"Radical anti-possession football that would make even Jose Mourinho wince." www.nytimes.com/athletic/744...

Not sure the juice -- "Wow, very shaky image of a goal that's clear and beautiful in every other view" -- is worth the squeeze on the ref cam.

It will be nice when we get to the point where we have Lukaku- and KDB-level talent and don't need to start them.

Senegal must be really good.

There is no good time to pull a Younghoe Koo, but....

The middle 25 minutes of that 102-minute match were peak football.

Possibly the newly expanded size of the field is quickly forgotten in a cherished tournament.

Not to be fussy or pedantic but he stopped being the Celtics coach five years ago.

Darryn Peterson politely telling his father to hold the mic closer was precious.

Every game where the president wasn't there was kind of the same.

Foul up three demands equal time for when foul up three does work.

Diagramming crunch-time shots by hero instead of location is close to unavoidable. Be nice to the coach.

Brunson is the hero hero ball has been waiting for.

Cade Cunningam just duplicated the Ty Jerome 2019 Final Four double-dribble. These refs didn't call it either and the announcers didn't notice. So maybe it is hard to catch.

As is said of faculty politics, social media discourse preferring that 19 and not 21 percent of teams qualify is perhaps so heated because the stakes are so low.

It's standard for elite men's head coaches who dance every year to oppose tournament expansion. That's fine, they're sincere, they count. Also true this same group *hated* expanding to 64 in the 1980s. Bob Knight wanted to go back to 32. From March 2025: johngasaway.substack.com/p/keep-march...

Not sure bench points holds water as a stat when an unhappy coach benches two starters in Game 7 as a motivational ploy.

Q: Major-conference teams project to get 79 percent of new bids with expansion. Don't expand. A: They got 89 percent of at-larges in 2026. Q: 79 percent is still high. A: Expanding lowers it from 89 to 79. Expanding more would lower it more. Q: 79's too high. A: 89 it is.

What to make of an expansion sought by few except a strange alliance of rapacious elite conferences and long disadvantaged mid-majors. Well, and me. johngasaway.substack.com/p/one-whinin...

The most annoying part about the NCAAT expanding is also the biggest reason why it's going to happen: the ever-lurking threat that, if the power conferences didn't get their way, they may just up and leave and start their own bracket. But that's bullshit and was never going to happen. Column:

I believe everyone I follow here except @kenpom.com and possibly @lukedecock.bsky.social not only opposes this but does so vehemently. I'm in the very tiny minority this time and I could be wrong. Been known to happen. Now we'll find out. www.espn.com/mens-college...

Congratulations to the entire 2026 field for setting a new record for accuracy at the line over 67 games: 73.3 percent. Tonight's combined 84 percent shooting from Michigan (25-of-28) and UConn (12-of-16) made the difference. Must be the shooting background. Football venues forever.

Immaculate season and true team effort. Michigan, I salute you.

After 60 minutes UConn Final Four opponents are 6-of-34 on threes.

Granting UM is the most balanced Great Team offense on usage ever, Lendeborg club trillioning so far.

Gasaway household contains heartbroken men's basketball multitudes. But at least this was an amazing game. D-III championship paid tribute to UK-Santa Clara 2026 AND Lorenzo Charles 1983. Still a great season for Emory. Go, Eagles! Congrats, Mary Washington.... www.ncaa.com/game/6538153

Yeah, the Big Ten title drought is done.

Lendeborg back in. John "Auto-Bench" Beilein weeps.

Illinois scored less than a point per possession twice this year. Both times it was against UConn.

If UConn doesn't commit a turnover in this game the Huskies will win.

Did not have Mirkovic as the new Aday Mara of rim defense on my bingo card.

What Pitino said. The 2010 title game was breathtakingly dramatic but it also was won by a team scoring 61 points in 61 possessions. Jon Scheyer took a crucial "charge" on Gordon Hayward almost directly under the basket. The quality of play has never been better. web.archive.org/web/20160414...

Roughly one-in-three chance (32 percent) Big Ten title drought comes to a guaranteed end at close of proceedings Saturday night. Illinois 62 percent KenPom vs. UConn Michigan 51 vs. Arizona Unless there's no 2026 champion because the horn gets stuck again Monday night.

March 2026 was one for the books. johngasaway.substack.com/p/the-shot-a...

Alums of the late, great Basketball Prospectus continue to rule the world. Never been more smart basketball types around, but Mr. Pelton's still the one true hoops polymath -- women's, men's, pro, college, international, probably intergalactic. Congratulations, Kevin! bsky.app/profile/alex...

The last time I had a sports day this good I was posting at blogspot (dot) com. Sweet, sweet, elusive Final Four.

First time the manual horn is used Hummel laughs: "That sounded very JV."

We'll likely never see a Final Four made up entirely of teams from one conference. Also likely that probability's at an all-time high this morning. bsky.app/profile/luke...

I for one welcome our new Big Ten overlords.

Kelvin Sampson paying tribute to Ben Howland, repeatedly calling timeout within 10 seconds or less of a media timeout.

Cinderella didn't disappear she just got a glow up. johngasaway.substack.com/p/maybe-its-...

Welcome to a fairly chalky Sweet 16. Average seed: 3.75 (Last year: 3.44) Average, 1985-2026: 4.45 Wackiest: 2021 (5.88) Chalkiest: 2009 and 2019 (3.06)

Please stop calling fouls.

Utah State's elimination means the tournament will close with major-conference programs winning every game after Friday afternoon in the round of 64.

I for one welcome our new Big Ten overlords.

Iowa wanted a rock fight against Florida and got it. First half: 32 possessions.

Since 1985 we've seen 122 programs make the Sweet 16 and nearly a third of those teams (40) have been just once. Congratulations, Nebraska. Utah State will try to join the ranks tonight.

Darius Acuff, steely eyed missile man.

Nebraska-Vanderbilt is amazing.

Never taking the second weekend lightly. Just stay away from OTs.