Single Post

We’ve got gobs of chalk, a dominant conference being a dominant conference, nothing resembling a Cinderella and just one finish that might qualify for future men’s NCAA Tournament montages — but what a finish, Maryland’s Derik Queen off the glass at the buzzer to keep the “Crab Five” alive and send the lowest remaining seed home.

It was not a vintage first weekend, yet it was nonstop fun, the mark of an untouchable sporting event. A non-traditional star helped. Players and coaches rule March, but occasionally we get Bill Murray or Julia Louis-Dreyfus cheering on a child. Or a Kate Upton/Spike Albrecht social media interaction. Or a tearful Villanova piccolo player soldiering through in the wake of a loss. Or Sister Jean.

McNeese team manager Amir “Aura” Khan might be the face of this tournament — the way Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt was seven years ago, cheering on her Loyola Chicago Ramblers to the Final Four — had McNeese followed up an upset of Clemson with another of Purdue. We’d have a Cinderella, too. As is, “Aura” and his boombox should have a “One Shining Moment” cameo to go with all his marketing deals.

He wasn’t the only big personality to exit before the Sweet 16. His coach, Will Wade, a college basketball villain redeemed, basically told everyone he was taking the NC State job this week, then got his team to stifle and shock Clemson anyway (if Khan goes with him, imagine his managing with those ACC resources). Omaha’s trash can smashers had a short stay. Star guards Kam Jones, Tre Johnson, Kadary Richmond, Jeremiah Fears, John Tonje and Nique Clifford could have done big things, but they’re out.

So is Rick Pitino. And Bill Self. And Danny Hurley. That represents six national championships, two apiece, the last two won by Hurley’s Connecticut Huskies. This team of his, which has performed below expectations all season, almost took out No. 1 seed Florida on Sunday in Raleigh, N.C. When it came up short, we saw two sides of Hurley — emotion pouring out in appreciation of his seniors, profane snark filling the air in response to imagined officiating slights.

Dan Hurley with some parting words for the incoming Baylor Bears after his Huskies fell to No. 1 Florida in Raleigh 👀

🎥 @Jellis1016 pic.twitter.com/eGJqk9Rjo4

— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) March 23, 2025

 

It was a bad weekend for the Big East. All five teams are gone. The ACC lived up to its poor performance all season. Only Duke’s left. Duke, at least, has been the most dominant team in the field through two games.

The Mountain West got close twice Sunday, No. 12 seed Colorado State’s Clifford making the brilliant pass to set up what could have been the Jalen Lake 3-pointer to beat No. 4 seed Maryland with six seconds left. Queen had other ideas. No. 10 seed New Mexico pushed No. 2 seed Michigan State but ran out of gas. Neither would have qualified fully for Cinderella status. We’re not talking Saint Peter’s here. But mid-majors with double-digit seeds are worth enjoying on occasion.

Instead, this is the first Sweet 16 since 2007 with zero teams seeded No. 12 or lower. Per the NCAA, this was the sixth time since the bracket expanded to 64 teams in 1985 that the top 16 seeds in the tournament all won their first-round games. The last time it happened was in 2017.

This is the second year in a row with high seeds dominating, and it’s hard to look at the way teams in the power leagues plunder talent from lower levels and not make the connection. Tennessee’s Chaz Lanier (previously at North Florida), Auburn’s Johni Broome (Morehead State), Michigan’s Danny Wolf (Yale), Maryland’s Ja’Kobi Gillespie (Belmont) and Texas Tech’s Elijah Hawkins (Howard) are among several players excelling who in eras past might be leading their initial schools on runs.

We aren’t just lacking a Cinderella — we’re looking differently at Cinderellas past. Remember Florida Atlantic’s Final Four journey from two years ago? Turns out that wasn’t some cheeky bunch of overachievers. Turns out Alijah Martin (starring for Florida), Johnell Davis (starring for Arkansas) and Vladislav Goldin (starring for Michigan) are studs who remain very hard to beat in this tournament.

Turns out Dusty May can put together and coach a team. He’s got No. 5 seed Michigan in the South Regional semifinals in Atlanta, leaning on the Wolf-Goldin tandem to give teams matchup issues. No. 1 overall seed Auburn will try to figure it out, and get Wolf back for leading Yale’s first-round upset of Auburn a year ago. Michigan point guard Tre Donaldson was Auburn’s point guard then.

On the other side is No. 2 seed Michigan State and No. 6 seed Ole Miss. That means Pearl could get revenge on Tom Izzo — who is enjoying his 16th Sweet 16 — for an Elite Eight loss to the Spartans 15 years ago when Pearl was at Tennessee.

Or May could get revenge on Izzo after losing both games and the Big Ten championship to him this season. First, Izzo would have to get revenge on Ole Miss coach Chris Beard, who beat Izzo in the 2019 Final Four as Texas Tech’s coach.

That was Izzo’s last Final Four. This was a big weekend for the Big Ten, a 12-4 record and four teams in the Sweet 16. This was a big weekend for the Big 12, a 10-3 record and four teams in the Sweet 16.

This was more history for the SEC, which demonstrated its superiority in November and has backed it up to date. The SEC lost several of its record 14 teams in the tournament early. But its best teams advanced, it ended up with a 15-7 record, and it has a whopping seven teams in the regional semifinals. That tops the record of six, set by the ACC in 2016.

And that’s it. The SEC, the Big Ten, the Big 12. And Duke. There’s your Sweet 16. Four leagues represented is a record low — the previous low was seven. The lack of variety isn’t ideal. Of course, a year ago the same teams would mean a fifth league involved, the old Pac-12. Two years ago, BYU was representing the West Coast Conference.

And the matchups are glorious. Arizona-Duke? Kentucky-Tennessee? Florida-Maryland? Alabama-BYU, first one to 110 points wins? Yes, please.

The seed total this year (adding up all the seed numbers of the 16 teams) is 55. That’s one of the lowest on record, a tad higher than last year’s total of 53. The all-time low is 49, set in 2009 and matched in 2019. In other words, that word again: chalk. We have exactly one double-digit seed left in the tournament.

That would be Arkansas, a team loaded with talent, hampered this season by injuries, and coached by Calipari. He took out Self and Kansas. He stunned his old “friend” Pitino and St. John’s. He’s in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2019, and the cool thing is, the same is true of Kentucky in the successful debut of Mark Pope as Calipari’s replacement.

There are good feelings all around. So good, in fact … is John Calipari our Cinderella?

(Photo of Walter Clayton Jr.: Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)