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.

A 19-point lead on VCU. What can go wrong?

Across three (very) different coaches Michigan has reached the Sweet 16 in nine of its last 10 brackets. Salute.

Through the round of 64 this is the second best three-point shooting we've seen in six brackets with the current arc: 34.3 percent. Winning teams: 37.6 Losers: 31.3

Having watched 36 games, the main takeaway here is that in 135 years of basketball we have never seen a greater sartorial contrast than the one presented by the head coaches in UCLA-UCF.

So this happens 17 percent of the time. Top four seeds all make the round of 32. Also it's happened two years in a row for the first time.

With this year's clean sweep No. 9 seeds have now won 53 percent of the time against No. 8s since 1985.

Hoos' first tournament W since 2019 national title game.

No. 7 seed, uneven regular season, escapes round of 64 in OT against Jesuit opponent..... UK hoping to surf the UConn 2014 karma.

Instant classic, Gordon Hayward lives! Otega Oweh, I salute you.

All-time record is 18: North Carolina 1981-98. bsky.app/profile/john...

Congratulations Gonzaga on tying a modern-era record set by Kansas (2007-24) with wins in 17 consecutive tournaments.

Twice in the evening session announcers said you need a three here. Rejoice.

Illinois tonight would clock in as the new No. 5 for best tournament games of offense "ever." (KenPom ever.) johngasaway.com/2025/03/24/n...

My team is invincible as long as there's no OT.

Ian Eagle sharp-eyed as always. Illinois never putting opponents on the line is indeed the sneaky compensatory superpower of a defense that never, ever forces turnovers.

The intentionally missed free throw is a lost art.

Gambling your last timeout with 4:30 left in OT on a not at all clear-cut challenge was bold.

Never seen a zero percent two-point shooter hit a bigger shot. bsky.app/profile/kpel...

Congratulations, Nebraska 🌽🌽🌽 With the Huskers off the all-time schneid the major-conference onus now shifts to.... SMU, winless in the tournament since 1988. Then again the Mustangs weren't major-conference that whole time. Next in line: Georgia (2002).

Not sure who's going to lose today but I do know their conference is overrated and their coach is an absolute joke.

If you rightly celebrate the mid-major that's the lowest ranked at-large in KenPom history beating a standard-issue ACC bubble coin-flip while still insisting tournament expansion will be the collapse of civilization, you do you.