Tag: NCAA men’s basketball tournament

Ranking Big Ten basketball programs by amount of NCAA Tournament No. 1 seeds

Who do you think leads all Big Ten teams in receiving No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament? #B1G

Making the Men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament is a pretty big deal. Heading into all the March Mayhem as a No. 1 seed is an even bigger deal.

But some teams have a No. 1 next to their name more often than others. Teams like North Carolina, Duke, Kansas, and Kentucky are at the top of the bracket far more often than others, but when you look at the Big Ten, it’s a more even game of parity.

So which Big Ten programs have enjoyed more No. 1 seeds than others? The results might be a bit surprising. We’re only going back to the year 1979 when the field expanded to 40 teams and every team received a seed.

Here’s a look at Big Ten basketball teams and the times they’ve received the coveted No. 1 seed in all the March Madness.

Ducks fall off of NCAA Tournament bubble in latest version of bracketology

It’s a position Dana Altman’s Ducks haven’t been in too often in recent years, but Oregon is clearly off the bubble for the Big Dance.

The month of March is just right around the corner and the Oregon Ducks men’s basketball team not being on the bubble for the NCAA tournament wouldn’t be a surprise if this was November.

Going into the Big Dance should have been a sure thing for the Ducks. They were picked to finish third in the Pac-12, a spot that would have put them in the NCAA tournament without any problem.

But the season hasn’t gone according to plan and even with Oregon’s last-second victory in Corvallis, it wasn’t enough to put the Ducks on the bubble, according to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi.

As things stand now, if Oregon (16-13, 10-8) doesn’t make some kind of magical run in the Pac-12 tournament down in Las Vegas next week, the  Ducks will be NIT bound.

But it’s not like Oregon isn’t capable of making that magical run. The Ducks have done it before in years past. Dana Altman has led his team to three conference tournament titles and his teams are famous at peaking in March.

Unfortunately, this particular Duck squad has been one of the most inconsistent in Altman’s tenure in Eugene. They could very well sweep this weekend and grab the 4-seed, which means not playing on that first day in Vegas.

But then again, they could get swept by the Bay Area schools and lose in the first round in Sin City.

Lunardi says that the Pac-12 has two solid teams in the tournament with UCLA and Arizona. But USC, while in the tourney for now, is on that bubble and the Trojans have a tough weekend ahead as they host the Arizona schools.

Even with their most recent upset win at Arizona, Lunardi has ASU as one of the first four out. With at least three games to be played, the Sun Devils still have time to play their way into the Big Dance.

Unlike the Sun Devils, however, the Ducks can’t afford to lose any more contests.

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UNC Guard Caleb Love shared the sweetest moment with his mom after having the biggest game of his life

This is just the sweetest moment ever

The moments, man. That’s what March Madness is always about.

Sure, it’s awesome to crown a champion each year and to see which team can catch fire at the right time. But each and every year, we always get a few moments or two that we’ll never forget. Moments that will live on in time forever.

Caleb Love had one of those moments on Friday when he played the best game of his life to push UNC passed UCLA and into the Elite 8.

Love scored 30 points against UCLA with 27 of them coming in the second half of the game. He just couldn’t be stopped from 3-point range. Dude was hitting everything.

Dude absolutely went off. This was unquestionably the biggest came of his collegiate career so far and his life in basketball — period.

And the best part? His family was there to see it all. They were there in the stands watching him as he put on the best performance of his life. And after the game, when things were all said and done, he shared an extremely sweet moment with his mom, Alecia Thompson.

They had a huge hug.

Love also had this to say about his mom after this moment. He called her his backbone.

This is all just incredibly sweet, man. What a moment for Love and his family. No matter what happens from here, they’ll always have this. And that’s pretty incredible.

The 6 best excuses to give your boss for missing work to watch March Madness instead

Let’s tell some lies today.

Every March I become a bit more grateful for my job here at For The Win for one specific reason.

It’s not because of my coworkers, though they are awesome. It’s not because I just get to write about sports either, though that is also definitely awesome. The reason is actually pretty ridiculous.

It’s because I no longer have to lie about sneaking off to watch March Madness. As a matter of fact, they encourage it. It’s awesome. I can watch the Men’s and Women’s NCAA Tournaments free of guilt.

Listen. Lying, for me, is wild stressful. Especially when it’s to my boss. Like, if I get found out here I’m probably fired. And if I’m fired, that means no paycheck. And without that paycheck, how am I going to buy my next pair of kicks?

I digress. My point is I don’t have to live that that no more. But y’all? A lot of y’all do. And I feel sorry for you. Truly. I hope that one day it doesn’t come to this for you.

But since it is today and you’re over there stressing about it, yerboi is going to help you out.

Here are the 6 best excuses you can use to get away from that desk and in front of your TV for this here basketball. You’re welcome.

Many college basketball players rip NCAA before men’s tourney with #NotNCAAProperty hashtag

Good for these players.

There’s nothing the NCAA loves more than putting on sporting events where everyone has fun playing in the games and everyone has fun watching the games.

Just kidding. There’s nothing the NCAA loves more than making lots and lots of money off young athletes who are not allowed to make any money off their names even though they are the ones bringing in billions of dollars.

It’s just who the NCAA has been and will continue to be until athletes are allowed to get paid for the work that they do.

A number of men’s basketball players who are playing in this year’s tournament sounded off Wednesday against the NCAA on Twitter by using the hashtag #NotNCAAProperty.

This is good to see because the more the NCAA gets called out the faster changes will happen.

Here’s a collection of those tweets: