***Official 2026 NCAA Tournament Thread***

I find people outside the Midwest who aren't particularly into sports struggle to distinguish between Iowa State, Iowa, and Ohio State.
Yep. He is from Chicago but he is a sportsman (plays tennis, etc.) more than a sports fan. I was actually more intrigued that he even watched the game than potentially mixing up Iowa and Iowa State (if that is what happened). He's not a jackass at all, so I assume he just thought I would appreciate the Illini win over ISU's rival! That's what I am running with anyway.
 
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So were they overrated, the worst 1 seed ever, played in weak conferences….what gives’?! :oops:

Arizona history as 1 seed**:
1988: Final Four. Lost to (1) Oklahoma
1989: Sweet 16. Lost to (4) UNLV
1998: Elite 8. Lost to (3) Utah
2000: Round of 32. Lost to (8) Wisconsin
2003: Elite 8. Lost to (2) Kansas
2014: Elite 8. Lost to (2) Wisconsin
2022: Sweet 16. Lost to (5) Houston
2026: Final Four. (TBD)

Had a rough stretch (relatively) as single-digit seed in early ‘90s:
1990: 2 - R32
1991: 2 - Sweet 16
1992: 3 - R64
1993: 2 - R64
1995: 5 - R64

Also one Final Four as a 2 in 1994, national title as a 4 in 1997 and national runner-up as a 2 in 2001.

**
@HoopsTournament may have revisions to my list. Compiled it quickly.
 
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They had a nice three game run in the tournament. It wasn’t a “hell of a season.”
That's a hell of a year. The year is determined by how you finish. Unless you win the regular season conference title and have some "forever hardware" to say otherwise your year is defined by how you finish.
 
Arizona history as 1 seed**:
1988: Final Four. Lost to (1) Oklahoma
1989: Sweet 16. Lost to (4) UNLV
1998: Elite 8. Lost to (3) Utah
2000: Round of 32. Lost to (8) Wisconsin
2003: Elite 8. Lost to (2) Kansas
2014: Elite 8. Lost to (2) Wisconsin
2022: Sweet 16. Lost to (5) Houston
2026: Final Four. (TBD)

Had a rough stretch (relatively) as single-digit seed in early ‘90s:
1990: 2 - R32
1991: 2 - Sweet 16
1992: 3 - R64
1993: 2 - R64
1995: 5 - R64

Also one Final Four as a 2 in 1994, national title as a 4 in 1997 and national runner-up as a 2 in 2001.

**
@HoopsTournament may have revisions to my list. Compiled it quickly.
Three of the losses to current Big XII teams (Kansas, Houston and Utah).

One of the losses to a former Big XII team (Oklahoma).

Does that mean that we have Wisconsin and UNLV to the Big XII in the next expansion? / sarcasm
 
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Fer sure.

That team had Homan, Vroman, Stinson, Blalock and Sullivan and somehow was only 16-11 (7-9) in regular season. Finished 20-13 after the NIT run, which seemed liked an OK consolation prize at the time.
Blaylock was young. Tim Barnes flunking out of school was probably the difference that year in making the tournament. He may have been the quickest player in ISU history.
 
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Texts to me from Iowa fans last night were heavy for about 2/3rds of the game. I didnt watch the second half but could tell what happened when the texts dried up. I never text Hawkeye fans during ISU games. Not sure why they always love to yap about them doing well to ISU. They do shut up quick though when they lose. Almost like it never happened. Why the in state rivals threads have collapsed on this board.
My BIL who is a huge Hawkeye fan and is very outspoken about his disinterest and almost compete disdain for men's college basketball greeted me with a good morning text yesterday sarcastically apologizing that Iowa State lost and assured me that it will be big brother Iowa once again carrying the state and representing it better on a national level.

This guy hadn't watched one second of college basketball all season by his own admission. But was probably "locked in" after Florida. And people act surprised when I speak out about my dislike of Iowa.
 
Texts to me from Iowa fans last night were heavy for about 2/3rds of the game. I didnt watch the second half but could tell what happened when the texts dried up. I never text Hawkeye fans during ISU games. Not sure why they always love to yap about them doing well to ISU. They do shut up quick though when they lose. Almost like it never happened. Why the in state rivals threads have collapsed on this board.
I had plans last night, so I missed the last 8 minutes of the game (you're welcome).

When I got to where I was going, the lack of texts from Iowa/ISU people was the first clue they lost; got way too many obnoxious texts/snaps when they beat Nebby.
 
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That's a hell of a year. The year is determined by how you finish. Unless you win the regular season conference title and have some "forever hardware" to say otherwise your year is defined by how you finish.

I just now realized how “meh”” a season Tennessee has had with 11 losses… they clearly didn’t have a very good season
 
I had plans last night, so I missed the last 8 minutes of the game (you're welcome).

When I got to where I was going, the lack of texts from Iowa/ISU people was the first clue they lost; got way too many obnoxious texts/snaps when they beat Nebby.

Yeah, that’s what typically happens when both fan bases obsessively take shots at each other
 
I can't bring myself to back anyone. Lesser of two evils is probably Scheyer (for now)
I find it a challenge sometimes to watch a (non-ISU) game unless (1) I like one of the teams far more than the other or (2) I despise one of them (even if I'm non-committal about the opponent).

Duke-UConn is an example of that situation.