaga quietly leaves the WCC. 

Tomorrow's best tip looks like Iowa State-Kentucky or UCLA-UCONN, but it's a solid day all-around. Be curious to see if either one seed gets pushed. I think there's a big upset lurking somewhere, but it's probably with one of the two seeds listed above. 

Here's to at least 3 close finishes.

 

[Jim French Stepstool]

5 minutes ago, Cool Hand Lucroy said:

High Point very impressive. Johnston had a couple rim out with under 3 to go that would've given HPU the lead. Those were the shots that went in against the Badgers. That's the way the ball bounces.

Nebraska-Vandy delivered. Wow. What a final sequence. No timeouts. Fluid. Trading buckets. Then the near miss. Happy for Hoiberg and the whole state. Not sure people realize how unique Nebraska is. It's the only high-major where there are no pro teams in the state and NO D1 football competitors. It's just all Nebraska all the time (apologies to Creighton fans, but I imagine many of them are happy to root for the Huskers on the gridiron and in a lot of other arenas too). You felt that in OKC.

Not a great day of games, but a very good night. Gonzaga quietly leaves the WCC. 

Tomorrow's best tip looks like Iowa State-Kentucky or UCLA-UCONN, but it's a solid day all-around. Be curious to see if either one seed gets pushed. I think there's a big upset lurking somewhere, but it's probably with one of the two seeds listed above. 

Here's to at least 3 close finishes.

 

Some folks who are expected to know more than most thought High Point was the worst of the twelves. I personally thought McNeese was more dangerous. Goes to show you, we're all geniuses---and all idiots🤪. One difference tonight was that Arky had bigs that could finish comfortably around the rim; Wisconsin's were more finesse. Other than that, like you said Johnston had a couple big misses while on Thursday we got to watch him be Steph Curry. Had UW won, I could've seen them get past the Hogs but it would've taken something like what we did in the four games vs Illinois & Michigan.

You nailed Vandy-Nebraska. Fantastic game.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

8 hours ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

Some folks who are expected to know more than most thought High Point was the worst of the twelves. I personally thought McNeese was more dangerous. Goes to show you, we're all geniuses---and all idiots🤪. One difference tonight was that Arky had bigs that could finish comfortably around the rim; Wisconsin's were more finesse. Other than that, like you said Johnston had a couple big misses while on Thursday we got to watch him be Steph Curry. Had UW won, I could've seen them get past the Hogs but it would've taken something like what we did in the four games vs Illinois & Michigan.

You nailed Vandy-Nebraska. Fantastic game.

Broken clocks for me. High Point looked like a dud. But part of the fun is being shocked, right?

Been an above-average tournament so far. Still missing some real Cinderella spice, but maybe Utah State does something crazy today. That would probably be the closest thing. One of these years a 1-4 seed will lose on the first round again.

Never expand the tournament! (But I am sure we are headed to at least 72 next year).

[Jim French Stepstool]

I think Kentucky blew any chance for an upset by turning the ball over twelve times in the 1st half. ISU was struggling to score. UK had a chance to be up a dozen or so heading into the locker room but went in down two.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

Some great games today. Three close finishes with three games still to go.

Huge credit to Iowa. Playing slow still works! They just ground Florida down and won without even shooting that well from three. Stirtz played one of the worst games I've ever seen from him, and somehow Iowa won. 

The South region is now Thursday of the Big Ten tournament. Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska. 

It's also probably the most fun regional from a storyline perspective. Illinois-Houston is an absolute delight of a matchup. Euroball versus guys who will fight you every possession. Awesome. 

And Iowa has been a really, really tough matchup for the Huskers this year. Nebraska beat them in OT at Pinnacle Bank and lost by five in Iowa City, in a game played in the 50s.

Glad this tournament got a big surprise. It needed it. 

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

5 hours ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

I think Kentucky blew any chance for an upset by turning the ball over twelve times in the 1st half. ISU was struggling to score. UK had a chance to be up a dozen or so heading into the locker room but went in down two.

Kentucky looked like they'd never seen guys actually try to defend before. That roster looked so so limited. 

[Jim French Stepstool]

looks like Izzo's boys may have hit their stride. I don't know if they'll score enough to win, but that matchup with UConn should be extremely physical, and fun.

I had the Johnnies knocking out Duke from the get-go. We'll see. 

If they wind up meeting in the Elite Eight, watching Lendeborg fight thru traffic & try to glue himself to Momcilovic will be worth the price of admission.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

11 hours ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

looks like Izzo's boys may have hit their stride. I don't know if they'll score enough to win, but that matchup with UConn should be extremely physical, and fun.

I had the Johnnies knocking out Duke from the get-go. We'll see. 

If they wind up meeting in the Elite Eight, watching Lendeborg fight thru traffic & try to glue himself to Momcilovic will be worth the price of admission.

You're absolutely right about the difficulty of teaching defense in the portal era. I think two guys that can do it are Pitino and Otzelberger. 

Granted, both the guys have a lot of returners to complement some transfers. But I don't think it's coincidence that they'll both get second weekend games.

Grant Mccasland got run pretty good yesterday, but he might be in that category as well.

Juries out on McCollum, since he's had this roster core for a while, but he's also proof that you can win A LOT playing what's basically Dick Bennett ball. 

[HarryDoyle]

On 3/19/2026 at 9:50 PM, HarryDoyle said:

Hubert Davis performed one of the worst coaching jobs I’ve seen in a while. Didn’t trap to make Hill Jr. give the ball up and let him go wild. Losing early in ACC tourney, losing this big lead, it's going to be hard convincing alumni/president he should remain as coach. Had a great run to the title game a few years ago but hasn't done squat since.

Davis indeed has been let go.