Madness of March

Number of Tournament Games Remaining: 1

It ends tonight

Tournament Status: Championship, Day 10

Time for the lamest part of this

The One Shining Moment montage

From marchmadman

Updated 04/06/26, 1:00pm

The NCAA Championship game is tonight.

NOT on CBS. It s on tbs/TNT/truTV again.

There are less and less people that still have a chance to win. And if you are reading this, you are probably one of them.

So, good luck to you. And thank you again for taking my money and my time away from my family. (I never win ANYTHING!)

If you win, you will be rewarded with money not that hackneyed song montage that they play before the network turns the page from college basketball to golf.

The One Shining Moment montage is great! that is if you watch with the sound muted.

A brief history of that song and its tie to March Madness:

1986 David Barrett, a 31-year-old dive bar musician in Michigan, writes some lyrics on a napkin after watching Larry Bird on the bar TV the night before. Barrett happens to be friendly with a Sports Illustrated writer, who tells him he should record it. Barrett records it, gives it to said friend, who knows someone with CBS TV. TV hears it, let s Barrett know they love the song and want to use it for the Super Bowl. That was set to happen, but the Super Bowl coverage ran long with no time for the song. They then decided to use it for March Madness, debuting in 1987, and used ever since.

One Shining Moment has been performed by four different singers, including Barrett and Teddy Pendergrass. But the version you hear now is by Luther Vandross his last professional recording.

What a legacy for Barrett that is a man you never heard of before but now you know.

Luther he has a legacy that is untarnished by this song.

For more in-depth history of the song, check out Ryan McGee s article on ESPN.com:

Inside the origin of 'One Shining Moment' -- the highlight of March Madness.

To hear the original Barrett version along with Luther's version, go to the One Shining Moment webpage (yes, there is a dedicated webpage):

https://www.oneshiningmoment.com/the-song/

Feel the beat of your heart

feel the wind in your face

it s more than a contest

it s more than a race

We are inside. What wind?

And it's not a race.

David Barrett today

photo from David Barrett Facebook page

https://www.davidbarrett.com

https://www.oneshiningmoment.com/

https://www.facebook.com/OneShiningMomentSong/

Luther Vandross

"Never Too Much"

1981, Luther's debut single

YouTube video

Final 4 was lopsided

And ended late

From marchmadman

Updated 04/05/26, 12:30am

UConn beat Illinois, 71-62, in the first game of the night. And it didn't really feel that close for much of the game.

Then came the between-game entertainment or whatever you want to call that. I guess the first years of the Super Bowl halftime shows were lame too.

Then Michigan easily handled Arizona throughout the game, eventually beating them 91-73, which was record setting for all the wrong reasons.

The Final Four night was kind of a letdown.

Nevertheless, Easter bunny is coming, so it's time for bed.

More updates tomorrow.

And between the rounds of eating hard-boiled eggs and kielbo, watch the Women's Championship game tomorrow, Sunday, 3:30pm, ABC.

Men's Final 4 tonight

You are all #1

From marchmadman

Updated 04/04/26, 9:30am

Well, yesterday's Women's Final 4 had some fireworks in the handshake line after South Carolina's win over UConn.

Maybe today's Men's Final 4 will have the same fireworks. With UConn's Dan Hurley, you never know. But Arizona's Tommy Lloyd and Michigan's Dusty May are not known for being loud. Nevertheless, this should be a great night of basketball.

First game is (2) UConn vs (3) Illinois, 6pm, on tbs/TNT/truTV, followed by (1) Michigan vs (1) Arizona.

The sum of the seeds UConn had to beat to get to the Final 4: 26 (including #1 Duke).

Illinois: 36 (highest seed #2 Houston)

Arizona: 31 (highest seed #2 Purdue)

Michigan: 35 (highest seed #4 Alabama)

UConn is the most battle-tested, and maybe that will help them advance to the Final on Monday. Only 7 brackets have UConn advancing the Final, while just one more (8) have Illinois.

The second game has more popular picks. 69 brackets picked Arizona, while 48 picked Michigan.

Regardless of who wins tonight, you still might even with a loss. For our bracket pool:

# that can finish in Top 3	11
# that can finish in 1st Place	4
Max # teams alive	3 of 4
# that are done scoring	41 (25%)
# that can finish in one of the middle places	A lot

Of the three network simulcasts, truTV will feature Michigan's original Fab Five alternative broadcast during the Michigan game.

If you don't like basketball, you can catch Entertainment Tonight on CBS, at least in my area.

Women's Final 4 tonight

You are all #1

From marchmadman

Updated 04/03/26, 7:45pm

The Women's Final 4 is tonight (Friday) at 7pm and 9:30pm on ESPN.

All four teams are No. 1 seeds:

(1) UConn vs. (1) South Carolina, 7:00 PM

(1) UCLA vs. (1) Texas , 9:30 PM

With 12 national titles, UConn holds the record for the most NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championships, which includes a record 4 consecutive championships from 2013 through 2016. The team had also made the Final 4 for a record 14 consecutive tournaments from 2008 through 2022. Tennessee is the only team to make an appearance in every tournament since its founding in 1982.

UConn coach Geno Auriemma was born in southern Italy and emigrated to Norristown, PA, with his family when he was 7 years old. Although Geno grew up rather poor, he managed to attend Montgomery County Community College before graduating from West Chester University in 1977.

Although it does seem that the No. 1 seeds in the women's game always advance to the Final 4, only five times has the Women's Final Four consisted of all No. 1 seeds:

1989 Tennessee champs (Maryland Final 4; Louisiana Tech Final 4 with assistant coach Kim Mulkey))

2012 Baylor champs (UConn Final 4)

2015 UConn champs (Maryland Final 4)

2018 Notre Dame (UConn Final 4)

2026

Any of these teams are deserving of being a National Champion.

You should watch.

"Oh, he hit it."

Maybe greatest shot since Laettner (not in Duke's eyes)

From marchmadman

Updated 04/03/26, 8:00pm

Mr. Indiana Basketball, Braylon Mullins, hit the game winning shot over Duke to send UConn to the Final Four in Indianapolis, Indiana.

It was arguably the best game-winning shot since Duke's Christian Laettner beat Kentucky (coached by Rick Pitino) in 1992, also in the East Regional (that was at The Spectrum in Philly), what is now referred to simply as " The Shot".

Paybacks are a well, they're something.

Here are some links to some of the best clips of Mullins' shot:

Dualling bench angles

Bill Raftery & Grant Hill's reaction

(Grant Hill was the one who made the 3/4 quarter court pass to Laettner on "The Shot").

Duke's radio call

Arena reaction with no commentary

UConn is now playing in its third Final Four in the last four years.

Only 27 brackets predicted UConn to advance to the Final Four, and only 15 brackets predicted Illinois to advance to the Final Four. These two teams will play each other in the Final Four. A Championship for either could propel at least one of our brackets to First Place.

Even though a good number of brackets are done scoring, you still might win something.

But probably not.

"The Shot" March 29, 1992

By Joseph Rodgriquez, CC-BY-SA-4.0

Duke Fan - Bill Raftery - UConn Fan

GOOD STUFF

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We added some pools a few years ago. We'll try them again this year.

Conference Championships

Selection Committee Rankings

HIgh Point Panthers

We give PROPS to those that deserve it. And humiliate those that don't.

Everybody has an equal chance here. Your pick can lose and you STILL might advance to the next round. How does that work? We play the spreads. Check it out!

This is the real stuff. You might not care about most of it, but I weed out the junk and give you the good stuff, Baby!

This school is top-notch in just about everything. They even flew 200 students across country just to cheer the Panthers on.

Bracket Pool >>

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Tournament News >>

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TOURNAMENT NEWS

Headlines

Stat(s) of the Day (cont.)

Quote(s) of the Day

Updated 04/06/26, 1:00pm

ESPN.com

Sources: Michigan's May not pursuing other jobs

Ball appears good to go for UConn in title game

Badgers' Blackwell to hit portal, test draft process

Buzzer beater gives Mary Washington D-III title

Auburn beats Tulsa in OT for 1st NIT championship

Huff has 38 as WVU tops Oklahoma for CBC title

U-M's Lendeborg 'absolutely' to play vs. UConn

Bama makes Oats among 5 highest-paid coaches

Coaching carousel tracker: All the latest intel

Stat(s) of the Day (most from ESPN Research)

Updated 04/06/26, 1:00pm

UConn has won 19 straight games in the Sweet 16 or later.

All 6 of UConn's national championships have been since 1999.

UConn is tied with North Carolina for third-most titles in history (6), trailing only UCLA (11) and Kentucky (8).

Michigan has 1 national championship (1989).

Worst 1v1 losses in Tournament history (18 points)

2026 Michigan over Illinois

2008 Kansas over UNC

1985 Georgetown over Saint John's

Updated 04/04/26, 11:55pm

Michigan's 18 point victory over Arizona is tied for the largest in an NCAA tournament game between 1-seeds since seeding began in 1979.

Illinois' fewest points in a game over the last three seasons are all vs. UConn.

With their win over Illinois, UConn's record over the last four tournaments is now 18-1. Their lone loss was to the 2025 Florida Gators, who went on to win the championship.

UConn is looking for third title in four years.

UConn is 6-0 in championship games.

Updated 04/03/26, 9:00pm

In 1989, Michigan defeated Seton Hall 80-79 in OT to win Michigan's first and only men's basketball national championship. Glen Rice scored 31 points and scored an all-time single-tournament record 184 points.

Updated 03/28/26, 11:40pm

There are 364 DI basketball programs. There are only 22 seniors who never left the team they started at.

Updated 03/28/26, 3:30pm

1997: the last time a team from the West won a Natty, that was Arizona, and they did so in Indy same location of Championship this year.

Updated 03/26/26, 11:00am

UConn is in its third Sweet 16 under Dan Hurley. The first two ended in national championship appearances.

9 of this year's Sweet 16 teams were there last year: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Duke, Houston, Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, and Tennessee.

Updated 03/26/26, 11:00am

6 of the 9 Big Ten teams made it to the Sweet 16, including the ninth-seeded Hawkeyes, who finished ninth in the conference at 10-10. The Big Ten has not won a national championship since Michigan State in 2000. Current Big Ten member Maryland won the championship in 2002 as a member of the ACC. There is a possible all-Big-Ten Final Four which would be a first for any conference.

Updated 03/19/26, 9:50pm

Duke is the 8th 1-seed in NCAA Tournament history to win by 6 or fewer points against a 16-seed. Three of the previous seven LOST their next game and only one of them went on to reach the Final Four (Illinois in 1989).

Updated 04/06/26, 1:00pm

Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd after his team's Final Four loss:

"The first thing that popped to my head was like, one Final Four? Why don t we go five times in 10 years?, I mean, that s where my mind's at. You know, I m going to do it day by day. But that s my big dream. I mean, who knows? Maybe you guys will use that against me saying that some day, but I m going to dream big, and I m going to work my ass off to try to make it happen."

CBS play-by-play announcer Ian Eagle after UConn easily beat Illinois to go to their third national championship game in four years: "They are the bluest of bloods in college basketball right now."

Updated 04/04/26, 11:55pm

UConn's Dan Hurley after his team's Final 4 victory:

"We're a tough program. We're a group of fighters. It's not appealing to everyone. I'm sure there's some people in here that it's off-putting for. But we are a group of fighters. We are incredibly tough. We've got incredible will. We go into these games, we're ready for battle. Again, for us, it's not a game that we're just kind of running around in uniforms, throwing the ball around, hoping it goes in. That's not what we're doing out there. We're fighting. It's a life-and-death struggle for us to get to Monday night for the opportunity to win a championship."

Updated 04/04/26, 9:30am

UConn's Dan Hurley about his on-court behavior during games:

"The way I view what we're going into, in the game, when some people view it as a game, just my family, how I was raised in the sport, where I'm from in Jersey, we look at it more like a battle."

CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS

SELECTION COMMITTEE SEED LIST

Updated 04/04/26, 11:55pm

2026 Conference Tournament Champions
CONFERENCE	CHAMPIONSHIP (TV) / CHAMPION
America East	UMBC Retrievers (24-8)
American	South Florida Bulls (25-8)
Atlantic 10	VCU Rams (27-7)
ACC	Duke Blue Devils (32-2)
ASUN	Queens Royals (21-13)
Big 12	Arizona Wildcats (32-2)
Big East	St. John's Red Storm (28-6)
Big Sky	Idaho Vandals (21-14)
Big South	High Point Panthers (30-4)
Big Ten	Purdue Boilermakers (27-8)
Big West	Hawaii Rainbow Warriors (24-8)
CAA	Hofstra Pride (24-10)
Conference USA	Kennesaw State Owls (21-13)
Horizon League	Wright State Raiders (23-11)
Ivy League	Pennsylvania Quakers (18-11)
MAAC	Siena Saints (23-11)
MAC	Akron Zips (29-5)
MEAC	Howard Bison (23-10)
Missouri Valley	Northern Iowa Panthers (23-12)
Mountain West	Utah State Aggies (28-6)
Northeast	Long Island Sharks (24-10)
Ohio Valley	Tennessee State Tigers (23-9)
Patriot League	Lehigh Mountain Hawks (18-16)
SEC	Arkansas Razorbacks (26-8)
SoCon	Furman Paladins (22-12)
Southland	McNeese Cowboys (28-5)
SWAC	Prairie View A&M Panthers (18-17)
Summit League	North Dakota State Bison (27-7)
Sun Belt	Troy Trojans (22-11)
West Coast	Gonzaga Bulldogs (30-3)
WAC	California Baptist Lancers (25-8)

Record of Conference Champions in this year's Tournament

First Four: 2-2 (almost always the case)

First Round: 9-20

Second Round: 2-3

Sweet 16: 3-2

Elite 8: 1-2

Final 4: 0-1

Record of At-Large Bids in this year's Tournament

First Four: 2-2 (almost always the case)

First Round: 23-12

Second Round: 6-5

Sweet 16: 5-6

Elite 8: 3-2

Final 4: 2-1

After First Round, only 9 out of 31 Conference Champions are still alive

while 23 At-Large Bids are still alive.

After Second Round, only 5 out of 31 Conference Champions are still alive

while 11 At-Large Bids are still alive.

After Sweet 16, 3 out of 31 Conference Champions are still alive

while 5 At-Large Bids are still alive.

After Elite 8, 1 out of 31 Conference Champions is still alive

while 3 At-Large Bids are still alive.

After Final 4, 0 out of 31 Conference Champions are still alive

while 2 At-Large Bids are still alive.

Updated 04/04/26, 11:55pm

2026 Selection Committee Seed List

Rk	Team	Record	Rk	Team	Record
1	Duke	32-2	33	Utah St.	28-6
2	Arizona	32-2	34	TCU	22-11
3	Michigan	31-3	35	Saint Louis	28-5
4	Florida	26-7	36	Iowa	21-12
5	Houston	28-6	37	Santa Clara	26-8
6	UConn	29-5	38	UCF	21-11
7	Iowa St.	27-7	39	Missouri	20-12
8	Purdue	27-8	40	Texas A&M	21-11
9	Michigan St	25-7	41	NC State	20-13
10	Illinois	24-8	42	Texas	18-14
11	Gonzaga	30-3	43	SMU	20-13
12	Virginia	29-5	44	Miami (OH)	31-1
13	Nebraska	26-6	45	VCU	27-7
14	Alabama	23-9	46	South Florida	25-8
15	Kansas	23-10	47	McNeese	28-5
16	Arkansas	26-8	48	Akron	29-5
17	Vanderbilt	26-8	49	UNI	23-12
18	St. John's	28-6	50	High Point	30-4
19	Texas Tech	22-10	51	California Baptist	25-8
20	Wisconsin	24-10	52	Hofstra	24-10
21	Tennessee	22-11	53	Troy	22-11
22	North Carolina	24-8	54	Hawaii	24-8
23	Louisville	23-10	55	North Dakota St	27-7
24	BYU	23-11	56	Penn	18-11
25	Kentucky	21-13	57	Wright St	23-11
26	Saint Mary's	27-5	58	Kennesaw St	21-13
27	Miami (FL)	25-8	59	Tennessee St	23-9
28	UCLA	23-11	60	Idaho	21-14
29	Clemson	24-10	61	Furman	22-12
30	Villanova	24-8	62	Queens (NC)	21-13
31	Ohio St	21-12	63	Siena	23-11
32	Georgia	22-10	64	LIU	24-10
			65	Howard	23-10
			66	UMBC	24-8
			67	Lehigh	18-16
			68	Prairie View	18-17

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

WOMEN'S SCHEDULE

Updated 04/04/26, 11:55pm

GAMES	Time (ET)	TV
National Championship: Monday, April 6
(1) Michigan vs. (2) UConn	8:50 PM	tbs/TNT/truTV

Updated 04/04/26, 9:30am

GAMES	Time (ET)	TV
National Championship: Sunday, April 5
(1) South Carolina vs. (1) UCLA	3:30 PM	ABC

2026 TEAM PROFILES

High Point Panthers

This university really is top-notch. It's regularly rated top in the country in campus beauty, campus facilities, and campus dining. They even chartered a plane to fly 200 students to Oregon to watch their First Round game.

Yeah! No kidding!

Cal Baptist Lancers

This is not de ja vu.

Their colors are almost identical to Queens.

They have something else in common too.

Queens Royals

This is their first NCAA Tournament in their first year they are eligible.

But come next year, they might go the way of the dodo bird.

LIU Sharks

Fins up!

Cuz when I think of Long Island, I immediately think of Sharks.

Lehigh Mountain Hawks

Their official colors are Brown and White.

They have over a century of playing mediocre basketball.

But I bet you remember that one thing they did well

Howard Bison

This team was in the Tournament in 2023 and 2024 and two other times prior to that. No wins though.

I completely forgot about those teams.

Most will forget about this team too.

2026 MM ARTICLES

Back on CBS

Updated 03/29/26

Only 5 teams remain, and only 3 days of games.

Don't give up just yet.

Games back no CBS.

Adjusting your antenna won't work

Updated 03/28/26

Saturday's Elite 8 games are not on a major broadcast network. They're on cable. Don't worry Duke fans. Your game on Sunday is back on the network. Adjust those rabbit ears.

You're living in the past, man!

Updated 03/27/26

DC had some notoriously good teams and coaches. But the notorious coach getting all the bad press was not there he was getting outta Raleigh as fast as he can.

Get your coffee

Updated 03/26/26

The NCAA or CBS or both hate the East Coast. These games won't end until after midnight for most of the US.

You Californians can go sit in traffic!

Hawkeyes' crushing win

Updated 03/22/26

No. 9 seed Iowa had the biggest upset of the Tournament thus far when they beat No.1 seed Florida. Only 10 out of 164 brackets correctly picked Iowa to advance to the Sweet 16.

Don't mess with Texas

Updated 03/22/26

No. 11 seed Texas became the first team in five years to go from the NCAA Tournament's First Four to the Sweet 16 causing a Bracket Pool shakeup.

Nobody is perfect

Updated 03/21/26

Only 244 perfect brackets remain across the country, and yours ain't one of them.

Sit back and enjoy

Updated 03/19/26

We are underway. Enjoy the games. Do not worry about your brackets. You did not win.

We're gonna be winners!

Updated 03/19/26

And most important, don't get caught up thinking about winning or losing If you put your effort and concentration into playing to your potential, to be the best that you can be, I don't care what the [standings] say at the end of the game, in my book we're gonna be winners!

Going Greyhound

Updated 03/18/26

You might think being close to home for your first game is a benefit. But close is a relative term. Would you rather a 4-hour bus ride or a 4-hour plane ride and you are probably close to 7 feet tall.