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The first four included 4 games with all teams fighting for the finals spots in the tournament. The first two match ups would decide the two remaining 11 seeds and the two games following would decide the final 16 seed. Texas took down NC State in a late game nail biter winning 68-66 claiming the final (11th) seed. Miami Ohio took care of business vs SMU winning 89-79 claiming the other (11th) seed. The games to claim the 16-seed started with Howard taking down UMBC in a tight high scoring game securing a (16th) seed. Prairie View in a low scoring affair beat Lehigh 67-55 earning a trip to the tournament.

The Round of 64

The round of 64 went as expected for the most part. 24/32 higher seeded teams won their respective matchups. With the 8 upsets including 9-seeded TCU over 8-seeded Ohio State, 9-seeded Iowa over 8-seeded Clemson, 11-seeded VCU over 6-seeded North Carolina, 10-seeded Texas A&M over 7-seeded Saint Mary’s, 9-seeded Utah State over  8-seeded Villanova, (12th) seeded High Point over (5th) seeded Wisconsin, (11th) seeded Texas over (6th) seeded BYU, (9th)  Saint Louis over 9-seeded Georgia. 

Notable games include 16-seeded Siena almost pulling off the upset to 1-seeded Duke. The Blue Devils just snuck by winning 71-65. Dukes Isaiah Evans: 16 points, 10 rebounds (first career double-double). The first game of the tournament was a thriller. 9-seeded TCU just got by 8-seeded Ohio State 66-64 with an early tournament upset. Great performances from Micah Robinson: Game-high 18 points (4-6 from 3PT) and 5 rebounds and David Punch: Double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Lastly, 1-seeded Florida gave 16-seeded Prairie View a taste of SEC Basketball, beating them by a whopping 59 points with a final score of 114-55. Florida had great showings from Boogie Fland: 16 points (6-6 FG), 4 assists and  Rueben Chinyelu: 14 points and 13 rebounds (19th double-double of the season).

The Round of 32 

The round of 32 featured 4 upsets. The highlight of the torment up to this point was 9-seeded Iowa shocking the world beating 1-seeded Florida 73-72. Alvaro Folgueiras of Iowa hit the game-winning 3-pointer for Iowa with 4.5 seconds remaining and dropped the jaws of every Florida fan. 11-seeded Texas who barely made the tournament took down 3-seeded Gonzaga 74-68 pulling off another insane upset. Highlighted by Texas players Jordan Pope (17 pts, 3-8 3PT), Matas Vokietaitis (17 pts, 9 reb), and Dailyn Swain (11 pts, 6 ast).

The 6-seeded Tennessee Vols beating 3-seeded Virginia 79-72 was not on my bucket list for sure. With this win the Vols solidified themselves as real threats moving forward and this Tennessee team was definitely not done yet. The final upset defined March Madness. 5-seeded St Johns beat projected number 1 pick in this upcoming NBA draft Darryn Peterson and 4-seeded Kansas 67-65 on a walkoff layup by guard Dylan Darling. This game was such an amazing showing of college basketball featuring star players and legendary coaches. 

Continuing Round of 32

Other games to note included potentially the game of the tournament so far when 4-seeded Nebraska faced off against 5-seeded Vanderbilt in Nebraska with the fans behind the Corn Huskers. In a super tight action packed game Nebraska took home the win in front of the home crowd 74-72. Nebraska had amazing performances from Braden Frager (15 pts, 5 reb), Pryce Sandfort (15 pts, 5 reb), Rienk Mast (13 pts).

Vanderbilt’s Tyler Tanner handed in a 27 point effort, but it wasn’t enough. 1-seeded Michigan continued their dominating season beating 9-seeded Saint Louis 95-72. Yaxel Lendeborg has been the key guy for Michigan so far this tournament run. 1-seeded Duke got back on track after a dominant 81-58 win over 9-seeded TCU. Projected top 3 pick in this upcoming NBA Draft Cam Boozer had a 19-11-4 game leading the Blue Devils. 

Sweet 16

The Sweet 16 is when things began to get real serious. 9-seeded Iowa and 6-seeded Tennessee continue their great underdog runs both defeating their sweet 16 opponent. 9-seeded Iowa beat 4-seeded Nebraska 77-71. Bennett Stirtz hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 17 seconds left to give Iowa the lead for good and Alvaro Folgueiras punctuated the victory with a late basket to secure the trip to the Elite Eight. 6-seeded Tennessee made their statement clearly dominating 2-seeded Iowa State 76-62. NBA prospects Nate Ament had a team-high 18 points (3-4 from 3PT), 4 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Ja’Kobi Gillespie cashed in 16 points and 2 assists led the way for the Vols. 

The other 3 number 1 seeded teams all handle business. Duke took down 5-seeded Saint Johns in a gritty match up 80-75. Isaiah Evans and Cameron Boozer both shined in this match up. Isaiah Evans had a game high 25 points (14 in the  second half) and Cameron Boozer 22 points and 10 rebounds. Arizona and Arkansas 2 highly talented offensive powerhouses went head to head in a high scoring event. Arizona led by Brayden Burries 23 points, took down (4th)

Elite 8

The Elite 8 this year really only had one good game, and that game was 1-seeded Duke Vs. 2-seeded UConn. The whole first half Duke gave no room for the Huskies to breath, out scoring them 44-29. But when the second half came around it was the opposite. The Huskies came out firing, out scoring Duke 44-28. UConn sharp shooting guard Braylon Mullins hit a game leading 3 pointer with 0.4 seconds left! Duke didn’t have time to respond and ended up losing 73-72.

The other games were all blowouts, like 1-seeded Michigan Vs. 6-seeded Tennessee. This game literally was never even close. Michigan was in control for all 40 minutes, dominating Tennessee in pretty much every category. The final score was a whopping 95-62 in Michigan’s favor. The 3-seeded Illinois Vs. 9-seeded Iowa was a pretty lackluster game. Illinois was the better team, easily taking Iowa down with a final of 71-59. And the final Elite 8 game between 1-seeded Arizona and the 2-seeded Purdue was awfully similar to the Illinois and Iowa game. Arizona bested Purdue in a pretty lob sided score of 79-64.

Final Four

The games in this Final Four really proved how much of a difference in skill there was between these teams.  The game between number 1 seeds, Michigan and Arizona. Everybody thought this game was going to be one of the best college basketball games in the past decade.  I can  assure you that it was not, the difference in the final was 28 points. Michigan took the victory over Arizona in a dominating fashion. The Wolverines Aday Mara had 26 points, with 9 rebounds, leading Michigan to the victory. The final score of this battle was 91-73

The other game between 2-seeded UConn and 3-seeded Illinois. This was a much better, more entertaining game. Although this game was better than the Michigan game, it was still a demanding victory for UConn. The Huskies win was a genuine team win, everybody contributed. Illinois Keaton Wagler had 20 points and 8 boards, but it still wasn’t enough to lead his team to the championship. UConn’s defense was honestly too strong for the Fighting Illini to penetrate all night long. The final score of this battle was 71-62.

Championship

The National Championship was set to be held at Lucas Oil Stadium Indiana, on April 6, 2026. A battle of stardom between 1-seeded Michigan Wolverines and 3-seeded UConn Huskies. UConn led by legendary coach Dan Hurley was looking for his 3rd National Title in 4 years. On the other side of things Michigan’s Dusty May was looking to complete an all time program turnaround and to cement himself as one of the nation’s best coaches. From the tipoff you were able to tell the energy was in the building and nerves were flowing. Over 70 thousand people were in attendance for this game.

Michigan and UConn both shot under 40% from the field and both under 30% from 3. Free throws and elite play from Michigan guard Elliot Cadeau was the difference maker in this game. Michigan went (25-28) from the line and Cadeau had 19 points. UConn was highlighted by their 2 star big men Alex Karaban (17 pts, 11 reb and  Tarris Reed Jr. (13 pts, 14 reb). Even with their elite play it wasn’t enough to hold Michigan back. Michigan completes their historic season with a 69-63 win over the UConn Huskies. Elliot Cadeau earns player of the tournament honors and Michigan ends the season 37-3 overall and cements itself as one of the most dominant runs ever in college hoops.