Author: Aidan Joly

By Aidan Joly

On Monday night, the UConn Huskies became the first team since 2006 and 2007 Florida to win back-to-back national championships, beating Purdue 75-60 in the title game.

It was another unprecedented blast through the tournament. The Huskies were never challenged in any of their six tournament games, winning each of them by at least 14 points and winning by an average of 23.3 points, which was even larger than the 2023 run, where the Huskies won by an average of 20.0 points.

It took down last year’s runner-up in San Diego State in the Sweet 16, pounded Big Ten champ Illinois in the Elite Eight, took down red-hot Alabama in the national semifinal before taking down a Purdue team that had college basketball’s first two-time national player of the year in four decades.

UConn finished the season 37-3, its three losses coming to Kansas on Dec. 1 when the Jayhawks shot 64% from three (UConn was also without Stephon Castle in this game), to Seton Hall on Dec. 20 when Donovan Clingan was limited to just 14 minutes due to injury, and then finally to Creighton on Feb. 20 when the Bluejays made 14 three-pointers. Simply, UConn was an unstoppable force for the entire season and never really struggled.

Monday night’s title game was like many other UConn games we saw this season. Purdue had made it competitive for much of the first half before UConn slowly pulled away as the break approached, then the Huskies turned it on at the start of the second half and it ended up being a blowout as UConn cruised for most of the second half.

What’s even crazier about this UConn run was that the Huskies were supposed to take a step back this year. It lost three starters in Jordan Hawkins, Adama Sanogo and Andre Jackson from last year’s team. Key role players like Joey Calcaterra and Naheim Alleyne also needed to be replaced.

Instead, Tristen Newton became an All-American after not having a big role last season. Clingan and Castle became stars who will likely both be NBA lottery picks. Cam Spencer ended up being an amazing fit after transferring in from Rutgers last summer.

This is different from Florida’s back-t0-back titles nearly two decades ago. The 2007 Florida team returned almost its entire core, including Al Horford, Corey Brewer and Joakim Noah. UConn lost several key pieces.

It’s a massive testament to the system that Dan Hurley has built in Storrs: elite offense, being one of the best offensive teams we have seen in decades, maybe ever, elite defense, and being one of the best rebounding teams in the nation. The system works, and the system is elite. UConn has not lost an NCAA tournament game since being upset in the first round by New Mexico State in 2022. 12 straight tournament wins later and Hurley has delivered UConn its fifth and sixth national titles.

The teams that come to mind, in recent memory, include the Duke team from 2001, Kentucky teams from both 2012 and 2015 (the 2015 Wildcats didn’t win the national championship but went 38-1) and the Gonzaga team from 2021, which also did not win the national championship but finished 31-1.

Still, none of those teams finished with better KenPom offense numbers than this year’s UConn team did.

It finished 5.26 points in KenPom adjusted efficiency margin better than the second place team in Houston, the second-largest margin in the KenPom era (1996-97). The only larger difference was 1998-99 Duke, which finished an absurd 11.35 points ahead of second-place Michigan State. Still, those Blue Devils did not win the national title – it coincidentally lost to UConn in that year’s title game.

It is not supposed to be easy to win in the NCAA tournament. Its single elimination format breeds and encourages chaos and unpredictability, but Hurley and the Huskies of the past two years have managed to master it.

This title pushes into even more solidifying UConn being in the elite tier of the sport’s bluebloods. The 1999 team was a heavy underdog in the title game and the 2011 and 2014 championships were a result of Kemba Walker and Shabazz Napier going on crazy runs and willing the Huskies to titles. Even in 2023, UConn only faced one top-four seed the entire tournament.

This team dominated against the best of the best in the sport. The Huskies made it look easy.

By Aidan Joly

So much for the national title game being the biggest story in college basketball, on the day of the game.

Late Sunday night, news broke of the biggest coaching move not just this year, but in many, many years: John Calipari will leave Kentucky after 15 years at the helm in Lexington to take the job at conference rival Arkansas.

There had definitely been whispers about Calipari’s future in Lexington after a string of early NCAA tournament losses and those whispers got even louder after Kentucky lost to 14-seed Oakland in the first round a few weeks ago. The Kentucky program has not been to the second weekend of the tournament since 2019 and has lost in the first round in two of the past three years. That came after a painful 9-16 campaign in 2020-21 after Kentucky had been in the preseason top 10.

Only one national title in 15 years and only four trips to the Final Four (none since 2015) had started to ding him with the fanbase as well.

12 days ago, athletic director Mitch Barnhart publicly confirmed that Calipari would return for the 2024-25 season, but a painfully awkward TV interview the next day made it clear that the relationship was souring. The days were clearly beginning to be numbered.

The idea that Calipari is leaving one of the top jobs in the country for what on the surface is a lower-level job shows how desperately he wanted to get out at Kentucky. According to CBS Sports, Calipari had significant interest in the Ohio State job before they took the interim tag off of Jake Diebler.

Then, the unexpected chain of events began. SMU surprisingly fired Rob Lanier after two good seasons and a NIT appearance this season. From there, SMU snapped up Andy Enfield from USC after a disappointing season in Los Angeles. Eric Musselman then left Arkansas to take the job at USC, setting up Arkansas AD Hunter Yurachek to make this shoot-for-the-moon run at Calipari.

Reportedly, the big force in this move was John Tyson, a billionaire Arkansas benefactor and the heir to the Tyson Foods empire, a longtime friend of Calipari’s. Calipari will have one of the largest NIL budgets in the country in Fayetteville.

In many ways, this is a win-win-win for all sides involved.

Arkansas gets a coach that is a winner and someone who could very well make the Razorbacks an annual contender for the national championship after Musselman brought the program back to national prominence. He got Arkansas to the Elite Eight twice, on top of another Sweet 16 appearance. The Razorbacks get an improvement at head coach, something that is rare when a coach leaves for another job – and at that, someone as good as Musselman.

For Kentucky, they get to move on from a guy who was clearly no longer the right coach for the program, and get to do it without paying any of his $33 million buyout. And they get a new coach for the first time since 2009, and with that, a chance to start fresh.

For Calipari, he is now free from one of the toughest jobs in the country, one that is probably the highest pressure job in the country. He also gets a fresh start at a new school, and he still has things to prove.

Where does Kentucky go from here?

Dan Hurley is the shoot-for-the-moon option, but it is tough to see him moving on from UConn, especially so if the Huskies win another national championship on Monday night.

Billy Donovan is another option and on the surface would make a ton of sense, but he has not coached in college basketball in nearly a decade and may not want to leave a cushy NBA job to head back to the college game.

Alabama coach Nate Oats makes a lot of sense, as does Baylor coach Scott Drew. Both recently re-did their contracts, and Oats has an eight-figure buyout. But if Kentucky wants him, that shouldn’t matter. Drew would make sense too, and he has a smaller buyout.

BYU coach Mark Pope would be a solid hire, as would Auburn coach Bruce Pearl.

The Kentucky job is indeed the highest pressure job in the country, but also the one with the highest upside. Eight national championships from five different coaches and going back-and-forth with Kansas for the winningest program of all-time. The expectations are unbelievably high, but there’s no ceiling to what can be accomplished there with the right coach.

Calipari was no longer the right coach for the program. That was clear. Now, after this stunning turn of events, the two sides are free from each other.

By Aidan Joly

The Final Four has arrived. This week, UConn, Purdue, Alabama and NC State will all head to Glendale, Arizona to decide the national title for the 2023-24 season.

There’s still questions to be answered about how the final games of the college basketball season will go. Let’s get into a few of them.

Can anyone beat UConn? Can Alabama keep up with the Huskies?

UConn has blown through the first four games of the tournament with ease. It has won its four games by 39 (Stetson), 17 (Northwestern), 30 (San Diego State) and 25 (Illinois) so far.

It is the most efficient offense in the country. It is worth noting that the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 most efficient KenPom offenses are all still alive. UConn will face Alabama, who is the No. 3 offense, in the national semifinal in the late game on Saturday.

Alabama has certainly not won its games by blowouts, its largest margin of victory in the tournament was a 13-point win against Charleston in the first round. It beat North Carolina by two in the Sweet 16 and Clemson by seven in the Elite Eight.

So, that being said, can Alabama beat UConn? It will need to hit threes in bunches in order to do so, as that seems to be the recipe in which a few teams have been able to overcome the Huskies this season. It will probably need to hit about 15 of them in order to do so. It can do that, since it is one of the best three-point shooting teams in the country. It has hit at least eight threes in every tournament game so far and has hit 11 or more in three of the four games. Creighton was the last team to beat UConn (Feb. 20) and did it on 14 threes.

It’s also worth noting that UConn has only given up 18 threes the entire tournament, so, yeah.

I can also see a scenario where in a hypothetical title matchup, Purdue gets a few UConn players in foul trouble and the offense gets going and Purdue is able to beat them.

However, just because this can happen, does it mean it will? It’s certainly not a guarantee. UConn does have this inevitable feel to it, but the best team doesn’t always win this tournament. So it’s possible.

Can NC State pull off another upset?

This has been the run of all runs for NC State, who was not even supposed to be in the tournament before winning five games in five days to win the ACC title, and now becomes the sixth 11-seed to ever reach the Final Four.

It’s an all-time magic and destiny team. DJ Burns is a big part of that while capturing the attention of America . However, Burns will be forced to guard Zach Edey in Saturday’s early game, and he has not faced the length and talent of a guy like Edey in this entire run so far. That will surely be a very real challenge for him.

Purdue will surely stick to the plan that has worked all season – get Edey the ball no matter what. The only thing that could work here is Burns being extremely physical with Edey and getting him out of his spots. If that can happen, we might end up seeing a different type of game.

While this run has been incredible for the Wolfpack, it is very tough to see them doing it another time. They have not faced a team this good or this potent on offense.

On just one quick note, it is awesome to see Matt Painter finally make a Final Four. He’s been grinding away at Purdue for nearly two decades now and has never gotten to this point. Painter and the entire Purdue team has caught so much grief in the past year after the stunning first round loss, and this redemption story is one of the best things that sports has to offer.

Who will be the Final Four’s star?

There’s certainly several candidates here. There is obviously the betting favorite in Edey, but it will likely come from the team that ends up winning the national title. Edey certainly has a chance though, just as Purdue has a great chance at winning the national title.

Purdue’s star put up one of the most dominant performances of the entire season in the Elite Eight game against Tennessee. In the win, he put up 40 points on 13-21 from the field and 14-22 from the free throw line and grabbed 16 rebounds, five of them on the offensive glass. He can surely put up another game like that on either Saturday or Monday.

Other guys to look at here include Cam Spencer and Donovan Clingan, who have been UConn’s stalwarts all season long. Clingan has been ascending all season and has claimed star status in college basketball as of late, but can maintain superstar status with a big game this weekend.

Of course, there is Burns, but it is tough to predict a guy as the star of the weekend when it is tough to see him playing two games in Glendale. In this situation, you kind of have to go with a guy who you are confident will play in the national title game.

By Aidan Joly

Cinderella is nowhere to be found entering the second weekend of the NCAA tournament.

There were still upsets in the first weekend of the tournament, with Oakland stunning Kentucky, Yale taking down Auburn and James Madison winning with a commanding performance against Wisconsin.

However, all of those teams lost in the second round, meaning there’s no real Cinderella team left.

That’s okay though. That just means that we’ll have the teams we discussed all year long duking it out for the title. All of the 1-seeds and 2-seeds are still alive, making up half of the Sweet 16. From there, you have two 3-seeds, two 4-seeds, two 5-seeds, a 6-seed, and 11-seed NC State. It’s just the fifth time in tournament history that all of the 1-seeds and 2-seeds are still alive at this point.

That being said, here are the Sweet 16 teams power ranked heading into the second weekend (I’ll go 16-1 here).

16. San Diego State

San Diego State was on upset watch in the first round, but found a way past UAB to advance. Then, it was more impressive in the second round with a 85-57 win against Yale to advance to the Sweet 16 for the second straight year.

Jaedon LeDee has been very good as of late, but there doesn’t seem to be many other scoring options outside of him. The Aztecs need to shoot much more consistently as well.

San Diego State is set to face UConn in the Sweet 16 on Thursday night in a rematch of last year’s national title game. Those things being said about San Diego State combined with how hot UConn has been, it’s tough to see SDSU moving on.

15. NC State

Less than three weeks ago, the Wolfpack were 17-14 and looking at the NIT, at best.

Since a loss to Pitt in the regular season finale on March 9, NC State has won seven in a row and advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2015.

DJ Burns, the 6-foot-9, 275 pound big man, has been one of the best stories of the tournament, while DJ Horne and Mohamed Diarra have both been very good. In the first round it handled Texas Tech before needing overtime to beat tournament darling Oakland on Saturday.

NC State will play Marquette on Friday. The Wolfpack can certainly hang with Marquette, but it is tough to see a way NC State moves past Marquette.

14. Clemson

The Tigers were definitely on upset watch before their first round game against New Mexico but silenced the doubters with a convincing 77-56 win before somewhat surprisingly taking down Baylor in the second round.

Chase Hunter has averaged 20.5 points per game in the tournament so far and has been the key in Clemson’s offense. Good play in the frontcourt from PJ Hall, Jack Clark and Ian Schiefflin has also been a key for the Tigers.

Clemson will face Arizona in the opener on Thursday night.

13. Alabama

The Tide have been impressive in wins against Charleston and Grand Canyon in the first and second rounds, but the defense remains a rather large issue.

Alabama has shown nice resolve after losing to Florida in the SEC quarterfinals, though. The trio of Mark Sears, Rylan Griffin and Aaron Estrada has been very good on offense. But again, the defense remains an issue.

Can Alabama beat North Carolina on Thursday night? Sure. But it will need all of those players to be great, and limiting the Tar Heels on offense will be necessary. I have my doubts.

12. Gonzaga

Gonzaga was on the bubble much of the season, but solidified their spot late in the season and is now in the Sweet 16 for the ninth consecutive season. It’s a heck of a streak from Mark Few and the Zags.

It beat McNeese by 21 in the first round. The first half against Kansas was close, but Gonzaga turned it on in the second half and ended up winning 89-68 after out-scoring the Jayhawks 46-24 in the second half.

Ryan Nembhard is one of the hottest guards in the country, while the rest of the cast in Graham Ike, Anton Watson and Nolan Hickman are all playing well.

Despite the fact that it is crazy efficient on offense, it will see Purdue on Friday. The Zags will need to be close to perfect to advance.

11. Marquette

If not for the return of Tyler Kolek, there is a good chance that the Golden Eagles would have been eliminated by now.

Instead, Marquette is in the second weekend of the tournament for the first time since 2013 after a win against Western Kentucky, and then outlasting a tough Colorado team in the second round.

Kolek has scored 39 points and dished out 22 assists in the first two games of the tournament. Marquette has been to the Elite Eight just one time since 2003, and has a great chance to advance on Friday against NC State.

10. Tennessee

It feels strange to put a 2-seed this low, but that is the nature of the tournament and the teams that are left in it.

It dismantled Saint Peter’s in the first round, but it was very much a survive-and-advance scenario against Texas in the second round. Despite that, Dalton Knecht was very good in that game, scoring 18 points and hitting clutch shots late. Santiago Vescovi and Zakai Ziegler have been important as well.

That being said, the Vols shot 3-25 from three against Texas. That can’t happen again if it wants to advance. The Vols play Creighton on Friday.

9. Creighton

The other side of Friday night’s matchup. Creighton won the best game of the tournament so far with a 86-73 double overtime win against Oregon, but that final score obviously does not reflect how close the game was. The Bluejays scored 15 unanswered points in the second OT.

Trey Alexander did only shoot 7-21 from the field, so he will need to have a better shooting night to beat Tennessee. Steven Ashworth is a great defensive player and will need to continue that trend. Ryan Kalkbrenner is also great, he put up 19 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and swatted five blocks in the win over Oregon.

Final Four dark horses? Maybe.

8. Iowa State

I might have ranked the Cyclones a little low. Iowa State has been very clean with the basketball in both of their tournament games so far, with turnovers in the single digits in wins over South Dakota State and Washington State.

The combination of Tamin Lipsey and Keshon Gilbert makes for great guard play, while freshman Milan Momcilovic has been great in his first NCAA tournament. Also, the Cyclones have the No. 1 defense in the country.

Iowa State will face Illinois on Thursday night. The Illini are hot on offense, making this a clash of the titans.

7. Illinois

Speaking of Illinois, here they are. Terrence Shannon is the hottest guard in the country right now, having combined for 56 points in the wins over Morehead State and Duquesne. Marcus Domask is one of the best secondary players in the country, as well.

As long as it can get past Iowa State, which that game could truly go either way, this Illini team could actually give UConn a real test in Boston. It’ll have to keep up on offense.

I’m very high on Illinois right now, and think they can win at least one game in Boston.

6. Houston

I’m not as sure that the Cougars can advance to the national title game after it needed overtime to beat 9-seed Texas A&M on Sunday night after a ferocious comeback from the Aggies, but that doesn’t mean they can’t.

When Houston’s backcourt of Jamal Shead, LJ Cryer and Emanuel Sharp is on, it can be the best in the country without much question. Sharp had 30 points in the second round win.

One thing to point out: Texas A&M shot 29-45 from the free throw line on Sunday. If A&M made a few more, Houston probably loses that game.

Houston will face Duke in the Sweet 16 on Friday.

5. Duke

Duke was very impressive in the first weekend, beating Vermont in the first round by 17 and followed it up with a 93-55 dismantling of James Madison in the second round.

Jared McCain put up 30 points in the game against James Madison, while the rest of the cast in Kyle Filipowski, Jeremy Roach and Tyrese Proctor have all been key cogs all season.

It’s a good recipe for the Blue Devils, who have a top-5 offense on KenPom paired with a top-20 defense.

To beat Houston, Duke will need to limit the backcourt of the Cougars. Duke will look to pull off the upset in this one.

4. Arizona

We are an Arizona win and a North Carolina win away from the Caleb Love bowl on Saturday in Los Angeles.

Arizona moved past Long Beach State easily, but faced a little bit of a challenge against Dayton some of the way before pulling away for a 10-point win. Jaden Bradley stepped up in the win, but Kylan Boswell will need to bounce back from a poor showing against Dayton.

The Wildcats can certainly advance to the next round, and maybe the Final Four if it plays well enough against UNC. Don’t want to look to far ahead, though.

3. Purdue

All eyes were on Purdue this past weekend, and the Boilermakers passed with flying colors, a weekend that included a 106-67 dismantling of Utah State in the second round on Sunday.

The 39-point win matched the largest of the entire tournament. Zach Edey has done Zach Edey things, combining for 53 points, 35 rebounds and six blocks through the first two games.

Purdue will face Gonzaga in the Sweet 16, the two teams met last November in Maui. All eyes will continue to be on them this weekend.

2. North Carolina

The second round game against Michigan State seemed like a big one for the Tar Heels and their identity. UNC trailed 26-14 in the first half, but stormed back and were great the rest of the way en route to a convincing 85-69 win.

The Heels could have turned over and fell victim to MSU and Tom Izzo, but did not. RJ Davis and Armando Bacot have developed into a very good guard-big duo, while Harrison Ingram has been one of the better glue guys you’ll see anywhere.

Hubert Davis deserves credit for this turnaround from last season. Now, the Tar Heels are two wins away from a second Final Four appearance in three years. It needs to get past Alabama first, though. I think they can do it.

1. UConn

Could it be anyone else? UConn becomes the first defending champion to reach the second weekend since Duke in 2016 after the program won it all in 2015.

There is no sign of drop off, with a 39-point win against Stetson in the first round and then beat Northwestern 75-58 in the second round. It continues to be an offensive juggernaut behind Tristen Newton, Cam Spencer, Alex Karaban, Donovan Clingan and Stephon Castle.

It feels like UConn’s national title to lose. It should be something of a shock if the Huskies don’t make the Final Four, at this point.

By Aidan Joly

Monday was a very busy day in the coaching carousel across the college hoops landscape after all of the games over the weekend.

Some of the biggest openings this season were filled, while perhaps the biggest opening of the cycle still remains open as of Tuesday afternoon.

Let’s get into it.

Filled openings

Dusty May to Michigan

This was probably the second biggest opening on the board this off-season. It goes to May, who brought Florida Atlantic to the Final Four before hovering in the top 25 all season this year.

May is familiar with both the Big Ten and the area, having famously been a student manager at Indiana, is from Illinois and got his first coaching job at Eastern Michigan all the way back in 2005. Ann Arbor feels like a great fit for May.

For what it is worth, it seemed like for a long time that May would end up at Louisville, but seems to have had a change of heart. May replaces Juwan Howard, who was fired after a dreadful 8-24 season this year, just three years after going to the Elite Eight.

Darian DeVries to West Virginia

DeVries has been in the running to get a high major job for a few years now, and finally lands in Morgantown.

DeVries owned a 150-55 record in six seasons at Drake and led the program to the tournament three times in that span. Before he arrived, Drake only had four NCAA tournament appearances to its name. His teams play an attractive style of basketball that is tough on defense and aesthetically pleasing on offense.

DeVries will also probably end up bringing some key pieces with him to WVU, including his son Tucker, who would have been one of the best players in the transfer portal this spring.

He replaces interim coach Josh Eilert, who ran the program this season after the unceremonious firing of Bob Huggins last summer. WVU went 9-23 this season and 4-14 in Big 12 play.

Danny Sprinkle to Washington

It’s been quite the rise for Sprinkle, one of the fast rising coaches in the country. A year ago he left his alma mater in Montana State to take the job at Utah State, and now he departs that job to move to Washington.

A native of the state of Washington, Sprinkle led Utah State to a 28-7 record this season and 14-4 in the Mountain West, getting an 8-seed in the tournament and advancing before a second round loss to Purdue on Sunday. He got Montana State to the tournament twice in his four-year tenure there.

Washington is getting one of the best young coaches in the country with this. He has won big everywhere he has gone and will try to revive a Huskies program that has only been to the tournament once since 2011.

He replaces Mike Hopkins, who went 62-72 in Pac 12 play and 118-106 overall in seven seasons.

Kyle Smith to Stanford

Smith elects to leave Washington State as the program drops down to the WCC amidst the demise of the Pac 12 to head to Stanford as the school joins the ACC for next season.

Stanford is one of the tougher jobs in the high majors when you consider the academic requirements of the school, but coaches have won there before. Smith has experience at schools with high academic requirements, having coached at Columbia in the Ivy League from 2010-2016. He had two 20-win seasons there.

He helped rebuild the Washington State program this season, leading it to the tournament for the first time since 2008 this season. Smith is a great tactician who will bring in good players to fit his system.

He replaces Jerod Haase, who went 126-127 overall and 67-84 in eight seasons. Stanford has not been to the NCAA tournament since 2014.

Mark Byington to Vanderbilt

This one feels like a very strong fit. Byington heads to Nashville after four seasons at James Madison, going 82-36 and 41-23 in conference play in two different leagues. JMU was one of the best mid majors in the country this year, ending the season 32-4 with an appearance in the second round.

Byington also spent seven years as the coach at Georgia Southern, picking up three 20-win seasons. He seems like a very similar coach to Dusty May, but without the Final Four run. He is also one of the fast rising coaches from the mid major ranks, and should do well at Vanderbilt.

Vanderbilt has not been to the tournament since 2017. It fired Jerry Stackhouse, who went 70-92 and 28-60 in SEC play in five seasons.

Chris Holtmann to DePaul

Holtmann finds a landing spot in Chicago after being fired midseason by Ohio State. He joins the star-studded coaching ranks of the Big East after his tenure in Columbus, which ended poorly but featured five 20-win seasons in six-plus seasons as well as four NCAA tournament appearances.

DePaul is probably the worst job in all of Power 6. No facilities, no NIL money, barely any winning tradition. Holtmann will have his work cut out for him, especially in the Big East and its powerhouses in UConn, Creighton and Marquette.

The program has not been to the tournament since 2004, the longest drought in all of Power 6. It fired Tony Stubblefield in the midst of his third season, departing with a 28-54 record and 9-38 in league play. Interim coach Matt Brady went 0-14 as DePaul finished the season 3-29.

In addition, Ohio State took the interim tag off of Jake Diebler, giving him a five-year contract. It’s definitely a risky move, with such a small sample size, but Ohio State is electing to make the same move Texas did one year ago.

Diebler is 8-2 as interim head coach, while the Buckeyes are in the NIT quarterfinals.

Jobs still open

There are three Power 6 jobs still open: Louisville, Oklahoma State and SMU.

We all know about the Louisville job, and many of their top candidates seem to have taken other jobs at this point, so choices are surely limited for athletic director Josh Heird now. Josh Schertz, the head coach at Indiana State is still available, but the Sycamores are also still alive in the NIT. There is a lot out there about the Louisville job right now and it’s still not clear the direction the school will go.

Oklahoma State is still open after the firing of Mike Boynton after seven seasons, resulting in a 119-109 overall record and 51-75 in Big 12 play. Boynton also only had one NCAA tournament appearance in that span.

SMU is also open after the surprising firing of Rob Lanier after just two seasons as the program goes to the ACC next season. Lanier had a 10-win improvement this season, too, as well as six more conference wins. It’s a bit of a head scratcher to say the least. SMU’s thought seems to be that they can get a bigger name with the move to the ACC. USC coach Andy Enfield’s name has surfaced in multiple reports within the past 24 hours.

Lanier landed on his feet pretty quickly though, being hired at Rice within days.

Of course, Utah State and FAU are both open. You have to feel for Utah State, which has now had its last three coaches leave after three or less seasons for other jobs. Craig Smith went to Utah after three years, Ryan Odom went to VCU after two and now Sprinkle goes to Washington after just one season.

Kyle Church is currently the interim coach at FAU, and probably deserves the full-time gig. Drake is now open as well.

In the Atlantic 10, Duquesne and St. Louis are both open. Dru Joyce III seems to be leader at Duquesne after he served as the top assistant for the retiring Keith Dambrot. Joyce is a high school teammate of LeBron James and the two remain friends. Schertz’s name has been in play at St. Louis, but the Billikens may have to pivot if he lands the Louisville job.

Fresno State is also open after the firing of Justin Hutson.

Quickly transitioning to a few mid-major jobs that have been filled, former Tennessee, California and Missouri coach Cuonzo Martin has now landed at Missouri State for his second stint there. He was the coach at Missouri State from 2008-2011, going 61-41 in those three seasons.

Austin Claunch has also been hired at UTSA. He went 90-61 in five seasons at Nicholls before spending this season as an assistant at Alabama.

By Aidan Joly

The NCAA tournament bracket has arrived. You can definitely say what you will about what teams got in and which teams didn’t, as well as where teams were seeded, but the 68 teams have been bracketed.

That being said, let’s get into it, region by region.

East Region

When you look at the East Region, it looks like UConn’s to lose. The Huskies are the top seed in this region and the top seed in the entire tournament after a 31-3 regular season, where it looked mostly unstoppable.

It does get something of a tough draw in terms of the teams that it would have to go up against in the second weekend, though. Big 12 champion Iowa State is the 2-seed in this region, a red-hot Illinois team that won the Big Ten is the 3-seed, and SEC champ Auburn is the 4-seed.

The Illini are one of the hottest teams in the nation right now. After surviving a scare from Ohio State in the Big Ten quarterfinals, Illinois scored 98 points in the semifinal win against Nebraska before scoring 93 on Sunday in the final against Wisconsin. Terrence Shannon has blossomed into one of the best players in the nation and scored a total of 102 points in the Big Ten tournament over three days.

Two additional teams that were in the Final Four last year, San Diego State and Florida Atlantic, are the 5-seed and 8-seed in this region. It’s a bit of a surprise that FAU was seeded this high as many thought the Owls were on the bubble and a few bracketologists didn’t have FAU in the field at all, but they are cleanly in as the 8-seed. It will face Northwestern in the first round on Friday for the right to play UConn on Sunday. San Diego State has UAB in the first round in Spokane. That sets up a potential matchup with Auburn in the second round, a Tigers team that has to make a cross-country trek just for the first weekend. Tough luck.

A first round game that could truly go either way is the 7/10 game between Washington State and Drake. Wazzu is in the tournament for the first time since 2008 after a second-place finish in the Pac-12 and winning a total of 24 games in the regular season. Kyle Smith’s Cougars have a top-30 rated defense on KenPom, while it’s opponent, Drake, has a top-40 rated offense. Something has to give here, and it will be very interesting to see who comes out on top.

In the 6/11 game, BYU will face Duquesne, who is in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1977(!) after a surprise run through the Atlantic 10 tournament. BYU has one of the most high-flying offenses in the country between Jaxson Robinson, Trevin Knell and Fousseyni Traore. Duquesne plays a tough brand of basketball but also has two great scorers in Dae Dae Grant (16.7 PPG) and Jimmy Clark III (15.1 PPG). It will be important for BYU to limit those two in order to move on.

A shoutout to Stetson, the 16-seed in this region. It is more than likely the sacrificial lambs to UConn in the first round, but the Hatters are in the tournament for the first time in program history after winning the ASUN.

In general, there’s a lot of good teams in this region, but UConn and Illinois seem like the most likely to be the ones to advance to the second weekend, setting up what would be a heck of a clash in the Elite Eight. It’s worth noting that the Huskies will not have to get on a plane for the first or second weekend, playing in Brooklyn and then (if it advances) in Boston.

West Region

This is the region that has the most potential to be region of chaos. North Carolina and Arizona are the top seeds in this region and have the most potential to move through to the second weekend, but it gets wacky from there.

It really starts with Alabama and Charleston in the first round in the 4/13 game, which seems to likely be one of the highest-scoring games of the entire tournament. Alabama has one of the best offenses in the country and plays ridiculously fast. The Tide have averaged 90.8 points per game as an offense this year, which leads all Division I teams. Mark Sears is one of the best guards in the country and averages 21.1 PPG. Charleston is right up there too, its 80.4 points per game is tied for 34th in the nation, while it also plays one of the fastest paces in the nation.

In what will surely be a very high scoring game, anything can happen here. Watch for a first round upset.

Another very intriguing first round region is the 6/11 game, which puts Clemson up against Mountain West champion New Mexico. In general, it felt like there was a lot of disrespect from the committee against that league, which had a banner season this year and got six teams in the tournament, but it felt like all six of them were under-seeded.

The Lobos are much better than an 11-seed. This a team that is 23rd in KenPom and 22nd in the NET, going up against a Clemson team that is 34th in KenPom and 35th in the NET. This should almost be a game in which New Mexico is favored to win. Richard Pitino’s team has four fantastic scorers in Jamal Mashburn, Jaelen House, Donovan Dent and Jacob Toppin and should give Clemson a real game on Friday. The guard matchup between House and Clemson’s Joe Girard III should be very entertaining.

Another team that can pull off an upset is the 12-seed in Grand Canyon. The Antelopes, matched up against Saint Mary’s, went 29-4 in the regular season and boast both a very good offense as well as a very good defense. The Gaels have a very good defense as well so it will be interesting to see the game plan that coach Bryce Drew comes up with. It will also have to come up with an answer to limit WCC player of the year Augustas Marciulionis.

The 8/9 game is between teams that have struggled at certain points in the year, Mississippi State and Michigan State. That game will be for the right to likely play North Carolina in the second round.

One of the better first round games is in this region as well, pitting 7-seed Dayton up against 10-seed Nevada. Dayton has been very good this season but took some losses in Atlantic 10 play, but the Flyers were good enough in the non-conference to earn an at-large. DaRon Holmes is the program’s best player since Obi Toppin, while Nate Santos and Koby Brea are also good core pieces.

Nevada is another Mountain West team that may have been slightly under-seeded, ranked 36th in KenPom and 34th in the NET. Jarod Lucas has been one of the better west coast players, while Kenan Blackshear is also a very good player. This will be a great game against two of the premier non-power six programs in the nation.

All of this could very well set up for a North Carolina vs. Arizona game in the Elite Eight, Caleb Love’s old team against his current team. Would be fun!

South Region

The South Region feels like probably the weakest quadrant of the four, but still has some top teams that can make a run.

Houston is the best candidate to do so. The Cougars have one of the best defenses in the country, something we have seen time and time again is the key to winning games in the tournament. Houston has allowed opponents to under 50 points a mind-boggling 10 times this season, most recently in the Big 12 quarterfinals against TCU last week. Behind a core of Jamal Shead, LJ Cryer, Emanuel Sharp and J’Wan Roberts, coach Kelvin Sampson’s squad seems to be a team able to reach the Final Four.

Some teams will give them a run for their money though. Marquette and Kentucky, both very good teams on the offensive side of the ball, are the top jobbers here. Marquette has the better defense, as Kentucky’s defense has been very suspect all season long.

The 6/11 game in this region is very intriguing, featuring Texas Tech going up against NC State. Texas Tech has been quietly one of the most solid teams in the country all season and went 23-10, going over .500 (10-7) in the best conference in the country this season. When Pop Isaacs is on, watch out. The Red Raiders have done a very good job in year one under Grant McCasland.

Going up against them was the darling of conference tournament week, NC State. The Wolfpack were not anywhere close to an at-large bid, but steamrolled through the ACC tournament, winning the league for the first time 1987. DJ Burns, a massive human being at 6-foot-9 and 275 pounds, captured the attention of America during the week. NC State will look to keep the good vibes going through the week.

One of the better teams in Power 6 that got a tough draw is Wisconsin, who has to go up against James Madison. The Dukes went 31-3 in the regular season and easily won the Sun Belt tournament. Wisconsin has a good offense behind AJ Storr, Chucky Hepburn, Tyler Wahl and more so it may be tough to see JMU pulling off the upset, but expect this to be a good game.

The 7/10 game is an interesting one as well. The 7-seed in this bracket is Florida, who did a very good job in year two of the Todd Golden era. Walter Clayton Jr. and Zyon Pullin have both been impact players. However, the Gators lost leading rebounder Micah Handlogten to a broken leg in the SEC title game on Sunday, so it will be interesting to see how Colorado or Boise State, who will play in a play-in game on Wednesday night, will handle them. The Broncos are another one of those under-seeded Mountain West teams that should likely not be in Dayton playing in, but here they are.

Also in this region, Nebraska is back in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2014 after a magical season in Lincoln that has resulted in 23 wins so far. The last season that the program won more was a 26-win campaign in 1990-91. Keisei Tominaga is a joy to watch and one of the most fun players in college basketball. The Cornhuskers are the 8-seed in the South Region and will go up against Texas A&M, a team that has struggled at certain points this season.

Overall, this feels like Houston’s region to lose, but it’s the tournament and strange things can happen. Right now, the Cougars are the favorite to end up in the Final Four behind that amazing defense.

Midwest Region

The final region here, the one in the bottom right quadrant of the bracket.

The story here is Purdue. We all know what happened. The Boilermakers were one of the top teams in the country last season and were the 1-seed before they were stunned by Fairleigh Dickinson, just the second time in NCAA tournament history a 16-seed beat a 1-seed in the first round.

Purdue is a 1-seed once again behind Zach Edey, the odds-on favorite to win his second Naismith Player of the Year award. Edey has averaged 24.2 points and 11.7 rebounds per game this season. As for the rest of the roster Braden Smith has been one of the best point guards in the country all season and has averaged 13.0 points per game this year and also hits 44.6% of his three-pointers. Lance Jones and Fletcher Loyer have also been very key pieces for Matt Painter’s team. Purdue will go up against the winner of Montana State and Grambling (who is also in the tournament for the first time ever) in the first round.

Similar to UConn, Purdue will also likely not have to get on a plane before a potential Final Four appearance, playing preliminary round games in Indianapolis before regionals in Detroit. Of course, there are always questions about how Big Ten teams perform in the tournament, and those questions are there this year too, but Purdue seems primed for a deep run to avenge last year.

The top challenger here is Tennessee. The Volunteers have also been one of the best teams in the country this season and also boast one of the best players in the country in Dalton Knecht. The 6-foot-6 guard averages 21.4 points and 4.8 rebounds per contest. Creighton is the 3-seed in this region, with the trio of Baylor Scheierman, Trey Alexander and Ryan Kalkbrenner potentially the best big three in college basketball.

Keep an eye out for 8-seed Utah State, an Aggies team that went 27-6 in the regular season and is a very under-seeded team. They will have a very good shot to beat TCU in the first round, setting up what could be a very interesting second round game with Purdue.

There are some question marks in this region though, beginning and ending with Kansas. The Jayhawks have had depth issues all season and right now it is still unknown if both of the team’s leading scorers, Kevin McCullar and Hunter Dickinson, will be available this weekend as they deal with injuries. Without them, Kansas exited in the second round of the Big 12 tournament with a 20-point loss to Cincinnati. If both are out Kansas only has one available double digit scorer, that being KJ Adams. Freshman Johnny Furphy averages 9.0 PPG and is one of the better freshmen in the nation, but he’d likely be the one forced to take on a much larger role.

Kansas will go up against 13-seed Samford in the first round. Samford and their “Bucky Ball” system under coach Bucky McMillan is one of the most high-energy in the country, emphasizing a full-court press defense and quick shots on offense. The Bulldogs are fifth in the country in scoring offense at 86.0 PPG. If Kansas is low on players, Samford will have a very real shot to win this game.

Staying in that same pod, another game that will have the eyes of the college basketball world on it is the 5/12 game between Gonzaga and McNeese. Gonzaga had something of a down year and was over-seeded a little bit, but still went 24-6 and 14-2 in WCC play with a strong trio of Graham Ike, Anton Watson and Nolan Hickman.

The opponent, McNeese, could be the darling of the tournament. In former LSU head coach Will Wade’s return to the ranks after being fired amidst NCAA violations, the Cowboys went 28-3 and 17-1 in the Southland, flying through that league tournament. Gonzaga will certainly have its work cut out for them right off the bat. McNeese is eighth in the country in three-point percentage, that being the way they win games.

South Carolina vs. Oregon in the 6/11 game will be one to watch as well. Oregon was another bid-stealer by winning the Pac-12 tournament, going up against a Gamecocks program that is in the tournament for the first time since 2017.

68 teams in the tournament, only one of them will cut down the nets on April 8. Get ready for the best three weeks in sports.

By Aidan Joly

On Wednesday, Louisville made official what we had all been expecting for the better part of a year: the program has parted ways with now-former coach Kenny Payne after just two seasons leading the program.

It was a disastrous two seasons. Year one was a 4-28 nightmare, and things didn’t get much better this year, going 8-24 for Payne’s final record with the Cardinals sitting at 12-52 and a 5-35 mark in ACC play.

Payne will go down as one of the worst power conference coaches to do it in the past couple decades. It seemingly got worse as the tenure went on, with head scratching decisions on the court and even more confusing press conferences.

Look at it this way: during Payne’s tenure, Louisville had more losses to Division II teams than it did road wins.

As for the job evaluation, it’s one of the top jobs in the country. Period. It’s Louisville. You have the resources, the support from administration, the NIL and the fan support. It should be relatively easy to win here.

That being said, here’s a look at who could be the next coach.

A quick note before we start, all of the names below are sitting head coaches. That seems to be what Louisville needs to do here, rather than someone who does not have head coaching experience.

Dusty May, Florida Atlantic

May is going to be a name at the top of the list for every high-major athletic director making a hire in this cycle. The 47-year-old was one of the most sought-after names last season after FAU’s run to the Final Four, but signed a big extension last spring.

He also has FAU poised to go dancing again this season, sitting at 24-7 and 14-4 in American Athletic play.

May is 125-67 since he took over the program in 2018 and also has assistant coaching stops at Florida, Louisiana Tech and UAB.

He’ll surely be a candidate at other jobs this cycle, most notably Ohio State, but the Louisville brass would be foolish to not take a big swing at him.

Scott Drew, Baylor

This is a “call him up and make him say no” name.

Drew has been at the helm at Baylor since 2003, turning the program around from near-death penalty from a scandal under his predecessor Dave Bliss, to a national champion in 2021 and one of the most consistently good programs in the country.

Reports have indicated that Drew would listen if Louisville wanted to talk to him. He’s a well-liked figure in the college hoops world and always gets the most out of his talent and plays a modern style that would fire up the fans.

It’s tough to see Drew coaching anywhere but Baylor, but we will see. He has a 444-241 record in Waco, with a pair of Big 12 titles and of course, the national title in 2021.

Pat Kelsey, Charleston

Kelsey, 48, is one of the big up-and-coming names in coaching circles. It’s something of a surprise he hasn’t made the jump to the big boys yet.

He has been at Charleston since 2021 after nearly a decade at Winthrop. He has five conference tournament titles to his name, all of them since 2017. He just won his fifth this week and will be coaching in the NCAA tournament with the Cougars next week. He’s won 261 games as a college head coach.

He is boisterous and brash, which sometimes rubs people the wrong way, but he’s also one of the best young and energetic coaches in the country. That energy would play well at Louisville.

Nate Oats, Alabama

This is a name that keeps coming up in a lot of different coaching searches, despite the fact that it is believed that he has one of the highest buyouts in the country, rumored to be somewhere in the ballpark of $12 million. That is something that could steer athletic directors in the other direction, including Louisville AD Josh Heird.

Nonetheless, Oats is 113-52 since he took over the Alabama program in 2019 after a successful four seasons at Buffalo. Overall, he has won over 200 games as a college head coach.

Oats also plays as modern a style as any coach in the country, a system that emphasizes three-pointers and layups. It has the number-two offense on KenPom in the country. This season, Alabama narrowly missed what would have been a third SEC title in five years.

The buyout makes it tough to see this really happening, but if Louisville is serious, they will consider it.

Eric Musselman, Arkansas

It’s worth noting that Arkansas has underperformed this season and will surely miss the NCAA tournament after three straight appearances, but it is tough to ignore Musselman’s body of work.

As a college head coach he has a winning percentage of over .700 and is one of the most active coaches in the country in the transfer portal. He has also been to the second weekend of the tournament four times, including back-to-back Elite Eight appearances at Arkansas in 2021 and 2022.

According to The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Musselman’s buyout is only $1 million, so it wouldn’t cost much to bring the Ohio native in.

Might he be interested in taking a program further up on the all-time win list?

Jerome Tang, Kansas State

Tang is a name that has been floated around for the Louisville job for a long time now.

Kansas State has dipped in performance this season, but the 57-year-old Scott Drew disciple orchestrated one of the best rebuild jobs in the country last season, taking over a program that finished second-to-last in the Big 12 in 2021-22 to winning 26 games last season and being a break or two away from reaching the Final Four.

He has a 44-23 record overall at Kansas State. He is also charismatic and wins the press conference.

It’s a name that has been rumored for a while. Will he make the jump over to the ACC?

Mick Cronin, UCLA

Similar to Oats, Cronin has a large buyout that might make things prohibitive for Heird to make Mick the pick.

Still, Cronin is worth a call. Throughout this season he has expressed frustration with UCLA’s lack of NIL money, and the team is having its worst season since he took over in Los Angeles in 2019.

Despite that, he is still considered one of the toughest and best coaches in the country who won 58 games in the previous two seasons before this year after reaching the Final Four in 2021.

Cronin is a big-time winner, and has won everywhere he has gone. A native of Cincinnati, being closer to home might be a pull for him as well.

Josh Schertz, Indiana State

Schertz has made Indiana State the darling of the country this season, winning 26 games with the Sycamores. However, Indiana State lost in the Missouri Valley final and are currently holding out hope for an at-large bid.

He has done a good job in rebuilding the program, winning 11 games in 2021-22 in his first year, 23 last season and now 26 (so far) this season.

He does not have high-major experience even as an assistant, but ran Lincoln Memorial as a Division II powerhouse for more than a decade, reaching the Division II Final Four in 2016, 2017 and 2021.

Another guy who runs an up-tempo offense than emphasizes threes, his style is wonderful to watch.

He might make more sense for a smaller job (Saint Louis?), but Heird should at least take a look at him.

Prediction: This is a tough one to call. A handful of names make sense here. Heird could shoot for the moon here and get Drew or Cronin with the idea of a fresh start, or takes a shot on Schertz.

By Aidan Joly

Heading into the final weekend of the regular season, the NCAA tournament field is beginning to take shape.

But that doesn’t mean that some teams are still going to be sweating it out for the next week-plus with the hope that they get into the tournament.

Now, let’s take a look at the cases for 10 teams that are on the bubble right now, and likely will be for the rest of the week and into next week.

Seton Hall

The Pirates are probably on the right side of the bubble right now, but still have some work to do. A win against Villanova on Wednesday night would go a long way in helping Seton Hall’s chances.

Seton Hall is 18-11 overall and 11-7 in Big East play. It has five Quad 1 wins, including wins over both Marquette and UConn, one of two teams in the Big East to have beaten both teams this season (Creighton is the other).

It does have a 3-3 record in Q2 games and lost four games in the non-conference slate, two of those losses in Q2, and does have a Q3 home loss to Rutgers. It is currently ranked No. 67 in the NET.

At this point Seton Hall is probably pretty close, but the Pirates will likely need at least one win before the regular season is out (it plays DePaul on Saturday) and a win in the Big East tournament would go a long way.

Villanova

The other side of Wednesday night’s matchup, a huge one for both teams.

The Wildcats are ranked significantly higher in the NET at No. 25, but have struggled with some bad losses. It took a long time for Villanova to work out the kinks this season and as a result, lost games to Penn, St. Joseph’s and Drexel at the beginning of the season.

It has mostly rebounded nicely and has four Quad 1 wins, one of them coming against North Carolina in November. It lost seven straight Quad 1 wins before beating Providence last Saturday, a huge win for Kyle Neptune’s squad.

Again, Wednesday night’s game against Seton Hall is a big bubble clash, with the winner getting a big boost to its tournament chances.

St. John’s

A third Big East team, the Johnnies were dead in the water a few weeks ago, especially so after a three-game losing streak to Marquette, Providence and Seton Hall in February.

Something has changed in this group, though. It is currently on a four-game winning streak, including a big home win against Creighton and going on trhe road to beat Butler. The win streak has also included “taking care of business” wins against Georgetown and DePaul.

This winning streak has put Rick Pitino’s team right back in the conversation.

Right now, the team is right on the cusp of the bubble with one game to go (Georgetown on Saturday) before the Big East tournament. Saturday is a must-win, and a win or two in the Big East tournament would be wildly helpful if a team or two falters next week.

New Mexico

Going from one Pitino to another, Richard Pitino’s New Mexico group is also right there. As it stands, the Lobos probably are just on the right side of getting into the field.

New Mexico, which has one of the toughest schedules in the Mountain West due to its unbalanced conference schedule, sits at 9-7 in league play and 21-8 overall.

The Lobos are currently ranked No. 29 in the NET and only have two Quad 1 wins, which came against San Diego State and Nevada. However, it is tough to ignore a really bad Quad 4 loss to Air Force on Feb. 24, despite what it has done in league play.

New Mexico is in a must-win situation against Fresno State on Wednesday night before the regular season finale at Utah State on Saturday. It must go at least 1-1 this week to stay in the field.

Virginia

In theory, the team in third place of the ACC should basically be a shoe-in to make the tournament.

That’s not the case in an ACC that has been down this season. The Cavaliers are currently 12-7 in ACC play and 21-9 overall.

Virginia looked much better a few weeks ago, but have now lost four of six since Feb. 13 and have failed to get to 50 points in four of those games.

It has only picked up one Quad 1 win since Nov. 10, which was a win against Clemson on Feb. 3. The Cavaliers are ranked No. 49 in the NET, but the issue is that they do not pass the eye test. At all. It has avoided bad losses, but the quality wins are just not there. It only has one ranked win this year, which has since become a Quad 2 win.

It is still on the right side, though. It needs to beat Georgia Tech on Saturday for it to stay that way, though.

Utah

The Utes were on the right side of the bubble a few weeks ago, but have probably jumped to the side of missing the tournament as of right now.

The Utes are 9-9 in a down Pac-12 and 18-11 overall. It is 0-5 in Quad 1 games in league play (3-7 in those games overall). It is still hinging on a big win against BYU in December as well as avoiding bad losses, for the most part. Its worst loss was a home loss to Arizona State on Feb. 10.

This has happened while Oregon and Colorado have won more games as of late, not helping the cause for the Utes.

Sitting at No. 46 in the NET and not over .500 in a league that is not very good, to me, this is not a tournament team. Maybe it can convince otherwise, as a huge road game against Oregon in the regular season finale looms. A loss to Oregon State on Thursday night can make that game not matter, though.

Providence

Heading back to the Big East for a fourth team. It seems like the Big East is the home to half of the bubble this season.

Anyway, the Friars are 10-9 in Big East play and 19-11 overall. It has recovered nicely since losing Bryce Hopkins for the season due to a knee injury, but the team has definitely taken a step back since losing one of its best players.

They sit on the wrong side of the bubble right now, though. It has a signature win against Marquette earlier in the season, but the non-conference schedule has come back to bite them.

Sure, it has 19 wins, but seven of them have come against the following teams: Columbia, Milwaukee, Lehigh, Wagner, Rhode Island, Brown and Sacred Heart. All of those were Quad 4 games. 10 of its 19 wins are Quad 4.

The Friars do play UConn to close the regular season on Saturday. A win would be massive there, but if not Providence will have a lot of work to do in the Big East tournament to stay alive.

Iowa

The Hawkeyes are not quite there and still have a few teams in line ahead of them to get in if teams falter, but Iowa is certainly trending in the right direction.

It didn’t have much of a shot up until a few weeks ago, but have emerged after picking up three big wins against Wisconsin (Feb. 17), Michigan State (Feb. 20) and Northwestern (Mar. 2). All three were Quad 1 wins after not having any all season before that.

The Hawkeyes are ranked No. 57 in the NET, but the issue is that a lot of quality wins are not there. Its only ranked win was against Wisconsin, but the Badgers are fledging right now and it was only a two-point win. It also has a bad home loss to basement-dweller Michigan in December.

It has a big one against Illinois on Sunday to close the regular season. A win there would do a lot for the Hawkeyes, as would a run in the Big Ten tournament. It is currently 10-9 in league play and 18-12 overall.

Colorado

A second team from the Pac 12, but Buffaloes are still on the outside looking in and don’t have a ton of chances to do so.

It only has one ranked win and that was against Miami in December, but that has turned into a Quad 2 win as the Hurricanes have struggled mightily in league play.

It is 1-5 in Quad 1 games, its only win coming against Washington on Jan. 24. It is 1-3 against the two Pac 12 locked into the tournament, Washington State and Arizona.

The Buffaloes will face Oregon on Thursday and Oregon State on Saturday to close the regular season. A loss in either game would be curtains for Colorado.

Pittsburgh

The Panthers have been trying to really get on the good side of making the tournament and maybe did so amidst a five-game winning streak from Jan. 31 until Feb. 17, but have lost games to Wake Forest and Clemson since.

It does own a massive road win against Duke on Jan. 20, but it is unlikely that that would be enough to get Pitt on the right side of the bubble. It is one of two Quad 1 wins for Jeff Capel’s team this season.

A bad non-conference loss to Missouri, as well as not playing a strong non-conference schedule – one that was ranked 337th in the country on KenPom – does not help matters at all. The Panthers are ranked No. 44 in the NET.

It is a non-zero chance that the Panthers will find their way in, but it will need a deep run in the ACC tournament next week. Its regular season finale against NC State on Saturday is also a must-win game.

By Aidan Joly

This is March.

There is much to discuss heading into March, probably too much to talk about in one post. But, here are my biggest talking points heading into the last week-plus of the regular season as well as tournament season.

How does the Big 12 perform?

The Big 12 has been the best conference in college basketball all season and is likely to send eight or nine teams to the tournament, many of them as top seeds.

In this week’s rankings, the Big 12 has three teams in the top 10 and four in the top 15, headlined by Houston at No. 1 in the country this week.

How will the league perform in March? Houston has proven itself as a national championship contender, while Iowa State has a real chance to make a deep run in the tournament. Kansas has been hit or miss all season, but surely could find lightning in a bottle and make a deep run, almost just as easily as it could flame out in the first weekend. Baylor has been one of the most consistent teams in the nation all season as well.

BYU, TCU, Texas Tech and Oklahoma are also all likely to be in the tournament. The conference tournament in Kansas City will be a lot of fun, as will seeing how this league does on the national scale.

How many Mountain West teams get in?

The Mountain West has been one of the best leagues in the country all season and could send up to six teams to the NCAA tournament.

The top six teams in the league have cannibalized each other all season long, meanwhile a seventh team in UNLV is starting to flex its muscles a little bit. It might not be enough for the Runnin’ Rebels to make the tournament, but it’s just another team that is a threat in the league tournament.

Utah State and San Diego State have been the best teams in the league, while New Mexico could be a team that makes a surprise deep run in the tournament. Boise State, Nevada and Colorado State all deserve to make noise in March as well.

In theory, all six should get in. We’ll see how it goes there.

Does Tennessee join the list of top teams?

Houston, Purdue and UConn have been seen as the three best teams in America all season, but Tennessee has seemingly been waiting in the wings all season.

The Vols are the SEC’s best team, sitting at the top of the league with a record of 12-3 in conference play and 22-6 overall. Dalton Knecht has been one of the best players in the country all season as well. The Vols are one game into a four-game gauntlet to end the regular season. They beat Auburn on Wednesday, and are set to go on the road to face Alabama on Saturday, then play at South Carolina on Wednesday before closing out the regular season on Mar. 9 at home against Kentucky.

The chance is really there for Tennessee to grab that last 1-seed. If they can do that, a deep March run is surely in the cards. Can they do it?

The bubble

The bubble is all over the place this season. There are multiple Big East teams on the bubble with Seton Hall, Providence, Villanova and St. John’s, a Red Storm team that looked dead two weeks ago only to carve an opening to potentially make the tournament.

Pac 12 teams in Colorado and Utah are still on the bubble as that league could have anywhere from two bids to four bids.

One big bubble story has been Texas A&M. The Aggies looked pretty safe a few weeks ago, but the team has collapsed in recent weeks and now are on the outside looking in. It’s a similar story with Ole Miss, which has lots of wins but not the quality ones that are needed to get into the dance.

Iowa and Kansas State are probably on the outside looking in, but Iowa has been trending in the right direction the past few weeks. ACC squads in Virginia and Wake Forest are safe now.

Gonzaga is probably safe now too, picking up its second Quad 1 win against San Francisco in what was technically a road game on Thursday night. The Zags were playing for their season on Thursday night and knew it.

Who wins the race in the WCC?

Speaking of Gonzaga, the Zags are sitting in second place in the WCC with a league record of 13-2, outdone by the undefeated Saint Mary’s, which is 15-0 in league play

The Gaels have locked up the regular season title despite the fact the two will face each other on Saturday night in the regular season finale, but the WCC tournament in Las Vegas is a different story, with the two on a collision course to see each other in the league title game.

Gonzaga helped its at-large chances in a big way with Thursday night’s win, but won’t feel 100% safe if it does not get the WCC’s auto-bid.

Who is the National Player of the Year?

Purdue’s Zach Edey remains the favorite to repeat as the National Player of the Year. He has surely earned it, averaging 23.7 points and 11.8 rebounds per game for a Boilermaker team that is one of the top contenders to win the national title.

Still, some players have a case. North Carolina’s RJ Davis is one of them, averaging 21.7 points per game and makes just over 41% of his threes for a UNC team that is in the top 10 in the country.

Dalton Knecht, who was mentioned earlier, has been one of the best players in the country for Tennessee. Kansas’ Hunter Dickinson deserves a shoutout too and is the best player in the Big 12. Duke’s Kyle Filipowski has been good too.

Still, it is tough to see any of these guys passing Edey, who was the favorite at the start of the season and has not been passed by anyone.

Coaching carousel

The coaching carousel is already underway, with DePaul parting ways with Tony Stubblefield in January amidst a terrible season. Stubblefield was fired with DePaul at 3-15 on the season. Interim coach Matt Brady has yet to win a game in 10 tries.

Meanwhile, Ohio State fired Chris Holtmann in February with the Buckeyes at 14-11. Interim coach Jake Diebler has done a good job since as the Buckeyes are 3-1 since he has taken over, with wins against Purdue, Michigan State (on the road) and Nebraska. Diebler isn’t a serious candidate for the full-time gig, but should get looks at Midwest mid-majors.

The Ohio State job could lead to a domino effect across the country. As for other jobs, Louisville is sure to open, while Washington and Stanford seem likely to open. Michigan, Oklahoma State, Arizona State, Vanderbilt and more could open.

Other big jobs such as Villanova, Indiana and USC have a chance to open, but it seems unlikely.

Also, the West Virginia job is still technically open. WVU still has not decided what it will do with interim coach Josh Eilert.

It could be a busy carousel.

Does UConn repeat as national champions or does someone else cut down the nets?

College basketball has not seen a repeat national champion since Florida went back-to-back in 2006 and 2007.

UConn seems to be one of the best candidates in recent memory to snap that drought. Again, the Huskies have consistently been one of the top teams in the country, with a high-powered offense led by Tristen Newton, Cam Spencer, Alex Karaban and Donovan Clingan.

After losing some key contributors from last year’s title team, the Huskies have not missed a beat this year, sitting at 25-3 and 15-2 in Big East play.

Purdue, Houston and more will be trying to take the Huskies down, but UConn does have a real shot to cut down the nets for the second year in a row.

Will they do it? We’ll see.

By Aidan Joly

Leaders in college sports have made some half-hearted attempts at doing something about court and field storms the past few years.

After Duke’s Kyle Filipowski was injured during a court storm after Wake Forest upset the Blue Devils on Saturday, it becomes even more apparent that it is time to take action.

Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer’s comments after the game rang true, after he saw that happen to his best player and a likely NBA lottery pick. Scheyer said it was a sprained ankle, but Filipowski later corrected him and said it was a a knee injury.

Either way, this was a completely uncontained mob that needlessly stormed onto the court as soon as the buzzer sounded.

A few weeks back, Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, the biggest star in college basketball right now, had a near full-speed collision with an Ohio State fan who wasn’t paying attention after the Buckeyes upset Iowa. Clark was uninjured, but it could have been a lot worse.

That’s now two serious incidents this season. Why wait around for a third?

Security clearly isn’t working. If Wake Forest did have a security plan on Saturday, it didn’t come close to working. Some leagues have adopted fines. The SEC fines schools $100,000 for the first offense, $250,000 for a second offense and $500,000 for the third offense. For league games, the fine goes directly to the school that was “stormed on.” The Pac-12 has a similar system, with $25,000 for a first offense, $50,000 for second and $100,000 for the third offense. The Big East has a $5,000 fine. The Big 12 fined UCF $25,000 following a court storm in January. The ACC, along with the Big Ten, have no known penalty for court storms.

These are half-measures that haven’t worked. This is something that has completely overshadowed Wake Forest’s biggest win in years, a win that likely put the Demon Deacons into the NCAA tournament.

The other side of this argument is that court storms are a uniquely college sports experience, which is a fair argument. But it needs to be done safely. You don’t see it happening in professional sports.

Some have proposed a “court storm timeout” with a couple seconds on the clock to get opposing players off the floor when a court storm is apparent, but that is very tough to enforce when it is a close game, or especially when the game ends on a buzzer-beater. Saturday’s game between Wake Forest and Duke was a close game (83-79 final score), so that likely would not have been possible in this instance.

What more can you do? Financial penalties can be increased, students get in trouble for storming the court and lose their tickets – but that creates a dynamic of “they can’t take tickets away from all of us, right?” – so that probably doesn’t work.

Schools losing home games the following season could be a major disincentive to court storms. That is a major blow to an athletic department’s revenue, especially so if it happens in a football game.

It’s clear that these half-hearted attempts haven’t worked, and now we have had two high-profile examples of star players getting in bad situations in court storms within a few weeks of each other. It shows exactly what can go wrong. We don’t need to wait around for it to happen again. Now is the time to make change.