***Official 2026 NCAA Tournament Thread***

[HoopsTournament]

Sweet Sixteen rematches

Duke is 2-1 vs St. John’s

• 1979 Round of 32 – St. John’s 80 Duke 78
• 1990 Round of 32 – Duke 76 St. John’s 72
• 1991 Elite Eight – Duke 78 St. John’s 61

UConn is 1-1 vs Michigan State

• 2009 National Semifinals – Michigan State 82 UConn 73
• 2014 Elite Eight – UConn 60 Michigan State 54

Houston defeated Illinois 68-53 in the 2022 Round of 32

Arkansas defeated Arizona 91-82 in the 1994 National Semifinals

Texas is 2-2 vs Purdue

• 1990 Round of 32 – Texas 73 Purdue 72
• 1999 Round of 64 – Purdue 58 Texas 54
• 2003 Round of 32 – Texas 77 Purdue 67
• 2022 Round of 32 – Purdue 81 Texas 71

 

[jsb]

One thing I can't stand about our fanbase: We just advanced to the Sweet 16, and there's no thread on the upcoming matchup, and the top two threads are about firing Bill Fennelly and hating the Hawkeyes.

Here’s why it’s annoying to us….we’ve made 6 Sweet 16s since 2000. Iowa has made 0 since then same as Nebraska. And one of those ******* schools is guaranteed an elite 8. That ******* sucks.

 

[CycloneErik]

Here’s why it’s annoying to us….we’ve made 6 Sweet 16s since 2000. Iowa has made 0 since then same as Nebraska. And one of those ******* schools is guaranteed an elite 8. That ******* sucks.

Why? The pull of the tournament has always been that it could happen for anyone, whether ISU, Iowa, Loyola, Nebraska or whoever.

 

[jdoggivjc]

I’m not sure who you are listening to but Tenn is regularly regarded as one of the worst teams left in the tourny and I don’t know anyone that isn’t an SEC shill that doesn’t think you will beat them pretty easily.

The path was always very nice/easy for ISU and even with the injury to JJ you won’t be seriously challenged till Michigan

Mainly the idiots at CBS. It's almost like being absolutely wrong about ISU-Kentucky infuriated and humiliated them, so they decided to double down on their stupidity.

 

[HoopsTournament]

 

[CY9008]

 

[CyDude16]

K had unlimited resources at Duke. He wouldn't have in Ames. That's where the hypothetical falls apart.

I mean, you do know he interviewed for the Iowa State job in 1980 right?

Duke was hardly the power back then as it is known for these days.

 

[exCYtable]

That's a fascinating graphic. Shows just how hard it is to make a Final Four more than a few times in a school's history, and I'm surprised how many schools left have never won it all. Ten of the 16 have never won it; 3 others only once, including Michigan and Arizona, which is surprising. Six titles for UCONN is wild.

 

[cyfanbr]

It really bothers me that they went 5 wide on Duke’s banner, but 4 wide on all others. I know they did to make it all fit, but in reality Duke’s banner is even more impressive than the graphic makes it look like.

 

[Cyched]

I mean, you do know he interviewed for the Iowa State job in 1980 right?

Duke was hardly the power back then as it is known for these days.

He turned Duke into the monster they are now, but they had a decent history before he got there.

He’s a good enough coach he would’ve done well enough at ISU, but the highs at Duke probably wouldn’t have been matched. That school has a lot of money and wealthy alumni.

Fwiw, one of my favorite ISU ‘what-ifs’ to entertain.

 

[cyclones500]

K had unlimited resources at Duke. He wouldn't have in Ames. That's where the hypothetical falls apart.

Plus, it's easy to use revisionism to ponder such a choice.

Here are the resumes of K and Orr prior to '80-'81. If you're an AD, which seems like a smarter (or at least more promising) choice at that time?

 

[AlaCyclone]

Plus, it's easy to use revisionism to ponder such a choice.

Here are the resumes of K and Orr prior to '80-'81. If you're an AD, which seems like a smarter (or at least more promising) choice at that time?

View attachment 169568

View attachment 169569

Two things I just learned:

01. That Johnny Orr coached @ UMass before he went to Michigan.
02. That Johnny Orr coached @ Michigan for so long.

To be fair, my first recollection of Johnny Orr was the 1976 NCAA Championship between Indiana (Bobby Knight) and Michigan (Johnny Orr). I rooted for Michigan that night to no avail, but I never have given any thought to where Johnny started before Michigan or when he started in Ann Arbor. Additionally, two Elite Eights and a National Championship appearance in four years is damn impressive - even in a smaller Tournament Field!

Thank you for dropping the knowledge on me this morning!

 

[Cyclonepride]

I really don't understand the "experts" today when it comes to the Tenn-ISU predictions. In common opponents played this year, ISU is 5-1 with a +14 avg margin of victory, while Tenn is 2-4 with a +3.3 avg margin of victory (thanks to a 29 pt win against TSU)... so obviously Tenn is going to beat ISU on Friday "because Jefferson is questionable"... never mind they just got done obliterating UK, a team that beat Tenn twice this season.

I get transitive property doesn't work well in sports in instances, but compile them together and you start seeing trends. So the only thing I can imagine is these "experts" are completely ignoring everything they've seen in the tournament to this point and everything the stats are telling them and are just like "Well... Tenn is $EC so of course they're going to win."

Bring on the doubters, this team loves that

 

[cyclones500]

1) we have a full 5 days to talk about the upcoming game
2) there is at least one thread discussing the matchup
3) discussing the Hawkeyes is relevant today and this week
4) people are capable of thinking about multiple things at the same time

Well, not ALL people.

 

[NWICY]

Just move out of Iowa. You never hear about the Hawkeyes

Until you wear a ISU shirt then a random Iowa *sshat will yell out Go Hawks from across a street at you happened twice to me in Alaska last summer.

 

[NWICY]

Why? The pull of the tournament has always been that it could happen for anyone, whether ISU, Iowa, Loyola, Nebraska or whoever.

Let's be honest everyone on this board wants ISU to be the golden child just once. I'm just shocked that Nebby, Iowa and Texas all are still alive. Even with JJ ankle being questionable I think we still have a pretty good chance at advancing. Just can't have a cold shooting day. That's what killed the Iowa women yesterday.

 

[SolarGarlic]

Seems to me it means advancing to the sweet 16 isn’t special anymore. The program has reached the stage where it is expected

Kind of nice…

But I’m antsy each time the JJ injury thread is updated.

That's dumb. Even if it isn't "special", I'm pumped to see how far they go and discuss the matchup as well as how we've played without Jefferson. The Hawkeyes obsession is very real though.

 

[MushroomPinball]

Plus, it's easy to use revisionism to ponder such a choice.

Here are the resumes of K and Orr prior to '80-'81. If you're an AD, which seems like a smarter (or at least more promising) choice at that time?

View attachment 169568

View attachment 169569

I knew Coach K was at Army before Duke, but I always assumed he was very successful there. I guess it's Army so maybe the expectation to be good isn't as high but it seems wild to me that he got the Duke job given his record at Army. He obviously made Duke into a powerhouse but Duke was still good before him (they were national runners up a few years prior if I remember correctly from John Feinstein's book about that team). If Duke was looking for a hire today there's no way they'd hire an army coach with that track record.

 

[jcf817]

Why? The pull of the tournament has always been that it could happen for anyone, whether ISU, Iowa, Loyola, Nebraska or whoever.

Yes. It COULD. But it hasn't....for ISU. Therein lies the rub.

 

[cyclones500]

I knew Coach K was at Army before Duke, but I always assumed he was very successful there. I guess it's Army so maybe the expectation to be good isn't as high but it seems wild to me that he got the Duke job given his record at Army. He obviously made Duke into a powerhouse but Duke was still good before him (they were national runners up a few years prior if I remember correctly from John Feinstein's book about that team). If Duke was looking for a hire today there's no way they'd hire an army coach with that track record.

Among other details, Bobby Knight apparently recommended K to Duke during the process. Knight had started coaching career at Army, and K was on the IU staff in 1974-75 before taking Army coaching job.