I'm sure the Caitlin Clark jerseys will be out in force today!
***Official 2026 NCAA Tournament Thread***
- Thread starter ClonesTwenty1
- Start date
At this point, it’s fair to say they are equal at the top, but the Big 10 is slightly deeper. Big 12 will probably end up better at the top after the next 2 rounds. Big 12 is favored to have 2 Final 4 teams at this moment
Injuries really screwed up the Big 12’s depth with BYU & Tech. But injuries are part of the game
The Iowa women play at 1pm. today so they will be out two fold.
This tournament is always been about playing your best in March, not sure you can sit there and say the B10 is equal at the top or has better depth. It's all about matchups and playing at a high level and making your shots. The B10 got more favorable matchups except for the squawks. BYU running into Duke or Texas getting hot right now have hurt the B12 more than anything. Not taking away anything from the squawks they showed yesterday that if you are not playing your best, a team like EIU can end your season.
If you take the profiles of teams by Kenpom rating of past final four participants and match them up to the field remaining this year, the only teams left meeting the criteria are Duke, Arizona, Michigan, Houston, and YOUR Iowa State Cyclones.
Don't want to be the odd man out of those five, obviously.
Don't want to be the odd man out of those five, obviously.
Making a Sweet Sixteen is so much matchup and seeding based. The rubber meets the road starting this Thursday. Yes the B1G will have more opportunities going in, but analysts such as Kenpom taking historical data into account believe there is only one Big Ten team pointed toward a final four based on their play, while all three remaining Big 12 teams are putting up the numbers to get there. Having more S16 teams is nice, but it doesn't say everything about the strength of a conference overall.
Cyclonepride
Thought Police
A guy in our office pool had 14/16 in the Sweet Sixteen correct. The only miss was in the South region where he had Florida vs Vanderbilt rather than Iowa vs Nebraska.
Decent performance by the Big10.
Not that ESPN is the best source of analysis, but an article this morning (by Myron Metcalf), reranks the remaining 16 teams and 3 of the top 6 are Big12.
Men's March Madness 2026: Ranking the remaining 16 teams
Six Big Ten teams! Upset-minded Texas! Buzzer-beaters and blowouts! Here's how the Sweet 16 teams stack up.
This is not NIL, but the operating expense for each program, not counting revenue share payments.
Stick a needle in my eye! Vanderbilt and Florida lost nut-crunchers to TOW and TOE - which really hurt me in my pool. Dangnabit!
Between work and advocacy life, April may very well kill me
Cyclonepride
Thought Police
I made a mess of my bracket, but I do have a chance with total points because my Final Four is intact.
Just move out of Iowa. You never hear about the Hawkeyes
Yeah, those dumb ass fans. What in the hell are they thinking? I’m mad as hell about it… I can’t believe in Iowa fan would do that… I mean hell no other fan base does that….
Just move out of Iowa. You never hear about the Hawkeyes
Or Iowa St….. in fact most of the Iowa State fans I run into out here in Chicago Land are pleasant as punch and laugh about how insane Iowa and Iowa State fans are in Iowa.
Yikes…. gotta be a tough way to live. I do remember as a younger man I couldn’t stand Notre Dame, or Duke or North Carolina or the SEC and I’d get pissy if they did something I didn’t want them to do… My life is much much better now. And I can honestly say I’ve never had that big heart on for Iowa State. I have generally cheered for them most of my life.
