And just like that, another year of March Madness has come and gone. The best three weeks in sports concluded on Monday night after Michigan took down UConn to win its first national title under Dusty May. I was blessed to be one of over 70,000 in attendance that night, witnessing the Wolverines have their “One Shining Moment” on the national stage.
While the 69-63 victory was the crowning moment of the national tournament, many others were notable in their own right. Below, I have compiled a few of them, a legible highlight reel, if you will, as well as a few takeaways of my own based on what we saw from this edition of the tournament.
First, while the Final Four provided heavyweight clashes and historically strong teams, the game of the tournament definitely came in the round before. In the Elite Eight, Duke and UConn faced off in Washington, D.C., and provided us with one of the most memorable upsets ever seen in March Madness. After losing by as much as 19 in the first half, UConn rallied and took the lead with 0.6 seconds on the clock in regulation, after a steal on a tipped pass and a three-pointer from Braylon Mullins. That bucket gave UConn a 73-72 lead and victory, advancing them to the Final Four for the third time in four years.
There were other memorable moments as well. Bennett Stirtz and Iowa’s run to the Elite Eight after knocking off number one seed Florida was a highlight for sure, as well as High Point’s upset of Wisconsin behind Chase Johnston and his Steph Curry-esque three-point shooting. We saw Nebraska’s first-ever tournament win, and then their second, before losing to Iowa in the “All-corn” matchup. These games, along with many others, characterized a wildly exciting three and a half weeks of basketball.
After considering the 2026 tournament, I have a few takeaways.
- The Transfer Portal and NIL Era is in full swing.
If you need more examples to look at the way in which the transfer portal is impacting college basketball, look no further than this year’s national champions, the Michigan Wolverines. The Maize and Blue did not have a single starter this season who began their college career with the Wolverines. Instead, each of the five was paid significant NIL money to come to Michigan and play, and their championship meant coach Dusty May’s strategy paid off.
Now, to say that May “bought” a championship this season would be an overly cynical and bad take. Look at his three key players this year: Elliot Cadeau, Aday Mara, and Yaxel Lendeborg. Cadeau was an oft-maligned point guard from UNC, unable to shoot and thus space the floor in a matchup-oriented offense. May believed in him, surrounded him with players like Mara and Lendeborg, and let him attack and create. Mara, a seven-foot-four shot-blocker from UCLA, developed into a quick, athletic center, which, when paired with Lendeborg (the Big Ten Player of the Year), catapulted them to a level akin to one of the best frontcourts in the country.
I also don’t write this just to sing May’s praises. If you have the highest NIL budget in a Power Four conference, you should compete for national championships; that’s just a given. But he did a great job with the pieces he acquired, and people shouldn’t crash out due to his use of the Transfer Portal and NIL because…
2. The “Cinderella” is not dead
This has become a common complaint of fans for the past couple of years. This tournament was the second consecutive tournament in which no team seeded 13 or lower won an opening round matchup. The argument goes like this: if all the best players leave and play for all the best teams – or the ones that have the most money – how will Cinderella stories ever happen?
This idea makes sense in theory, but people who say this aren’t watching the games. The number one overall seed, Duke, got taken to the last five minutes of their opening round game with Siena, who didn’t play a single person from their bench the entire game. High Point flew three time zones away and took down five-seed Wisconsin, and eight-seeded Iowa – mentioned above – made an improbable run to the Elite Eight, taking down number one seed Florida. Texas, a First Four team, won three games to make it to the Sweet Sixteen and would have defeated the number two seed Purdue for a spot in the Elite Eight had they not given up a game-winning offensive rebound and layup to Trey Kaufman-Renn.
To say that Cinderella teams are dead is a lazy read of the current landscape of college basketball. The magic remains, and while it may feel different, the tournament is more or less unchanged.
3. March Madness does not need expansion.
Expansion to the tournament is imminent and more or less inevitable. As the most popular postseason in college sports, the NCAA stands to gain financially from more games, more teams, and more TV deals.
However, this expansion project is different from any of the similar projects we have been treated to in the past; no one wants it. Where some fans were into the idea of a 16-team CFP – myself included – and others were into a 20-team NBA postseason – myself most definitely not included – not a single fan likes the proposed move from 68 to 76 teams. It will not change anything as far as the results of the tournament go. The good teams will still win, the bad teams will still lose, Cinderellas will still find a way… and the NCAA will be greedy.
With that, it is time to say goodbye to another year of college basketball. If you are like me, you will be watching the Transfer Portal with astounding intent over the next couple of weeks, patiently waiting for preseason exhibitions to roll around. If not, we might see you in November…
But we will definitely see you in March.
