MARCH MADNESS 2026 WRAP-UP

First things first—major congrats to Michigan for becoming this year’s NCAA Champions! That team truly deserved it, even if this Final with UConn proved trickier than the rest of their victories. They really were the best team in the March Madness college basketball tourney. (And a shoot-out to the ladies of UCLA, as well, for winning their women’s tournament over South Carolina.)

That entire team did his part, but the stand-outs were little Elliot Cadeau, who won the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player award, (MOP,) and very injured Yaxel Lendeborg, who played despite serious knee and ankle injuries he sustained in the penultimate game.

So many people ask me why I watch every second of this three-week event. The answer is that in addition to loving sports, in general, and basketball in specific, I absolutely adore the many personal human interest stories. Just about every single player has a fascinating life tale.

But I hate that college teams don’t stay together anymore. Back in the day, I looked forward to seeing the same guys for four years. Now, the players change teams seemingly every year! Who do they think they are—me? (I went to four colleges, because that’s where life took me, and I recently found-out that because of that wandering, Mr. X assumed that I didn’t graduate! Is he nuts? I have two degrees! How did he think I was able to teach in public schools without graduating college?!) At the beginning of the tourney, I was actually a bit worried about my memory because I didn’t recognize anyone! No lie.

But I calmed down by the second round, when I had gotten used to this crop of players and coaches. And I enjoyed it all. Except for watching the losing guys be miserable. But the reality is that sixty-seven teams will lose because, of course, there can be only one final winner. That’s life.

And here’s a note to all sideline reporters everywhere in all sports: You need to stop saying, “Get over here!,” to the people you want to interview after a win. It’s soooo creepy. And rude. Many are guilty of it, but Lauren Shehadi is the worst because she always says it!

I wish I could claim authorship of this alliterative quote, but it was studio analyst Clark Kellogg who said March Madness is “a mosaic of magic and memories and moments.” I love that guy! And I also appreciate that he’s always trying to keep the peace on the panel, and move things along.

Now here are some of my thoughts as March Madness went on, in the order that they occurred:

Penn’s coach Fran McCaffery has a wonderful full circle story. He grew-up in Pennsylvania, played college ball at Penn, and now, over forty years later, after a long coaching career, he’s their Head Coach! Love that!

Illinois player David Mirkovic gave the most thoughtful, intelligent answers, despite not even being really fluent in English. (But he did start with “I mean!” Oysh.) One of his teammates even told him, “Great job” after one interview.

And how interesting that he’s one of five Balkan players on that team!

Georgia’s Jeremiah Wilkinson gave a perfect, intelligent break-down of his team’s performance at halftime in the first round. Good for him! And St. Louis’ Dion Brown did the same thing for his team.

There are many great monikers in the tourney, but the best name, for me, is Kingston Flemings, who plays for Houston. (For now—he’s a freshman who’s due to get drafted early.)

Virginia’s Jacari White has quite the difficult life story. So I’m very happy for him. What a nice kid! (He lost his hair at age seven, and then lived in a car with his father for three teenage years. Here’s the link to a full story about his life: www.basketunderreview.com/inside-jacari-w.)

Duke Brennan of Villanova should become a commentator later in life. Or, at the very least, a coach. He’s very well-spoken and intelligent.

We got to see a thirty-three-year-old record be broken!!! Purdue’s Braden Smith broke Bobby Hurley’s assist record from Duke waaaay back in the day! (If you’re curious, Braden’s new record is 1,103 assists.)

A few minutes after I had made a note to “look up Themus Fulks of UCF to see his strange tooth,” (because, as good as his chompers mainly looked, one side tooth appeared to be a tad wanky,) the guy…knocked-out UCLA player Skyy Clark’s front tooth!!! By accident, of course. He felt awful. As do I because I feel like, somehow, it was my fault for doing some sort of writer’s voodoo.

Mr. X finally noticed what I’ve been saying for years—that UCLA coach Mick Cronin is a dick! Even to his players! (So is very famous coach Rick Patino, by the way. I guess that’s why both coaches’ first names have “ick” in them!)

Canadian teen, Olivier Rioux, who plays for Florida, is the tallest player ever, (for reals,) at 7’9”. And I just read that he’s going to transfer schools to get more playing time. What kind of nutty coach doesn’t regularly play a guy who’s almost 8’ tall???

Tiny (5’10”) Dominique Daniels from Cal Baptist was so fun! I love that guy! I think now everyone does. And he and his team have the most fun fan base.

Master P’s son, Mercy Miller, plays for Houston! Who knew?!

Virginia’s coach, Ryan Odom, gave a great time-out interview. He actually answered honestly, (which is rare,) and gave a perfect breakdown of what was needed from his team.

Malik Thomas of Virginia showed that humanity matters more than competition when he picked up a Tennessee opponent, little Chance Mallory, he had just knocked down by accident. I loved that! (Mr. X is the one who actually noticed it first.)

This story made me cry. It was only the third time ever that Iowa’s Alvaro Folgueiras’ mother had seen him play in college; they’re from Spain. And you can tell he loves his mom more than anything. Through tears, (his and mine!,) he said, “My mom is there after fighting for me her whole life.”

UConn’s Alex Karaban has played in nineteen March Madness games over his four-year college career!!! Do you know how unusual that is?! That’s just insane!

As I indicated earlier, I can’t stand UCLA coach Mick Cronin, but against UConn, he received a technical foul late in the game, for no apparent reason. He clearly didn’t say a word, but was clapping at something the ref did, which we know was sarcastic. But, I was shocked to learn that the ref doesn’t have to tell why he tee-ed him up!!! What??? He should have to! Viewers want to know. Not fair.

Bennett Stirtz still has great skin, a year after I first pointed it out, and so does much older Texas Tech coach, Grant McCasland.

Arkansas proved themselves to be true thugs in the Sweet 16 game against #1 Arizona. They were losing by twenty-three points, and started doing horrible things to their opponents. One guy got ejected, but two more really should have been, too. Douchebags.

Duke coach Jon Schuyer made me cry when he couldn’t even talk when asked about Caleb Foster playing in the Sweet 16 three weeks after foot surgery! That extreme accomplishment got us both choked-up.

Purdue Head Coach Matt Painter gave the least depressing losing coach speech I’ve ever heard! Good for him. I’m glad I rooted for him and his team.

Studio panel host, Nate Burleson, can now add “and re-writer” to his credits. He kept making what Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith said understandable. Good for him. Their long-time co-panelist, Clark Kellogg, was probably happy to have the help!!!

Alex Karaban’s mom, in discussing how young men need to be prepared for the future, said, “At some point, the ball stops bouncing.” Brilliant. And English is not even her first language!

Good on Charles Barkley for bringing up how evil ICE is, in conjunction with some of the kids having immigrant parents. In this case, it was triggered by Karaban’s ‘rents.

I’m always happy when Grant Hill is on the call. He’s the most pleasant guy ever!

Danny Hurley (UConn) is one of only two coaches in history to have taken his team to multiple Final Fours with no losses. (The other one is Branch McCracken, who coached from 1930-1965!)

And to end on perhaps a shallow note, you know that I’ve always adored Charles Barkley, but now that he’s lost so much weight, I think it’s time for him to get a smaller suit jacket! Just sayin’.