Author: Aidan Joly

By Aidan Joly

1,171 days before the UConn Huskies cut down the nets in Houston after winning the national championship with a 76-59 win against San Diego State, UConn lost a game to Villanova, 61-55 on January 18, 2020.

Dan Hurley was in his second season rebuilding the Huskies and it was against a program not far removed from its second national title in three seasons. Hardly a disgraceful loss.

However, a quote in the postgame press conference that day became his legacy: “People better get us now. That’s all. You better get us now, because it… it’s coming.” It was a quote that made the rounds on social media and became more and more popular over time as UConn got better and better.

It was, in fact, coming. Just over three years later, Hurley delivered the program’s fifth national championship since 1999, the most of any program since then, in one of the most dominant tournament runs we have ever seen.

It was debatable when the Huskies reached the Final Four, but you can’t deny it anymore: a new blueblood has arrived. Connecticut now has as many national titles as Duke and Indiana, and passed Kansas on Monday night. It has more than Villanova, Louisville and Michigan State. Only three programs in the country have more that five titles: UCLA (11), Kentucky (8) and North Carolina (6). It has won titles with three different head coaches and three different iterations of conferences. It is 5-0 in national title games all time. No program has a better record on this stage.

If winning it wasn’t enough, take a look at the path of destruction that the Huskies left behind. It won each of its six tournament games by double digits and won them by an average of 20 points. It trailed for a grand total of 55 seconds in 120 second half minutes against Iona, Saint Mary’s, Arkansas, Gonzaga, Miami and San Diego State. An outrageous stat.

After the Aztecs got out to a 10-6 lead to start the night, UConn asserted itself one last time. It forced the Aztecs into 14 straight misses, a field goal drought that lasted 11 minutes. Tristen Newton was great at point guard, finishing with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Big man Adama Sanogo, its stalwart all tournament, finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Jordan Hawkins had 16 points after dealing with an illness over the weekend.

It did what it had done all year on Monday night. If not for a strange 2-6 stretch midway through the season, the Huskies, which finished 31-8, might go down as one of the best teams in the past quarter century. Maybe it still does. There was a narrative all season that there were no great teams, but the Huskies proved that wrong. They were a great team. They had everything you want in a champion – aggressive, fast, big, defensive-minded, opportunistic on offense, and most importantly, never let the moment get too big.

UConn is all the way back, winning its first national title since 2014. It belongs among the best, like how it was in the 1990s, 2000s and early 2010s, and now the 2020s. Four decades right there.

With Hurley at the helm, there’s more coming. And people got them now. As a blueblood program.

By Aidan Joly

Steve Fisher came to the San Diego State campus in 1999 with a dream.

Before 1999, San Diego State had just one NCAA tournament appearance to its credit in program history and had never had extended success. It had not had a winning season since 1984-85, the year it did make the tournament. It had nine winning seasons in 30 years at the Division I level before Fisher took over.

In the previous season the Aztecs had bottomed out under former head coach Fred Trenkle, going 4-22 and 2-12 in the Western Athletic Conference.

It was a laughingstock of a program.

And this was the program that the man who coached the Fab Five at Michigan was going to take over.

The hiring of Fisher and a move to the Mountain West Conference proved nearly immediately beneficial, as the Aztecs went 21-12 in his third year at the helm and reached the tournament. It wasn’t without some growing pains, going 5-23 in year one with Fisher and failing to win a conference game. It was back in the dance four years later in 2006.

Fisher turned the Aztec program around from one that was a punching bag on the west coast to one of the most formidable programs in that area of the country. He got the program to six more NCAA tournaments, going twice with Kawhi Leonard, the best player in program history, before he retired in 2017.

In eight tournament appearances, the Aztecs had gotten to the second weekend just twice and had never gotten past the Sweet 16. His best team was the 2011 edition, a group that won 34 games before running into the Kemba Walker-led buzzsaw, a UConn team that went on to win the title, in the Sweet 16. That ended a season for a team that spent much of the year within the top 10 in the AP Poll.

The transformation still wasn’t done. In 2017, enter Brian Dutcher, who had been Fisher’s right-hand man both at Michigan and for 18 years at San Diego State. 57 years old upon his hiring, Dutcher had been an assistant coach for nearly 35 years and had never had a head coaching job.

We know what happened from there. In his third year at the helm, San Diego State looked like a team that could win a national title, going 30-2 and ranking as high as No. 4 in the country and was likely to get a 1 or 2 seed in the NCAA tournament, before the onset of COVID-19 came on and stripped the team of its best opportunity to compete for a national title in program history at that point.

San Diego State made the tournament in both 2021 and 2022, but exited in the first round each time. Three years later, Dutcher has San Diego State just one victory away from a national championship. Pretty good for a program that had never made it out of the Sweet 16 just ten days ago.

Fisher, the architect of the San Diego State program, will be in the stands on Monday night as the Aztecs face UConn for the title. Simply put, this run doesn’t happen without him.

San Diego State will have a chance for revenge against two things on Monday night: UConn and the world.

And it all started with an impossible dream more than two decades ago.

By Aidan Joly

On top of the NCAA tournament, another aspect of this type of year in the college basketball landscape is the coaching changes. We seem to have had a lot across the country this time around.

Some made huge headlines, while some may change the futures of programs. Let’s get into them.

(This is in alphabetical order)

California: Mark Fox out, Mark Madsen in

Many thought that Madsen, who is coming in from Utah Valley, would wait out the job at Stanford when that opens, considering he is a Stanford alum. However, that won’t happen as Madsen instead lands just under 50 miles north at California. It’s really tough to win there as the program hasn’t won an NCAA tournament game since 2012 and hasn’t been in the second weekend in this millennium, but it’s been done before. It will be a rebuild effort coming off of a disastrous 3-29 season.

Georgetown: Patrick Ewing out, Ed Cooley in

I wrote about this a little more extensively upon his hiring a few weeks ago, but this is a home run hire for the Hoyas. Cooley should be able to rebuild the program rather quickly after Ewing struggled. Recruiting and NIL are key here at a program that has a great tradition and brand, on top of being in a major city. Back in the NCAA tournament within two years should be the goal.

Georgia Tech: Josh Pastner out, Damon Stoudamire in

Pastner produced just one NCAA tournament appearance and two winning seasons in the ACC in his time at Georgia Tech. The administration went technically went to the NBA ranks for this one as Stoudamire was serving as a Boston Celtics assistant. However, he struggled as the head coach of Pacific from 2016-2021, going 34-47 in the West Coast Conference and 71-77 overall. Struggling in the WCC and then your next head coaching job coming in the ACC is a big leap. Let’s see how he does.

Iona: Rick Pitino out, Tobin Anderson in

Pitino leaving Iona after this season was a foregone conclusion and there were a few names thrown around. Anderson was in the race but wasn’t taken too seriously until Fairleigh Dickinson knocked off Purdue in the first round. Now, Anderson, who had been at FDU for just one season, is the next head coach at a program that has been the class of the MAAC in the past decade. Similar to Anderson, Pitino’s predecessor at Iona, Tim Cluess, had a lot of success at Division II before coming to Iona.

McNeese State: John Aiken out, Will Wade in

It’s a choice! After a year off following allegations, which includes five Level 1 violations, that led to his ouster from LSU one year ago, the controversial Wade is back in the ranks. McNeese is doing it without the NCAA investigation complete, and McNeese has already suspended Wade for the first five games of next season. There’s an inherent risk in hiring him right now, but it’s also high upside. After all, this is the same guy who turned around Chattanooga and coached in five NCAA tournaments by age 40.

Notre Dame: Mike Brey out, Micah Shrewsberry in

Brey was an institution in South Bend, but things had gone south in recent years so what ended up as Brey being kind of pushed out seemed inevitable. Now, the Irish bring in the now former Penn State head coach in Shrewsberry, who won 37 games in two years in Happy Valley and got the Nittany Lions to the NCAA tournament this year for the first time since 2011. Reports indicate that Penn State offered Shrewsberry a generous package to stay, but he decided to leave. It’s a similar archetype with both institutes being football schools. He’ll have more resources at Notre Dame, he should have the Irish back to success in no time.

Ole Miss: Kermit Davis out, Chris Beard in

It becomes clear in this hire where Ole Miss’ priorities lie. Beard was placed on leave by Texas in December and then subsequently fired in January amid domestic violence allegations, which eventually the charges were dropped. Beard has had a lot of success as a coach, sure, but this one kind of reeks of “we only care about winning.” Ole Miss is coming off of a 3-15 SEC, 12-21 overall season in which Davis was fired towards the end of the season.

Penn State: Micah Shrewsberry out, Mike Rhoades in

Penn State finds it replacement for Shrewsberry in now former VCU head coach Mike Rhoades. It’s not the flashiest of hires, but Rhoades went 72-32 in Atlantic 10 play in six years at VCU, which includes 39-11 in the past three years, with three NCAA tournament appearances overall. However, the type of tough guys he recruits at VCU might not fit the Big Ten mold. It’s a big difference in style. Might take a year or two of the jury being out here.

Providence: Ed Cooley out, Kim English in

I question this one. English was a big up-and-comer when he was hired at George Mason two years ago, but it feels like he needed a few more years before he made this jump. He went 34-29 overall and 18-16 in the Atlantic 10 in his time in Fairfax. I could certainly be wrong here, but it might be a few years of growing pains for a coach who is still only 34 years old. It will be nearly impossible to replicate what Cooley did at Providence, but if he’s given some time, this has a good chance at working out.

St. John’s: Mike Anderson out, Rick Pitino in

Another one that I wrote a little bit more extensively about, Pitino brings instant credibility and stability to a program in desperate need of it. Things had gotten stale with Anderson by year four, and reports of issues with the team’s chemistry has surfaced. No doubt that Pitino can bring wins in the regular season, it will be winning in the postseason that matters. St. John’s hasn’t won an NCAA tournament game since 2000.

South Florida: Brian Gregory out, Amir Abdur-Rahim in

The hiring of Abdur-Rahim could very well be the shot in the arm that this program needs. It’s a very tough place to win and that was shown by Gregory’s 33-72 mark in the American Athletic across six seasons and 79-107 overall. However, South Florida did win the CBI in 2019, the highlight of Gregory’s tenure. Abdur-Rahim pulled off one of the best rebuild jobs in college basketball in recent years, going 1-28 overall and 0-16 in the Atlantic Sun in 2019-20 (his first season) to 26-9, 15-3 in the league and the program’s first-ever NCAA tournament appearance this year and giving Xavier a real scare in the first round. This is a strong one.

Syracuse: Jim Boeheim out, Adrian Autry in

It’s always tough to replace the best coach the program has ever seen, but that’s a challenge that Autry is about to embark on. The 51-year-old had been an assistant under Boeheim since 2011 and played at Syracuse in the early 1990s, so he knows the program better than most. It wouldn’t have hurt for Syracuse to at least take a look outside the program for Boeheim’s replacement, but you can’t fault them for going this way.

Temple: Aaron McKie out, Adam Fisher in

McKie was re-assigned within the athletic department after going 30-37 and 52-56 overall in four seasons, but this is one you felt like was coming, despite back-to-back winning seasons. Apparently this wasn’t a search that went overly smoothly, but they finally land on the Penn State’s top assistant in Fisher. He has never had a head coaching job. On top of Penn State, Fisher has also assisted at Miami, Villanova and Boston University. Temple was last in the NCAA tournament in 2019 under Fran Dunphy. Still think Matt Langel should have gotten this job, though.

Texas: Rodney Terry’s interim tag taken off

It’s fair to say that Terry deserved to get the interim tag taken off after going 22-8 in that capacity and leading Texas to the Elite Eight, but the administration could have done better. Both can be true. He was last a full-time head coach at UTEP from 2018-2021, where he went 19-33 in Conference USA play and 37-48 overall. It’ll be intriguing to see how he does now that he has this momentum, or if the administration will be kicking themselves for not doing a more extensive search.

VCU: Mike Rhoades out, Ryan Odom in

I never got the fit of Ryan Odom at Utah State, but this makes a lot more sense for Odom geography-wise. He did well in two years out west, going 21-15 in the Mountain West and 44-25 overall, while the Aggies were in the tournament this season. However, back in an area he knows at a school that has a winning tradition, Odom can really shine.

Wichita State: Isaac Brown out, Paul Mills in

It was only a matter of time until Mills got a job at a higher level school after spending the last six seasons at Oral Roberts and turning it into a mid-major powerhouse. This is a really important hire for Wichita State, a school in which Gregg Marshall had to resign in 2020 amid abuse allegations. Wichita State has been less on the national radar the past few years than it was a decade ago, so Mills’ job will be to get the Shockers back on the national radar.

Notable schools still with openings: Utah State, Texas Tech, Buffalo, George Mason

Some mid-major hires that grabbed my attention:

Arkansas State: Mike Balado out, Bryan Hodgson in

Hodgson has spent the better part of the past decade as Nate Oats’ right-hand man at both Buffalo and Alabama, and now a guy who has been seen as a future head coach gets that chance. He’s a star recruiter.

Bucknell: Nathan Davis out, John Griffin III in

Bucknell is certainly a place you can win. Four straight losing seasons under Davis led to his departure, but he had been the NCAA tournament twice with the Bison before that. Bucknell has been to the NCAA tournament six times since 2005. Griffin III, who was the associate head coach at Saint Joseph’s, is the son of John Griffin II, who was the head coach at Siena and Saint Joseph’s.

Fairleigh Dickinson: Tobin Anderson out, Jack Castleberry in

FDU promotes the top assistant after Anderson left for Iona. It will be Castleberry’s job to build on the great season, capped off with the Purdue win.

Holy Cross: Brett Nelson out, Dave Paulsen in

This is a good hire for Holy Cross. This is Paulsen’s third Division I head coaching job, having the top job at Bucknell from 2008-2015 and George Mason from 2015-2021. He spent this season as an assistant at Fordham, which was the best season for the program in recent memory.

Manhattan: Steve Masiello (RaShawn Stores interim) out, John Gallagher in

Mixed feelings. Masiello got a raw deal at Manhattan, being forced out two weeks before this season began. RaShawn Stores did a good job in the interim and clearly had the full support of the players after a 10-10 MAAC campaign and 12-18 overall, so he probably deserved the full-time job. Instead, it goes to Gallagher, the former Hartford coach who resigned the day before the season began, basically accusing the administration of not caring about the program as it was entering its final season in the Division I ranks. You’re happy Gallagher gets another shot as a head coach, but there were some wrongdoings by the Manhattan administration here.

Oral Roberts: Paul Mills out, Russell Springmann in

Springmann finally gets a shot to run his own program, having been as an assistant at Oral Roberts since 2018. He also spent 17 years at Texas under Rick Barnes, becoming known as one of the top assistant coaches in the game, and also had an assistant job at San Diego. He also has NBA experience. It’s a situation where you can’t help but be happy a guy is finally getting a shot.

By Aidan Joly

Last year’s Final Four featured four bluebloods in Kansas, North Carolina, Duke and Villanova.

With this year’s Final Four being UConn, Miami, San Diego State and Florida Atlantic, the vibes couldn’t be any more different. That’s a good thing.

A lot of years, the NCAA tournament isn’t a 100% accurate reflection of the college basketball regular season – which is okay and that’s what makes this tournament so special.

But this year’s ended with the team that had the most regular season wins going to the Final Four, the team that finished first in the ACC, the team that looked unstoppable for long stretches this season, and a mid-major powerhouse that was going to have a shot in 2020 before COVID canceled the tournament.

UConn looked dominant through the second weekend, beating Arkansas by 23 and then following it up by beating Gonzaga by 28 in the Elite Eight. Miami will meet the Huskies in the second matchup of Saturday night but the game that more people will have their eyes on.

UConn coach Dan Hurley has rebuild this proud program from the ugly days of the American Athletic Conference and the ugly dismissal of former coach Kevin Ollie, to losing in the first round last year, now to this. Not bad for a guy who was teaching high school history and coaching high school ball 13 years ago when Wagner took a shot at him and gave him his first college coaching job.

Miami was a dark horse Final Four team all season and now the Canes are here. It says so much about the type of program that Jim Larrañaga has run in Miami. We have seen a lot of the older coaches fail to adapt with the times, but the 73-year-old coach has done so in a big way, capitalizing off of NIL and that has gotten his program another step further than what it did last year.

Larrañaga can say that he is the best coach in program history at two different schools, Miami and George Mason. This year, he returns to the Final Four for the first time since 2006. He did it behind the core of ACC Player of the Year Isaiah Wong, along with Jordan Miller, Nijel Pack and Norchad Omier.

Personally, I’m excited to watch the matchup of Omier against UConn big man Adama Sanogo, two guys who are huge inside and can do a lot of things well under the basket. Something is going to have to give there.

Meanwhile, it is some feel good stories for both San Diego State and Florida Atlantic. It’s still wild to say that one of them will play for a national championship on Monday night.

SDSU coach Brian Dutcher had waited nearly 35 years for a head coaching opportunity when he took over the Aztecs after Steve Fisher’s retirement in 2017. He was 57 years old when he got his first head coaching job. In the 2019-20 season, the Aztecs were 30-2 and a true national championship contender when the world got turned upside-down and we didn’t get an NCAA tournament.

Three years later, he has that shot again. Dutcher is a guy who deserves this moment and is easy to root for.

Finally, Florida Atlantic came in as the most-underseeded team in the entire tournament, getting a 9-seed after going 31-3 in the regular season and winning the Conference USA title (also – the Conference USA is 17-1 in postseason play this season – Charlotte won the CBI and North Texas and UAB will play for the NIT title on Thursday night).

Florida Atlantic did not have a basketball program until 1988, did not go Division I until 1993, had one NCAA tournament appearance under its belt in 2002 and had never won a national postseason tournament game until a few weeks ago.

This is an incredible job done by head coach Dusty May. This is a young team too. It has just one senior and its top three leading scorers in Johnell Davis, Alijah Martin and Vladislav Goldin are all sophomores. Easily, one of the best coaching jobs in the country this season. The crazy thing is, if most or all stay, FAU will be even better next year and the year after that. It’s a story of getting the right group together and succeeding at a high level.

FAU is off to the American Athletic next season, where it will see better competition in league play. No matter what happens this weekend, this team will be back.

This all being said, this year’s Final Four might not have the household name programs, but it is great basketball and a true reflection of what this season has been.

By Aidan Joly

Thursday’s Sweet 16 games delivered two unbelievable games that are sure to go down in March Madness lore.

Between Kansas State’s 98-93 overtime win against Michigan State and Gonzaga’s stunning 79-76 win against UCLA, it’s a night of basketball that we’re going to remember for a long time.

The Wildcats and the Spartans went bucket for bucket at Madison Square Garden, ending regulation with a layup from Michigan State’s Tyson Walker with five minutes on the clock to send it to overtime, where the two squads again went score for score.

There we saw the first of two amazing plays on the night, as Markquis Nowell seemingly fake argued with head coach Jerome Tang before lobbing it to Keyontae Johnson, who reverse alley-ooped it with 52 seconds left in the extra period to give the Wildcats a game it would never relinquish. It was a signature play for the game and for a player who stands at 5-7, but played like he was 10 feet tall.

Nowell put up one of the performances that will live on for a long time, scoring 20 points and dishing out a tournament-record 19 assists. Meanwhile, Johnson finished with 22 points.

The Wildcats played like a team that can win the national championship. It was their best game of the season and Nowell had one of the best individual performances in tournament history, a legendary display of controlling a basketball game. He did this after turning his ankle in the second half and going down in a heap, a scary moment for Kansas State

A shoutout to MSU’s AJ Hoggard is in order for this one, who scored 25 points, while Joey Hauser had 18 and Walker had 16.

Now, the Wildcats will have to take on the tournament’s official Cinderella in 9 seed Florida Atlantic, which grinded out a 62-55 win against Tennessee in the nightcap at MSG.

The final game of the night provided even more fireworks.

UCLA led Gonzaga by 13 points at halftime, a lead that the Zags could certainly come back from, but it was going to be tough as the Bruins were in control of the game.

As Gonzaga does, it clawed its way back into the contest behind a yeoman’s performance from Drew Timme, who put up 36 points on a 16-24 performance from the field and grabbed 13 rebounds.

However, it won’t be Timme’s performance that is remembered from this game. After UCLA’s Amari Bailey hit an impossible three-pointer with 12 seconds on the clock, Mark Few ran the “Jay Wright play” and Julian Strawther hit a three from 30 feet away to give the Bulldogs a two-point lead with seven seconds to play.

It marks the second time in three years that Gonzaga has stunned UCLA in the tournament after Jalen Suggs hit that impossible three at the buzzer in the Final Four in 2021. It was the latest chapter in what’s become the best college basketball rivalry on the west coast.

It was a full circle moment for Strawther, who grew up in Las Vegas and was playing in front of a hometown crowd in his native city. Strawther has almost played in the shadow of Timme the past two seasons and had his huge moment on the big stage and advancing his team to the Elite Eight, where it will face UConn, which dominated Arkansas 88-65 in the early game at T-Mobile Arena.

Credit to UCLA, which was playing short-handed and went on an 11-minute field goal drought as Gonzaga took a 10-point lead with 2:40 to play. It rallied back in the final minutes and trailed by as many as eight in the final minute.

But UCLA simply left too much time on the clock for Gonzaga and paid for it in the end, and are going home. By doing so, it ended the career for UCLA’s Jaime Jaquez, who scored 29 points and had 11 rebounds in the final game of his career.

Thursday’s games gave us a reminder: that this tournament in the best postseason in sports and games like this show that we wouldn’t want it any other way.

By Aidan Joly

After six days of preliminary action of the NCAA tournament, the tournament has been whittled down to 16 teams.

At this point, the seeding is pretty irrelevant, even Princeton, who has shown the confidence and ability to pull off another stunner or two.

That being said, here is a power rankings of the 16 teams remaining, one of them will end up cutting down the nets.

16. Princeton

The Tigers shut down an elite Arizona offense in the first round and then blew out Missouri to become the fourth-ever 15 seed to reach the Sweet 16, although this is the third year in a row that has happened. Rebounding has been the name of the game for Mitch Henderson’s group, having won the rebounding battle in each of its first two games, including winning it 44-30 against Missouri, a number that includes 16-8 on the offensive boards.

Few players have stuffed the stat sheet like Tosan Evboumwan in this tournament, finishing with 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists against Arizona and nine points, nine rebounds and five assists against Missouri. He also recorded a block in each of the two games.

Whatever magic the Tigers have, keep believing it in. We will see.

15. Florida Atlantic

The Cinderella team of this tournament? The Owls did benefit from the road here a little bit, getting matched up against Fairleigh Dickinson in the second round instead of Purdue. However, they did show a great amount of poise as it stole a win against Memphis in the first round, a team that was veteran-laden and played smart basketball.

Johnell Davis has been a one-man wrecking crew for Dusty May’s group, finishing with 29 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and five steals against FAU in the second round. He has scored 12 or more points in eight games in a row.

Despite the program having never won an NCAA tournament game until last week, the Owls are not afraid of the moment.

14. San Diego State

The Aztecs have quietly gotten to this point of the tournament, but like FAU, they have done it by somewhat benefitting by the schedule, having faced a 13 seed in the second round.

The defense has been the calling card for this team, having limited Charleston and Furman to 57 and 52 points, respectively, both of those teams known for their offensive prowess. Nathan Mensah, Lamont Butler and Darrion Trammel have been the keys defensively, while Matt Bradley has been the go-to guy on offense. They say defense wins championships, the key for the Aztecs will be to control the defensive battle and do just enough on offense to keep advancing.

13. Xavier

The Musketeers are an over-seeded three seed and had a lot of trouble with Kennesaw State in the first round, trailing by 13 with less than 10 minutes left before Xavier went on a run and won by five. It somewhat redeemed itself in the second round against Pittsburgh, winning by 11 in a game that wasn’t that close.

Xavier doesn’t take a lot of threes, but when it takes them, it makes them. They shoot 39% from three, a number that is led by Souley Boum and Adam Kunkel. They have shot 40% from behind the arc in half of their games this season, too. Boum has totaled 31 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists through the first two games. Meanwhile, big man Jack Nunge had 10 points and 11 rebounds against Kennesaw, then 18 points and three rebounds against Pittsburgh.

The key will be to keep making shots and stay out of foul trouble, with essentially a six-man rotation.

12. Michigan State

Well, well, well. Tom Izzo has the Spartans back in the second weekend of the tournament, after not being on the national radar for most of the season and earning a 7-seed in the tournament.

Forcing turnovers has been huge for the Spartans, stealing the ball seven times against USC and then nine times against Marquette. On offense, similar to Xavier, not taking a lot of threes, but have a good percentage. Three Spartans shoot over 40% from three, led by Joey Hauser’s 46.2% from behind the arc. Tyson Walker was huge in the win against Marquette, scoring 23 points, while Hauser had 14 points and 10 rebounds.

The key for the Spartans to keep the run going is to keep the defense up.

11. Creighton

The scoring prowess of the Bluejays has been the key to winning. They have multiple players that can score in bunches and they’ve shown it, with Ryan Kalkbrenner dropping 31 in the first round win against NC State, followed by Ryan Nembhard’s 30 against Baylor in the second round.

Creighton is one of the most efficient teams in the country on the offensive end, making a lot of shots on the first attempt, which creates an up-and-down game, one that can wear down opponents.

The depth is an issue, but if Kalkbrenner, Nembhard, Trey Alexander, Arthur Kaluma and Baylor Scheierman are all playing well, this is a really tough group to beat.

10. Miami

I might be a little higher on the Canes then most, they dominated the second round game against Indiana, using an early lead then followed it up with a 16-2 run in the second half to sink the Hoosiers.

The Canes might be a little streaky and did look shaky for much of the first round game against Drake, but the scoring options are plentiful. They have four players that average 13 or more points per game, led by 16.1 points per game from Isaiah Wong, who scored 27 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the Indiana game. Norchad Omier is the big man they can’t live without, having grabbed 17 rebounds against Indiana.

Miami will have to continue to go on scoring streaks like this. The Canes are 17-3 this season when they score 71+ points, so that may be the key for them to keep winning.

9. Tennessee

The Vols looked really vulnerable this season with an inconsistent offense and then the loss of starting point guard Zakai Zeigler made them a prime upset candidate, but Tennessee it still here.

This is a tough, physical group on the defensive end and the results have shown, limiting Louisiana to just 55 points in the first round and holding a red-hot Duke team to just 52. They also have 17 steals between the two games. There’s no such thing as easy offense against the Vols, and that will have to be the key as they enter the second weekend.

On offense, they’ll need more performances like the ones from Olivier Nkamhoua and Santiago Vescovi, who finished with 27 and 14 against the Blue Devils, respectively.

8. Arkansas

The Razorbacks are in the second weekend of the tournament for the third year in a row, and Eric Musselman is starting to develop a reputation as one of the best March coaches in the country.

Surprisingly, star freshman Nick Smith hasn’t been great through the first two games of the tournament, but Devo Davis and Ricky Council have picked up the slack, combining for 80 points and 30 rebounds in the Razorbacks’ wins against Illinois and Kansas. Makhi Mitchell has been great on defense and Kamani Johnson has been terrific on the boards.

It can’t be understated how important Council has been for the Razorbacks, seemingly getting a bucket every time they need it. The key will be for him to keep playing well, and to get the freshman going.

7. Kansas State

This is a crafty and efficient Wildcat team. Kansas State doesn’t shoot as well from behind the arc but it certainly makes up for that in the paint, having shot 70% from inside the arc in the first round game against Montana State and followed it up by shooting 63.6% from inside against Kentucky in the second round.

Even though it doesn’t shoot well from three, it defends the perimeter with the best of them, limiting opponents to 10-41 from three through the first two games of the tournament.

The Wildcats need to keep the turnovers to a minimum, especially when they are committed by Markquis Nowell and Keyontae Johnson. However, Nowell especially has been great and scored 27 points against Kentucky and was the best player on the floor in that game. It will be about keeping that duo doing well.

6. Texas

The defense of the Longhorns has gotten them here. They faced one of the best offensive teams in the country in Colgate in the first round and limited them to just 61 points on just 43% shooting. Then, the Longhorns followed it up by holding Penn State to 66, the Nittany Lions also being one of the better offensive teams in the nation.

On offense, Marcus Carr has continued to be the star even without the ball. He scored just 10 points against Penn State, but made a lot of plays that won’t show up on the box score.

Texas shoots the three a little more than it probably should, so the key will be to limit settling for bad shots and continuing to play well on the defensive end.

5. UCLA

I would have had the Bruins a tad higher, but they are dealing with some injuries right now that might hamper them in the future rounds.

However, despite the injuries to Jaylen Clark and Adem Bona, the Bruins haven’t had an issue through the first two games, having trailed for just 46 seconds between the two games. We will also have to see if David Singleton will be available going forward. If he’s out, it might be curtains for the Bruins.

Scoring in general has been something of an issue while having a great defense, something that seems to be a common theme among the teams remaining. Jaime Jaquez has been everything for this team and will have to keep playing well.

4. Gonzaga

The Zags have looked terrific on offense and are the only team in the Sweet 16 to have scored 75 or more points in each of their first two tournament games, going for 82 against Grand Canyon and 84 against TCU.

The up-tempo offense needs to be the bread and butter for the Bulldogs. It’s a veteran-laden group with Drew Timme and Anton Watson leading the way, both of them guys who have been here before. Timme has scored at least 21 points in nine of his past 10 NCAA tournament games and can keep the Zags in any game. If you try to play them by out-scoring them, it won’t work.

If Gonzaga can keep scoring at will, it can beat just about any team.

3. UConn

Both of UConn’s tournament games so far looked pretty similar. It trailed by two at the half to Iona before out-scoring the Gaels 50-24 in the second half to win 87-63, then only led by one at the break against Saint Mary’s before out-scoring a different Gaels team 39-25 in the second half to win 70-55 and get to this point.

The Huskies have been particularly dominant on the boards through the first two games, led by Adama Sanogo, Andre Jackson and Donovan Clingan. Sanogo in particular has been great on offense as well, scoring a combined 52 points, but also grabbed 21 rebounds and swatted two shots.

This is a deep Huskies team. All it needs to do is be consistent for 40 minutes and this really looks like a team that can win the national championship.

2. Houston

Like UCLA, Houston is a team that is dealing with some injuries. No doubt the Cougars played better against Auburn than it did against Northern Kentucky, but Marcus Sasser is still nursing a groin injury and Jamal Shead is dealing with a bad knee. However, maybe six days off is what the backcourt pairing needs.

Meanwhile, Jarace Walker and J’Wan Roberts have picked up the slack, especially on the defensive end. Defense and rebounding is the key for this team and they will need it when the offense looks suspect, an offense that is certainly susceptible to go on cold streaks.

If Sasser and Shead get healthy, Houston is a real title threat.

1. Alabama

The Crimson Tide have looked dominant through the first weekend of the tournament. While all of the other three 1 seeds had issues – Purdue and Kansas being eliminated in the first weekend and Houston having trouble with Northern Kentucky – Texas A&M Corpus Christi and Maryland never stood much of a chance.

This is a team that does everything well, from an up-tempo offense led by Brandon Miller and clamping down on defense. They don’t force a ton of turnovers, but they average more than five blocks per game as a team and limit threes. Jahvon Quinerly, Charles Bediako and Mark Sears have been very important as well.

The recipe for a national title is still relatively simple. Since December 20, Alabama is 21-0 when scoring at least 70 points. The Crimson Tide can beat you with both offense and defense. This is still the strongest team in the tournament and as of now should be the favorite to cut down the nets.

By Aidan Joly

Monday brought two of the bigger coaching searches across the country to a close, and both of them bring massive changes to the Big East.

First, it was announced that former Providence head coach Ed Cooley would make the trip to Washington, D.C. to become the head coach at Georgetown.

A short time later, it was announced that Hall of Famer Rick Pitino would leave Iona to become the head coach at St. John’s.

Both of these are massive hires for programs that have had success in the past, but haven’t had it in recent years. Both of these hires give opportunities for these men to bring these programs back to relevance.

Cooley had spent the last 12 seasons as the head coach of the Friars, winning 242 games and reaching the NCAA tournament seven times, the longest appearance being in the Sweet 16 one year ago.

This hire reminds of the Mick Cronin-to-UCLA hire in 2019. Cooley, like Cronin, had seemingly brought a program to its absolute ceiling and will now be able to take over the reins of a program that has a rich basketball tradition with resources. It will give an opportunity for Cooley to recruit elite talent with the brand of Georgetown and the success that it has had in the past; an opportunity to restore that glory, a program that has only been to the NCAA tournament once since 2015. Similar to what he did at Providence, NIL will be a major part of what Cooley has to do at Georgetown.

It’s realistic to think that Cooley can be the guy to handle that rebuild. It’s tough to see Georgetown being a national championship threat year in and year out, but it needs to be a program that is consistently in the postseason and can make the second weekend on a semi-regular basis. To start, making the NCAA tournament in year two is a realistic goal, and go from there. It’s a highly desired job in the coaching ranks because of its potential. Cooley is the latest to take on that challenge.

Cooley was highly unlikely to ever win a national championship at Providence, or even make the Final Four, something that has only happened to the program twice and one of them was in the days of the old Big East in 1987, the most recent time (the other was 1973, when the tournament only had 25 teams to begin with).

Providence is now in a precarious spot. Before Cooley, Providence had not been to the NCAA tournament three years in a row since the days of Dave Gavitt, and will need someone to be a calming influence after Cooley’s departure to a Big East rival. Will it be George Mason head coach Kim English, a name that was almost immediately thrown around? Penn State’s Micah Shrewsberry has been thrown around as well, if Providence can get enough money to do it. We will see.

Meanwhile, St. John’s brought in the Hall of Famer in Pitino. The 70-year-old had spent the last three years at Iona rebuilding his reputation after his ugly departure from Louisville, making the NCAA tournament twice in three years, including this year. Meanwhile, he had his name cleared by the NCAA’s IARP of any wrongdoing during the FBI’s investigation into college basketball recruiting, an investigation that Louisville was a part of.

Pitino’s resume speaks for itself. Two national championships, seven Final Fours, over 800 (unofficially) wins and 14 conference championships in his illustrious career.

He takes over a program with a great brand and the promise of playing in New York City and Madison Square Garden on a regular basis. That being said, despite the rich tradition, like Georgetown, St. John’s has only made the NCAA tournament once since 2015 and has not won an NCAA tournament game since 2000.

Pitino signed a six-year contract, making it likely that this is the final stop in his career. But, he had said Iona was his last stop, so there’s that. This will bring St. John’s a much-needed kick in the pants to bring a winning college basketball team back to Madison Square Garden, which has struggled to have sustained success and has not made the Final Four since 1985.

Pitino takes over for Mike Anderson. There’s no question that the talent was there with Anderson, but the culture within the program had soured in the past two years. That being said, this may be less about roster improvements and more about changing the culture. However, making sure star players stick around, including star big man Joel Soriano for his final season, will also be a priority.

Similar to Georgetown, this is New York City, the NIL opportunity is obviously there as well. It was more of a challenge to do so at a small college in Iona, but that will have to become a big part of Pitino’s recruiting pitch.

There’s no doubt that Pitino has what it takes to bring St. John’s back to relevance, the question is how quickly can he do it as he joins the already star-studded Big East coaching ranks, a group that can somewhat remind older fans of the Big East of the 1980s.

Where does Iona go from here? Pitino getting the Gaels to the NCAA tournament was never a new thing, it had been plenty of times under Tim Cluess; winning a game would have made it a different story. We got that answer quickly on Tuesday morning as the Gaels have hired Fairleigh Dickinson’s Tobin Anderson, the man who guided the Knights to the second-ever 16 over 1 upset in the NCAA tournament last week. Anderson will be tasked with keeping Iona’s dominance over the MAAC going.

This all being said, both of these hires will certainly send seismic shock waves into the foundation of the Big East. Rebuilds are necessary at both, but it’s hard to bet against either of these guys to do it.

By Aidan Joly

You might think of a lot of different things when you hear the name Jim Boeheim.

You might think of the 2-3 zone. You might think of his 2003 national championship team with Carmelo Anthony, or any of his other stars of bygone days in the Big East. You might think of his 2005-06 team, which wouldn’t have won “10 f—— games” without Gerry McNamara.

Or, you might think of his rants to the media. His mocking of the ACC tournament in Greensboro. The two NCAA investigations in 1992 and 2015, the second of which led to over 100 wins being vacated. The ugly abuse allegations that led to the firing of longtime assistant Bernie Fine in 2011.

But still, Boeheim was a constant at Syracuse for essentially his entire adult life, either as a player, assistant coach or head coach all but three years since 1963.

1,116 wins (unofficially) later, Boeheim’s ending was as fitting as his tenure as head coach: an awkward press conference in Greensboro where he went back and forth on retirement, followed by a press release a few hours later announcing his retirement, a release that did not include any quotes from Boeheim.

The exit was as complex as the man, who spent 47 of those years as the head coach in Syracuse. He kept a sharp focus on winning at a school that he loved unconditionally and will be remembered as the single-most transformative figure in the school’s existence and is perhaps second only to President Joe Biden as the school’s most recognizable alumnus.

He coached 35 NCAA tournament teams, five of which went to the Final Four and he cut down the nets once in 2003. He helped start up the glory days of the Big East in the 1980s, then saw them fade away with the disbanding of the old Big East in 2013. He coached recognizable names such as Louie and Bouie, Pearl Washington, Derrick Coleman, John Wallace, Anthony, Michael Carter-Williams and finally his own son, Buddy. He moved the program to what’s now called the JMA Wireless Dome, the largest basketball venue in the country.

But he never seemed to fit the part. He was a noted curmudgeon who swore at reporters, was angsty in press conferences, constantly complained about the state of the sport, up right until the end, complaining about NIL just one month ago. He ignored the school’s suggestion in 2015 that he retire in 2018 and the school looked the other way.

He never swayed from the 2-3 zone for decades, even right up until the end when teams caught on and his teams struggled. He wasn’t an avid watcher of film, as many of his colleagues are. He was criticized for nearly 30 years for never winning a national title. And he was criticized until the end for underachieving teams of recent years, the last of which went 17-15 and lost five of six to close the season.

New head coach Adrian Autry has the unenviable task of replacing a legend. It’s becoming more common in the past few years, with Jon Scheyer replacing Mike Krzyzewski, Hubert Davis replacing Roy Williams and Kyle Neptune replacing Jay Wright. It’s a task that amounts to living up to the man who simply is Syracuse University, as complicated as he is.

It’s fair to say that Boeheim deserved a better ending. But maybe it’s what he wanted.

By Aidan Joly

A bracket is here. That’s all. Let’s roll.

South Region

Starting off with Alabama, who earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament for the first time in program history, has a strong case to be the team that comes out of this region. The Crimson Tide finished off the regular season 29-5 and picked up a 19-point win against Texas A&M in the SEC title game on Sunday afternoon.

Brandon Miller has established himself as the premier freshman in the country, racking up 19.5 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. The rest of the core in Mark Sears, Noah Clowney, Jahvon Quinerly makes Alabama a real favorite to win the national title for the first time ever.

However, it won’t be an easy road for Alabama. No. 2 seed Arizona looms after it won the Pac-12 title behind five double digit scorers, headlined by 19.8 points and 9.1 rebounds per game from Azuolis Tubelis. A second weekend matchup between the Wildcats and No. 3 seed Baylor would be a lot of fun as well, with another star freshman in Keyonte George as well as senior Adam Flagler, who has been a huge part of these Bears teams the past few years and dates back to the 2021 national title team. An Elite Eight matchup between Alabama and Baylor would bring the best and second best freshmen in the country together and would be a treat to watch.

The 8-9 game in this region, Maryland against West Virginia, is going to be a lot of fun. This is two teams that play a similar style and will likely be a game that comes down to the final few possessions.

The 7-10 game in this region is a lot of fun as well in No. 7 seed Missouri against No. 10 seed Utah State. Missouri is 10th in the country in adjusted offense on KemPom with one of the best-shooting offenses in the country. Kobe Brown shoots over 45% from behind the three-point line, while Cleveland State transfer D’Moi Hodge shoots just under 40% from three. The Tigers are doing this under first-year head coach Dennis Gates, who brought in Hodge from his previous job in Cleveland. There’s not many coaching jobs in the country that are better than the one Gates has done with the Tigers this season and maybe that will result in a tournament win.

Meanwhile, Utah State is 13th in the country in adjusted offense and despite the 10 seed, are 18th overall in KenPom and were somewhat of a bubble team despite a Mountain West record of 13-5 and a 26-8 overall mark. Steven Ashworth and Taylor Funk are a great 1-2 punch for Ryan Odom’s offense in his second season in Logan. It very much feels like a game that the winning team will have to score at least 80 points.

The big potential upset in this region and seems like the easy one is No. 12 seed Charleston picking up a win against another Mountain West squad in San Diego State. It’s a really tough draw for the Aztecs against Charleston, which is much better than the typical 12 seed after going 31-3 overall and 16-2 in the Colonial and would have been in the conversation for an at-large had it not won the league. Nothing against San Diego State, but it’s tough to see them winning the game here.

East Region

This feels like the region that could get flipped upside-down. Purdue is the top seed in this region and it’s almost hard to see the Boilermakers make it to the second weekend.

The reason for this is fairly simple. The 8-9 matchup right below it is going to be tough either way. Memphis, the No. 8 seed, surprisingly won the American tournament with a 75-65 win against Houston on Sunday, a win which undoubtedly hurt Houston’s overall seed, even though it still got a No. 1 seed in a different region.

Memphis will go up against No. 9 seed Florida Atlantic in the first round, which is a very winnable game for the Owls and a draw that might get Dusty May’s squad into the second weekend. This is a team that has only lost three games this season and won 20 games in a row between November 14 and January 28. This is another team that scores a lot of points and do it in a way that features a lot of depth, the team’s leading scorer in Johnell Davis with only 13.4 points per game. However, Davis is a guy who can become a household name in the next week with his skill and play style. It’s almost a scenario where you expect the Owls to make the second weekend. Tough draw for the top seed.

Meanwhile, a sexy upset pick is to take Oral Roberts over Duke, but the Eagles drew one of the few teams that it probably didn’t want to see. After treading water by Duke standards for the lot of the season, the Blue Devils are finally finding their stride, having won nine in a row coming in and won the ACC tournament. Jon Scheyer has come into an impossible situation and has not only survived, but thrived in his first year at the helm. Max Abmas will once again be a fun watch and Oral Roberts will certainly be in the game and may have a chance to pull it out, but it is tough to see that happening.

One upset, however, that has a real possibility, is No. 13 seed Louisiana taking down Tennessee. The Ragin’ Cajuns play an exciting brand of basketball that is led by Jordan Brown’s 19.4 points per game and some sharp-shooting from Greg Williams Jr., who shoots over 40% from behind the arc.

Kentucky-Providence in the 6-11 game will be a lot of fun and it feels like a game that is somewhat under the radar. It’s a revenge game for Bryce Hopkins too, who transferred out of Kentucky last year after not getting much playing time as a freshman, to transform into the Friars’ leading scorer. We’ll see who gets the last laugh there.

Marquette especially impressed late in the season and ended up winning the Big East tournament after going 17-3 in league play and currently sits at 28-6 overall, good to earn the No. 2 seed in this region. It has not the easiest draw in Vermont, but the Golden Eagles sh0uld be able to get past the Catamounts.

An Elite Eight matchup between Marquette and Duke feels somewhat inevitable, but would be a great game and would take place at Madison Square Garden, which would make it that much more of an electric atmosphere. No. 3 seed Kansas State will try to prevent that, though. We shall see.

Midwest Region

This region has a lot of intriguing matchups in it. Houston is the top seed in this bracket and might end up having a somewhat easy road to the Final Four of things go right for them. A lot of it depends on the availability of Marcus Sasser, who suffered a groin injury during the conference tournament, but so far, signs point to him being available on Thursday against Northern Kentucky.

Xavier as a No. 3 seed for sure feels high and it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Musketeers bow out early. However, it has a chance to do well behind the trio of Souley Boum, Colby Jones and Zach Freemantle, who all average more than 15 points per game. If no upsets happen, it would be set up for a matchup with Iowa State, which feels somewhat favorable for them to get to the Sweet 16.

However, the winner of the play-in game feels like a team that could give the Cyclones a hard time. That play-in game is a pair of 11 seeds in Mississippi State and Pittsburgh. Right now, the writer of this piece leans Pittsburgh, a team that feels a lot better than a No. 11 seed that barely squeaked into the tournament. Remember, this was a team that finished fifth in the ACC, but finished only one game back of first place. The Panthers are back in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2016, a real feel-good story of the season after the program endured some awful basketball the past 5-7 years. Jamarius Burton and Blake Hinson are a great 1-2 punch for the Panthers, along with Nelly Cummings as a very good third option.

Another low seed that is going to have a chance is No. 12 seed Kent State, which will face Indiana late Friday night. Sincere Carry has been around forever and finally has a chance to pluck off one of the sport’s bluebloods. Hoosiers star Trayce Jackson-Davis will surely be trying to stop the Golden Flashes from moving on.

One team to keep on the radar as a very low seed is No. 15 seed Colgate, which should be expected to keep it a game against Texas. 15 seeds winning in the first round has become increasingly common in the past few years. Colgate could be that team this year, one of the best offenses in the country that can shoot with the best of them.

The two middle seed games will be a lot of fun as well. Iowa-Auburn in the 8-9 game will certainly be an interesting game between two teams that have been streaky all year. The 7-10 game between Texas A&M and Penn State – the Nittany Lions back in the tournament for the first time since 2011 – will be a fascinating contrast of play styles. Something is going to have to give in that game.

The only game that hasn’t been hit in this region is No. 5 seed Miami against Drake. Miami was in the Elite Eight one year ago as a No. 10 seed. With a core of Isaiah Wong, Jordan Miller, Norchad Omier and Nijel Pack, the Hurricanes are a dark horse Final Four pick if things go right. Omier suffered an ankle injury in the ACC tournament, so his status will be something to watch. Right now, with Omier potentially out for the first round game on Friday, Drake is actually the favorite. That is going to be something to monitor throughout the week.

West Region

Hoo boy, is there a first round game in this region circled in this quadrant. We get No. 4 seed UConn facing Iona in the first round on Friday afternoon in Albany. My god. Both schools are close to Albany, Iona is familiar with the building and both fanbases will travel well.

UConn was a team that was thought to have national title chances at the beginning of the season, but a streak of bad basketball in January left the fanbase panicking. However, now the Huskies have won nine of the past 11 games, but bowed out in the Big East semifinals. Adama Sonogo and Jordan Hawkins are the big two names for UConn, but it will be facing Rick Pitino’s Iona Gaels, a squad that hasn’t lost a game since January 27. Between the two teams being close, both fanbases traveling well and the thought that Pitino will almost certainly be leaving for the St. John’s job after Iona’s season comes to a close, MVP Arena is going to be rocking on Friday afternoon.

The top seed in this bracket is Kansas, the Jayhawks trying to defend the national title, but it won’t be an easy road. No matter what happens in the 8-9 game between Illinois and Arkansas, it is not going to be an easy second round game and it’s not out of the realm of possibility to see the Jayhawks not make the second weekend.

One potential second round matchup to get excited about is a potential matchup between No. 3 seed Gonzaga and No. 6 seed TCU. The Horned Frogs have felt all year like they are a team that has been built for March. Mike Miles Jr. and Damion Baugh are the two guys for TCU, while Drew Timme is going to make one final tournament run for the Zags. It’s not hard to see the Bulldogs making a run to the Final Four, again, if things go right. It’s not your typical Gonzaga team that went through the regular season next to unscathed (it had 5 losses), but is hitting its stride now. A Sweet 16 game between Gonzaga and UCLA, a rematch from the 2021 Final Four, which ended on a near-half court buzzer beater from Jalen Suggs, would be a very fun watch.

However, for that second round game to happen, TCU will need to get past either Arizona State or Nevada from the play-in game, with the Pac-12 ending up having four teams make the dance.

The 5-12 game between St. Mary’s and VCU is sure to be a defensive struggle and a game that only 50 points will win it. Logan Johnson and Aidan Mahaney have been fun watches for the Gaels this season and they’ll have to go up against Adrian Baldwin Jr. and Brandon Johns Jr. from the Rams. Both teams are very good defensively and that game is sure to be all about that.

Northwestern and Boise State will face each other in the 7-10 game that could certainly go either way. Boo Buie has transformed himself into a star in Evanston with 17.1 points per game, while Chase Audige is a very quality second option. The Boise State Broncos definitely deserve to be here, after a 24-9 season and 13-5 in the Mountain West. It’ll be a fun game to see.

This is the best time of the year. 68 teams and only one of them will get to cut down the nets in Houston on April 3. Between then, you never know what to expect and that’s the magic of this tournament. Enjoy it.

By Aidan Joly

March has arrived and we will crown a national champion in just over a month.

That being said, there are a lot of conferences out there that can have one of its representatives lifting the trophy in Houston on April 3.

So, here is the team from each conference that has the best chance to do that – obviously, not every conference is included.

American: Houston

Self-explanatory. The Cougars have been a top-three team in the country all season are the only team in that league with a real shot at a title. Marcus Sasser has been one of the best players in the nation all season, helping lead the Cougars to a 15-1 in the league, 27-2 overall record. A first national title in program history could be in the cards, and they would be able to do it just under seven miles from campus.

ACC: Miami

You thought I would say Virginia, huh? The Hurricanes have felt like the slightly better team in the ACC all season long after a surprise run to the Elite Eight a year ago. Since that, they have hung around in the top 25 all season and look like the best team in the league right now. It’s unlikely that the ACC will bring home the title, but the Canes are seen as a dark horse Final Four threat.

Big 12: Kansas

There’s a host of teams you could go with here, but I’ll go with the Jayhawks being the first team to go back-t0-back since Florida in 2006 and 2007. There’s so much that can be said about this team’s core in Jalen Wilson, Gradey Dick, Kevin McCullar and KJ Adams. It is going to be hard to bet against these Jayhawks in your bracket pool. Kansas State, Baylor and Texas all have shots to win it all too.

Big East: UConn

Believe it or not, I’m not going to go with the Marquette team that currently sits at No. 6 in the country and could certainly by in line for a 1-seed next weekend. Instead, going with a group that has returned to its early-season form after some struggles midway through the season. The Huskies have won seven of the past eight with one regular season game to go. When this team gets hot, it can run just about anybody out of the gym.

Big Ten: Purdue

The Big Ten hasn’t won a national championship since 2000 and the Boilermakers give the league its best shot to win it in several years, even after Michigan made the national championship game since 2018 (which feels like a decade ago). Purdue has the star to pull it off with Zach Edey and a very good supporting cast in Fletcher Loyer, Braden Smith and Caleb Furst. However, the Boilermakers have struggled as of late, dropping four of the last six.

Mountain West: San Diego State

Sleeper time. If you have seen a stat on social media recently that every national title winner has been in the top 40 in KenPom offense and top 22 in KenPom defense, it’s an accurate stat. The Aztecs are right on the cusp of that bill as of Thursday, 14th in defense and 43rd in offense. Brian Dutcher’s team might surprise some people and be right in the thick of things in a few short weeks. This program nor the Mountain West Conference has won a title before.

PAC-12: UCLA

The Bruins have been one of those top three or four teams in the country through the entire season as well. Jaime Jaquez has transformed into an NCAA tournament name into one of the best players in the country to the tune of 17 points and eight rebounds per game. Jaylen Clark and Tyger Campbell have both done very well as second and third options, while freshman Amari Bailey has made a name for himself in his first season in Westwood. UCLA has the most national titles of any program, but is in the midst of a 27-year drought. Could it end this year?

SEC: Alabama

It’s been an ugly past few weeks for the Alabama program, but the team is still winning games at a rate that few teams in the country are matching. The Crimson Tide are 16-1 in SEC play and 26-4 overall and have won eight of their last nine contests. Nate Oats has built a program that is truly ready to compete for a national championship and this could be the year.

West Coast: Gonzaga

The Zags aren’t as good as years past, but it’s still a very, very good team up in Spokake. Drew Timme is having another All-American campaign with just over 21 points and 7.4 rebounds per game, and Julian Strawther puts up just over 15 points per game. With the Bulldogs more than likely on the 3-line, maybe they get some good draws and make a run for a title. I almost went with St. Mary’s here, who is better than usual, but Gonzaga still gets the spot.