boognish_bear said:

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Furman hanging with UConn with 6 mins left in the half

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Furman looks good. They're scoring the ball consistently and with efficiency. If they can make a few stops, they can put some real pressure on a shorthanded UConn team tonight.

Terrible finish to the half for Furman. The first five minutes of the second half are going to be huge in this one.

bear2be2 said:

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Terrible finish to the half for Furman. The first five minutes of the second half are going to be huge in this one.

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Spoke too soon. Wild sequence there. UConn biffed a last-shot opportunity badly and ended up giving up a 3 to cut the gap to four.

Can't imagine the tantrum Hurley is having in the locker room

They’re here!!! 🏊

The Miami (OH) swim/dive team storms down the bleachers in Speedos, as SMU is about to take a free throw 🤣

Whole crowd goes crazy.

The free throw misses.#MiamiOH @WCPO#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/3Ic2zjCecQ

— Caleb Noe (@CalebNoeTV) March 19, 2026

Mizzou/Miami is at least close... but man this is some ugly basketball with all the brick laying

boognish_bear said:

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Iowa State's Joshua Jefferson was helped off the floor after an apparent ankle injury#MarchMadness @CycloneMBB @NCAABuzzerBters @SickosCBB @ContextFreeCBB pic.twitter.com/MRwoYBYXx0

— Bubba Elofskey  (v2) (@BubbaV239368) March 20, 2026

Iowa State star Joshua Jefferson was just helped off the floor after a left ankle injury. He's getting X-rays, per the broadcast. Would be a huge loss.

— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) March 20, 2026

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great, tough player. IState will flush the soft kentucky trd without him. Hope they hold him out and give him the week's rehab.

boognish_bear said:

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Mizzou/Miami is at least close... but man this is some ugly basketball with all the brick laying

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As is often the case, Day 2 of the tournament after an upset-filled opening day has been pretty anticlimactic.

It seems the upsets usually come on one day or the other. If they're on the first day, the favorites lock in on Day 2.

Furman keeps hitting shots, but they can't make stops. It's like watching our Bears play.

Farris Reed has 29/25 stat line… wow

IowaBear said:

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Farris Reed has 29/25 stat line… wow

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He was awesome tonight. The difference in that game, frankly.

Please let's not expand the tournament...

Well, this is not an encouraging trend for Cinderellas. ...

The NCAA tournament went to 64 teams in 1985. Only 7 times have the 13-14-15 seeds all gone winless in the first round.

It's now happened two years in a row (for the first time).

— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) March 21, 2026

This year's first round had 13 of its 32 games decided by at least 20 points.

That's the most ever, per CBS Sports research.

— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) March 21, 2026

The largest margin of victory in a men's NCAA tournament game is now 59 points by Florida over Prairie View A&M 114-55 surpassing 58 points in 1998 when Kansas defeated Prairie View A&M 110-52

— Drew Dinsick (@whale_capper) March 21, 2026

bear2be2 said:

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boognish_bear said:

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Mizzou/Miami is at least close... but man this is some ugly basketball with all the brick laying

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As is often the case, Day 2 of the tournament after an upset-filled opening day has been pretty anticlimactic.

It seems the upsets usually come on one day or the other. If they're on the first day, the favorites lock in on Day 2.

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32 games played Friday in the men's and women's first round.

Women's bracket was all chalk (1-8 seeds won every game).

Men's bracket was 14 of 16 chalk, and the other 2 were 9 seeds over 8.

boognish_bear said:

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The largest margin of victory in a men's NCAA tournament game is now 59 points by Florida over Prairie View A&M 114-55 surpassing 58 points in 1998 when Kansas defeated Prairie View A&M 110-52

— Drew Dinsick (@whale_capper) March 21, 2026

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PVU was terrible but Florida has really turned it up a level. Dangerous team that could run the table if their guards hit shots and defend.

Favorites went 16-0 yesterday.

This year's first round had 13 of 32 games decided by 20+ points.

High Point only true mid-major still alive, and its NIL is probably most of any team in 1-bid league.

I hate to admit it, but due to NIL & transfer portal, Cinderellas may be dead.

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 21, 2026

boognish_bear said:

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Favorites went 16-0 yesterday.

This year's first round had 13 of 32 games decided by 20+ points.

High Point only true mid-major still alive, and its NIL is probably most of any team in 1-bid league.

I hate to admit it, but due to NIL & transfer portal, Cinderellas may be dead.

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 21, 2026

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SLU hanging in there with Michigan right now. I don't think they'll win, but it's a mid major not backing down to a power program.

El Oso said:

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boognish_bear said:

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Favorites went 16-0 yesterday.

This year's first round had 13 of 32 games decided by 20+ points.

High Point only true mid-major still alive, and its NIL is probably most of any team in 1-bid league.

I hate to admit it, but due to NIL & transfer portal, Cinderellas may be dead.

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 21, 2026

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SLU hanging in there with Michigan right now. I don't think they'll win, but it's a mid major not backing down to a power program.

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Hope they can at least keep it close into the second half

....

A lot of good games in the first round, but not much madness. Two years in a row with few first round upsets.

I'm afraid we're trending this way. The gap between the haves and have nots may be getting too large.

Aggie o/u is 65. Seems interesting

As I watch these games this afternoon, I keep asking myself where are we defensively in relation to these 16 teams which made it to the 2nd round. Following is where each team playing today ranked in defensive metrics this year by KenPom as well as EvanMiya.


Duke - #1 (KP); #2 (EM)
Michigan - #2 (KP); #4 (EM)
Houston - #4 (KP); #1 (EM)
Nebraska - #7 (KP); #8 (EM)
Gonzaga - #10 (KP); #10 (EM)
Mich State - #13 (KP); #13 (EM)
TCU - #21 (KP); #23 (EM)
Louisville - #24 (KP); #25 (EM)
Illinois - #28 (KP); #21 (EM)
Vandy - #29 (KP); #32 (EM)
A&M - #34 (KP); #40 (EM)
Saint Louis - #39 (KP); #27 (EM)
Arkansas - #50 (KP); #47 (EM)
VCU - #54 (KP); #37 (EM)
Texas - #85 (KP); #69 (EM)
High Point - #143 (KP); #117 (EM)


As for our Bears, we were #126 (KP) and #124 (EM).

We were #62 (KP) in 24-25, #72 in 23-24, #107 in 22-23.

Hopefully this gets fixed for 26-27 through the combination of a full year with Sanchez, Bodo Bodo (if he is as good defensively as described and 100% healthy) and some better defensive players added in the portal.

Joshua Jefferson updates his ankle injury:

-Moved from crutches to scooter
-Able to "put a little bit of weight on it"
-Still not walkinghttps://t.co/nqYfbG9FR8

— Ben Hutchens (@Ben_Hutchens_) March 21, 2026

Joshua Jefferson says he's feeling better, and the swelling around his ankle has gone down. But T.J. Otzelberger and the Cyclones are preparing to possibly be without him. pic.twitter.com/MRoUFfoDS0

— Jack Lido (@JackLido) March 21, 2026

TCU has hung in this one much better than I thought they would.

I can't pull for either of these teams though.

Man...stands look empty in Aggy/UH game

boognish_bear said:

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Man...stands look empty in Aggy/UH game

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Aggy doesn't care about basketball, and on Saturday afternoon most gas stations and C-stores are busy, so
uh fans are at work.

The Big 12 is standing tall right now. Both TCU and Houston are showing well so far.

Watching Houston defend makes me depressed, though. They're playing a completely different game than we are on that end of the floor.

Duke has not looked like the number one seed in either of their games so far

Maybe our two losses to TCU were not as bad as we thought

Duke may be waking up

If nothing else TCU is going to lose because of the insane foul discrepancy. Big shock - it's Duke.

Who does everyone have winning their bracket ? I wound up with Houston

Don't blame Dixon for getting T'd up over the obvious uncalled Duke goal tend on top of everything else. The officiating favoritism Duke constantly receives gets old.