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Tag: NCAA

  • Must-see NCAA football: How to watch today’s Colorado Buffaloes vs. Oregon Ducks game

    Must-see NCAA football: How to watch today’s Colorado Buffaloes vs. Oregon Ducks game

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    Head coach Deion Sanders of the Colorado Buffaloes celebrates with quarterback Shedeur Sanders #2 after a fourth quarter touchdown against the Colorado State Rams at Folsom Field on September 16, 2023 in Boulder, Colorado. 

    Dustin Bradford/Getty Images


    Everybody is talking about Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes football team. The team to watch in the 2023 NCAA college football season, Coach Prime is not just putting on an irreverent, sunglasses-filled show each week. Coach Prime is delivering big time wins.  Three weeks into the college football season and the Buffaloes are undefeated. 

    Fueled by the energy that comes with being underestimated, the Buffaloes — led by standout quarterback Shedeur Sanders — are on the verge of winning themselves out of the underdog status that has been their manna this season. That begs the question, can Sanders and the Buffaloes keep the wins going in Week 4? Both the Buffaloes and the Ducks, led by QB Bo Nix and head coach Dan Lanning, are undefeated coming into Week 4. The first conference game both teams, Saturday’s showdown will leave one of these two teams with their first loss of the season.

    Either way, the most interesting –yes, we said the most interesting — team in college football continues to silence naysayers, earn fans, and chalk up wins.  Naturally, we’ll be watching. Join us. You know you want to jump on the Colorado Buffaloes bandwagon. 

    Related: Deion Sanders gifted the Colorado Buffaloes team these sunglasses. Here’s how to get them yourself

    Our favorite way to watch college football is on Sling TV. Don’t worry, we had to do a double take on that (so cheap) monthly price, too.  

    How to watch the Colorado vs. Oregon NCAA college football game

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    Head Coach Dan Lanning of the Oregon Ducks talks to quarterback Bo Nix #10 on the sidelines during the first half of the game against the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors at Autzen Stadium on September 16, 2023 in Eugene, Oregon. 

    Ali Gradischer/Getty Images


    The Colorado Buffaloes face the Oregon Ducks on Saturday, Sept. 23 at 3:30 p.m. ET (12:30 p.m. PT). You can watch it on ABC.

    Watching the Buffaloes vs. Ducks game has never been easier, whether you’re watching on a TV or mobile device thanks to Sling TV, an easy and inexpensive way to stream this game (and more college football matchups).

    ABC Is included in many cable TV packages. Don’t have a cable TV package? One of the most cost-effective ways to get the channel is through a subscription to Sling TV. The streamer offers access to NFL Network, local NBC, Fox and ABC affiliates (where available) and ESPN with its Orange + Blue Tier plan. Also worth noting: Sling TV comes with 50 hours of cloud-based DVR recording space included, perfect for recording all the season’s top NFL and college football matchups.

    That plan normally costs $60 per month, but the streamer is currently offering a 50% off promotion for your first month, so you’ll pay just $30. You can learn more by tapping the button below.

    Top features of Sling TV Orange + Blue tier:

    • There are 46 channels to watch in total, including local NBC, Fox and ABC affiliates (where available).
    • You get access to most local NFL games and nationally broadcast games at the lowest price.
    • All subscription tiers include 50 hours of cloud-based DVR storage.

    Sling TV has a new offering for the 2023 NCAA college football season and the 2023 NFL Season called Sports Extra. The new package is designed for NFL and college football fans, with access to NFL Redzone, ESPN, NFL, SEC, ACC, PAC 12, Big10 and Longhorn Networks.

    There’s a great preseason deal on Sling TV Sports Extra going on right now: You can get five months of Sling TV Orange + Blue + Sports Extra for $274. That works out to just $55 per month, an even better price than subscribing to just the $60 per month Orange + Blue plan. It’s the most cost effective way to stream most NFL games this year.

    You can learn more about Sling TV and Sports Extra by tapping the button below.

    More ways to watch the Week 4 Buffaloes vs. Ducks game : FuboTV

    You can also catch the Saturday’s big game on FuboTV. FuboTV is a sports-centric streaming service that offers access to almost every NFL game of the season. Packages include CBS, Fox, NBC, ESPN, NFL Network, NFL RedZone and more, so you’ll be able to watch more than just today’s games.

    To watch college football without cable, start a seven-day free trial of Fubo. You can begin watching immediately on your TV, phone, tablet or computer. 

    In addition to college football, FuboTV offers the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, MLS and international soccer games. FuboTV starts at $75 per month for the Pro tier (includes NFL Network); the $100 per month Ultimate tier includes NFL RedZone.

    Top features of FuboTV:

    • The Pro tier includes 169 channels, including NFL Network; the Ultimate tier includes 289 channels, including NFL RedZone.
    • FuboTV includes all the channels you’ll need to watch live sports, including CBS (not available through Sling TV).
    • All tiers come with 1,000 hours of DVR recording.

    Stream college football games on Hulu + Live TV

    You can watch this college football game with Hulu + Live TV. The bundle features access to 90 channels, including both Fox and FS1. Unlimited DVR storage is also included. Watch every game on every network with Hulu + Live TV, plus you can personalize your viewing experience and Hulu will offer curated recommendations based on the teams and playmakers you follow.

    Hulu + Live TV comes bundled with ESPN+ and Disney+ for $70 per month.

    More teams to follow during the 2023 college football season

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    Matthew Stockman/Getty Images


    The Georgia Bulldogs want to run it back. The Georgia Bulldogs became just the fifth program to win back-to-back national championships when they beat the Alabama Crimson Tide 33-18 in 2022. Since 1936, no college team has won three-in-a-row. The Bulldogs are hoping to change all that. Head coach Kirby Smart has focused on leadership skills for his players, stating the team’s biggest opponent is “complacency.” 

    Can Deion Sanders make the Colorado Buffaloes great? Coach Prime made headlines during the offseason. Only ten scholarship players from the Buffaloes’ 2022-season roster remain on the team after Sanders took advantage of transfer portal rules to revamp the team’s roster. Prime’s in his first season as the Buffaloes coach and he’ll hope to work the same magic on the Buffaloes program as he did in his successful three years at Jackson State. But the lights of the Pac-12 shine brighter than they do in the FCS and Sanders will have to rise to the occasion. Good news for Sanders, the Buffs finished 1-11 last season. There’s only one way to go but up.

    Important dates for the 2023 college football season:

    • The 13-week 2023 college football season runs from Aug. 27 through Dec. 9.
    • Two semifinal games, the Rose Bowl Game and the Allstate Sugar Bowl, are scheduled for New Year’s Day (Monday, January 1, 2024).
    • The College Football Playoff National Championship is scheduled for Monday, January 8, 2024 at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.

    How will all the college football shake ups shake out?

    In July 2022, UCLA and USC finally agreed on something. The frenemy rivals would both leave the Pac-12 in favor of the Big Ten in 2024. This summer, Colorado announced it would return to the Big 12. Since then, Arizona, Arizona State and Utah have announced an exodus from the Pac-12 to the Big-12 at the end of the 2023 season. Washington and Oregon State are also ditching the Pac-12 for the Big 10 at the same time. 

    The school shuffling won’t affect the 2023 season much, but expect journalists to talk about it to no end. With the Pac-12 currently down to just four teams for the 2024 season, the demise of the Pac-12 is sure to be one of the biggest stories of the season.

    We’re also looking forward to these stories during the 2023 NCAA college football season

    The Alabama Crimson Tide came into the 2023 season ranked No. 4. Saban and company aren’t going to be comfortable with the demotion and will surely be a major threat to the Bulldogs scoring that three-peat. Ohio State has arguably one of the best receiver rooms in college football led by the dazzling Marvin Harrison Jr. The Buckeyes face some tough competition against Indiana in Week 1, but if the team has ever been primed to go all the way, this is that year. And don’t forget that Florida/Utah rematch.

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  • Deion Sanders transforming Colorado college football, bringing

    Deion Sanders transforming Colorado college football, bringing

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    Deion Sanders has reinvigorated the Colorado Buffaloes football program, bringing “Prime Time” hype to a team that won just one game last season. 

    The team debuted this season with a 45-42 win over TCU, last year’s national runner-up, then dispatched Nebraska, 36-14. Sanders is credited with turning the Jackson State University Tigers around and, with his move to Colorado, he’s turned the program there into the unlikely epicenter of college football.

    “God wouldn’t relocate me to something that was successful,” Sanders said. “That don’t make sense, do it? He had to find the most disappointing and the most difficult task. And this is what it was. And this is what it is. And I love that.”

    Sanders, also known as Coach Prime, previously told 60 Minutes that God called him to Jackson State University. The coach, a Pro Football Hall of Fame member, stayed there three seasons, but last December, on the same night that JSU won the Conference Championship, Sanders announced he was off to Colorado to climb another mountain. 

    The coach has hinted that JSU’s lack of resources may have factored into his decision to leave, but he’s largely been elusive on the topic. 

    deion-sanders-video.jpg
    Deion Sanders

    “Sooner or later in life, there will be opportunity that knocks at your door,” Sanders said. “And at this juncture in my life, I felt like the opportunity for not only me, but for my kids as well, was tremendous.”

    The distance between Jackson and Boulder is a thousand miles, and immeasurably further culturally. Sanders went from a city that is 83% Black to one that is 1% Black. The move brought him from a place with a water crisis to the kind of hipster college town where there’s a shop devoted to kites. 

    He brought his sons, new Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders and defensive back Shilo, with him. Shedeur and Shilo knew they would capture attention with the move.

    “I mean, we both didn’t come here, have our dad coaching just to lose,” Shilo Sanders said.

    Shedeur Sanders put up big numbers at Jackson State. There were questions about whether he could do the same against stiffer competition, but in his first two games at Colorado, he threw for nearly a thousand yards, without an interception.

    intv-walk-and-talk-shedeur-n-shilo001.jpg
    Shedeur Sanders, Jon Wertheim and Shilo Sanders

    Travis Hunter also followed Coach Sanders from Jackson to Colorado. He’s playing offense and defense, which is virtually unheard of in the modern college game. Sanders has already publicly talked about Hunter’s Heisman chances. 

    Hunter and Coach Sanders’ sons aren’t the only new members of the Buffaloes. At the first team meeting in December, Sanders encouraged players to enter the transfer portal, an open market for athletes to find new schools. More than 50 players eventually transferred out as part of Sanders’ roster overhaul. 

    “You take a team that’s won one game, and you fire the whole coaching staff. … So, who did the coaching staff recruit? The kids. So, the kids are just as much to blame as the coaching staff,” he said. “And I came up to the conclusion that a multitude of them couldn’t help us get to where we wanted to go.”

    He said he was there to “coach hard” and “coach tough.” Sanders said he brought an old-school staff of disciplinarians to Colorado. 

    “My kids that play for me,” he said, “they didn’t choose a university. They chose me. That’s a difference.”

    The change has been a lot of fun for Rick George, who hired Coach Sanders. George has been Colorado’s athletic director for a decade. 

    “It’s great for us to be able to bring this program back to relevancy,” George said. “And we had failed in my previous nine years, 10 years.”

    It’s too early to quantify Sanders’ full effect, but merchandise sales for the team are already up 819% from last season. Instagram followers are up more than tenfold and season tickets are sold out. 

    Sanders’ sudden impact is indisputable. 

    “I make a difference. I truly make a difference,” the coach said. “I make folks nervous, man. I get folks moving in their seat. I get folks twiddling their thumbs. I get them thinking and second-guessing theirself.”

    Aliza Chasan

    Aliza Chasan is a digital producer at 60 Minutes and CBS News.

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  • Michigan State University football coach Mel Tucker suspended without pay amid investigation into reported accusation of sexual harassment | CNN

    Michigan State University football coach Mel Tucker suspended without pay amid investigation into reported accusation of sexual harassment | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Michigan State University announced Sunday it has suspended head football coach Mel Tucker without pay, less than a day after USA Today reported he has been under investigation about alleged sexual harassment.

    Vice president and director of athletics Alan Haller said at a news conference Tucker is the subject of an ongoing investigation that began in December. An investigative report was submitted in July and a formal hearing will take place the week of October 5, Haller said.

    According to the USA Today report, published Saturday night, Tucker is alleged to have made sexual comments and masturbated while on a phone call with Brenda Tracy, an advocate and rape survivor.

    Tracy reported the call to the university’s Title IX office, USA Today reported. “The idea that someone could know me and say they understand my trauma but then re-inflict that trauma on me is so disgusting to me, it’s hard for me to even wrap my mind around it,” Tracy told USA Today. “It’s like he sought me out just to betray me.”

    In a letter to investigators, Tucker characterized his and Tracy’s relationship as “mutually consensual and intimate,” according to USA Today.

    “I am not proud of my judgment and I am having difficulty forgiving myself for getting into this situation, but I did not engage in misconduct by any definition,” he wrote, according to USA Today.

    CNN has not independently verified the details of the report.

    An attorney for Tracy, Karen Truszkowski, said no police report was filed. She declined to share any documents or comment further.

    “As you can imagine, this is a delicate issue and I have to balance the public interest with protecting my client,” Truszkowski said.

    CNN also reached out to Tucker’s agent following the announcement of his suspension but has not heard back.

    Tracy started the nonprofit Set The Expectation, where she speaks to athletes about ending sexual violence, according to her website. Tracy was raped in 1998 by four college football players, leading to her advocacy.

    She served as an honorary captain for Michigan State’s spring football game in 2022, and the football team posted a photo on Instagram of Tucker and Tracy together.

    “We are excited to welcome (Tracy) back to campus as our honorary captain for Saturday’s spring game!” the team wrote.

    Tucker, a longtime coach in college and the NFL over the past two decades, became Michigan State’s head coach in 2020. In his second season, the team went a sterling 11-2, and he signed a massive 10-year, $95 million contract that made him one of the highest paid coaches in all of college football. Last year, though, the team finished a disappointing 5-7, including blowout losses to rivals Michigan and Ohio State.

    During Tucker’s suspension, secondary coach Harlon Barnett will fill in as acting head coach, Haller announced, and former MSU head coach Mark Dantonio will become an associate head coach. The Spartans play the Washington Huskies at home this Saturday.

    The long shadow of Larry Nassar

    The investigation comes as the university has continued to face scrutiny over its past handling of sexual abuse allegations against Larry Nassar, the former Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics doctor who abused hundreds of young girls and women.

    At Nassar’s sentencing in Michigan in 2018, dozens of women came forward with stories of his abuse and the ways Michigan State University ignored their claims and enabled his actions. The university agreed to pay $500 million to settle lawsuits brought by 332 victims.

    Nassar was sentenced in Michigan to up to 175 years in prison after pleading guilty to seven counts of criminal sexual conduct. A total of 156 women gave victim impact statements in court.

    An attorney for a group of Nassar’s victims sued Michigan State University in July, alleging the school’s board of trustees held “illegal secret votes” to prevent the release of thousands of documents in the case, according to the court filing. A spokesperson for the university declined to comment at the time.

    The university pushed back on comparisons between the two cases.

    “This morning’s news might sound like the MSU of old; it was not,” interim president Teresa K. Woodruff said Sunday afternoon. “It is not because an independent, unbiased investigation is and continues to be conducted.”

    Woodruff made note of counseling resources available for anyone who may be affected by this news and mentioned the Center for Survivors and Office for Civil Rights on campus.

    “If you have heard or experienced or know of behavior that does not seem appropriate, please know that you have the support and resources here at MSU,” Woodruff said.

    Kenny Jacoby, the USA Today reporter who broke the story, told CNN’s Poppy Harlow and Phil Mattingly on “CNN This Morning” on Monday how the Nassar case has left a long shadow on campus.

    “There is deep mistrust on the MSU campus from students, from employees, from alumni and in the East Lansing community after the betrayal that was the Larry Nassar scandal,” Jacoby said. “They repeatedly missed opportunities to stop one of the most prolific sexual abusers in American history.

    “So when MSU takes this long to suspend the coach without pay – people tend to think of that as they’re covering this up, and that doesn’t sit well with most of these people.”

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  • Nebraska women’s volleyball team sets attendance record

    Nebraska women’s volleyball team sets attendance record

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    Nebraska women’s volleyball team sets attendance record – CBS News


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    The University of Nebraska’s women’s volleyball team played in front of 90,003 people Wednesday night, the largest crowd to ever witness a women’s sports event. The Cornhuskers took on Omaha at Memorial Stadium, the usual home of the Nebraska football team.

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  • Nebraska Cornhuskers volleyball breaks women’s sport world attendance record with match at football stadium

    Nebraska Cornhuskers volleyball breaks women’s sport world attendance record with match at football stadium

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    NCAA volleyball matches typically take place in arenas seating 15-20,000 fans. But Wednesday night, an announced crowd of 92,003 turned out to see the University of Nebraska host a volleyball match against the University of Nebraska-Omaha at Lincoln’s Memorial Stadium, the regular home of the University of Nebraska football team.

    It was the largest crowd ever to see a women’s sporting event in history.

    Nebraska won the match 25-14, 25-14 and 25-13.

    “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” sophomore middle blocker Bekka Allick said at a press conference before the match Tuesday. “It honestly leaves me speechless… It’s hard to grasp 94,000 people.”

    The previous world record for attendance at a women’s sporting event was 91,648, set during a UEFA Women’s Champions League soccer semifinal in 2022 between Barcelona and Wolfsburg.

    Wednesday’s crowd also shattered the record for most people to see an NCAA regular season volleyball match, set when Wisconsin played Florida last September in front of 16,833 fans at a standard arena. Nebraska had previously held that record 
    and got it back Wednesday by opening the highest-capacity structure on campus and in the state: Memorial Stadium.

    Volleyball Nebraska Celebration
    Nebraska and Omaha play a college volleyball match Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023, at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.

    Eric Olson / AP


    The match was announced in February as part of “Volleyball Day in Nebraska” with tickets going on sale in April. In three days, more than 82,000 tickets were sold, enough to seat more than 4% of Nebraska’s entire population.

    Nebraska volleyball’s success

    Nebraska volleyball has built a legacy as storied as the Cornhusker football team, winning five national championships, the most recent in 2017. The American Volleyball Coaches Association ranked them 4th in the country heading into Wednesday night’s match against in-state rival Omaha. 

    “Nebraska fans never cease to amaze me,” Nebraska athletic director Trev Alberts said at the time. “We knew the interest in this match would be extremely high, but to sell out Memorial Stadium is truly remarkable.”

    “Everywhere I go in town, everywhere you go, people are talking about this,” Head Coach John Cook said Tuesday. “To see that place packed, there’s no way to prepare for it.”

    Past attendance records

    The Cornhusker volleyball program has broken attendance records before. In 2021, they battled Wisconsin for a national championship before 18,755 fans, the largest crowd to ever see an NCAA volleyball match. Nebraska also has the NCAA women’s sellout streak record at 306 straight regular-season matches.

    Memorial Stadium’s official capacity for football is 83,406, but more seats were available at field level for volleyball Wednesday night. The most people to ever see a women’s sporting event in the U.S. was 90,185 during the 1999 Women’s World Cup Final between the U.S. and China at the Rose Bowl.

    “I keep flashing back to when the soccer team played in the Rose Bowl,” Cook said. “I can still vividly remember that whole scene, the whole match… That was a big moment for women’s sports and it really shot soccer up. And this is another great chance for that to happen for the sport of volleyball.”

    As for Wednesday, Cook said he and his team are trying to soak everything in.

    “I’m just trying to own each moment,” Cook said, “Because it’s all new to me too, I haven’t been through this.”

    “The biggest thing is we just don’t want to disappoint,” Allick said. “[Nebraska Omaha] is a respectful competitor and so we want to give them our best shot as well. But the other thing is we don’t want to take one moment for granted.”

    “We don’t know when this is going to happen again, if ever,” Allick added.

    The match was broadcast on the Big 10 Network.

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  • Northwestern football coach fired amid accusations of hazing in the program

    Northwestern football coach fired amid accusations of hazing in the program

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    Northwestern football coach fired amid accusations of hazing in the program – CBS News


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    Northwestern football coach Pat Fitzgerald was fired Monday amid allegations of hazing within the program. Jericka Duncan reports.

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  • Biden Honors LSU, UConn Basketball Teams Following NCAA Championship Wins

    Biden Honors LSU, UConn Basketball Teams Following NCAA Championship Wins

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    WASHINGTON (AP) — All of the past drama and sore feelings associated with Louisiana State’s invitation to the White House were seemingly forgotten or set aside Friday as President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden welcomed the championship women’s basketball team to the mansion with smiles, hugs and lavish praise all around.

    The visit had once appeared in jeopardy after Jill Biden suggested that the losing Iowa team be invited, too. But none of that was mentioned as both Bidens heralded the players for their performance and the way they have helped advance women’s sports.

    “Folks, we witnessed history,” the president said. “In this team, we saw hope, we saw pride and we saw purpose. It matters.”

    The ceremony was halted for about 10 minutes after forward Sa’Myah Smith appeared to collapse as she and her teammates stood behind Biden. A wheelchair was brought in and coach Kim Mulkey assured the audience that Smith was fine.

    LSU said in a statement that Smith felt overheated, nauseous and thought she might faint. She was evaluated by LSU and White House medical staff and was later able to rejoin the team. “She is feeling well, in good spirits, and will undergo further evaluation once back in Baton Rouge,” the LSU statement said.

    Since the passage of Title IX in 1972, Biden said, more than half of all college students are women, and there are now 10 times more female athletes in college and high school. He said most sports stories are still about men, and that that needs to change.

    Title IX prohibits discrimination based on sex in federally funded education programs and activities.

    “Folks, we need to support women sports, not just during the championship run but during the entire year,” President Biden said.

    After the Tigers beat Iowa for the NCAA title in April in a game the first lady attended, she caused an uproar by suggesting that the Hawkeyes also come to the White House.

    LSU star Angel Reese called the idea “A JOKE” and said she would prefer to visit with former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, instead. The LSU team largely is Black, while Iowa’s top player, Caitlin Clark, is white, as are most of her teammates.

    Nothing came of Jill Biden’s idea and the White House only invited the Tigers. Reese ultimately said she would not skip the White House visit. She and co-captain Emily Ward presented team jerseys bearing the number “46” to Biden and the first lady. Hugs were exchanged.

    Jill Biden also lavished praise on the team, saying the players showed “what it means to be a champion.”

    “In this room, I see the absolute best of the best,” she said, adding that watching them play was “pure magic.”

    “Every basket was pure joy and I kept thinking about how far women’s sports have come,” the first lady added, noting that she grew up before Title IX was passed. “We’ve made so much progress and we still have so much more work to do.”

    The president added that “the way in which women’s sports has come along is just incredible. It’s really neat to see, since I’ve got four granddaughters.”

    After Smith was helped to a wheelchair, Mulkey told the audience the player was OK.

    “As you can see, we leave our mark where we go,” Mulkey joked. “Sa’Myah is fine. She’s kind of, right now, embarrassed.”

    A few members of Congress and Biden aides past and present with Louisiana roots dropped what they were doing to attend the East Room event, including White House budget director Shalanda Young. Young is in the thick of negotiations with House Republicans to reach a deal by the middle of next week to stave off what would be a globally calamitous U.S. financial default if the U.S. can no longer borrow the money it needs to pay its bills.

    The president, who wore a necktie in the shade of LSU’s purple, said Young, who grew up in Baton Rouge, told him, “I’m leaving the talks to be here.” Rep. Garret Graves, one of the House GOP negotiators, also attended.

    Biden closed sports Friday by changing to a blue tie and welcoming the UConn’s men’s championship team for its own celebration. The Huskies won their fifth national title by defeating San Diego State, 76-59, in April.

    “Congratulations to the whole UConn nation,” he said.

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  • UConn Huskies defeat San Diego State to win NCAA men’s basketball title, climaxing their dominance in the tournament

    UConn Huskies defeat San Diego State to win NCAA men’s basketball title, climaxing their dominance in the tournament

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    Houston — After six games and 240 minutes of pure dominance that ran through March, then part of April, it finally became clear there was only one thing that could stop the UConn Huskies.

    The final buzzer.

    The team from Storrs, Connecticut, topped off one of the most impressive March Madness runs in history Monday night, clamping down early then breaking things open late to bring home its fifth national title with a 76-59 victory over San Diego State.

    “We knew we were the best team in the tournament going in, and we just had to play to our level,” said Dan Hurley, who joined Jim Calhoun and Kevin Ollie as the third coach to lead UConn to a title.

    CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein, a college basketball expert, didn’t hold back in praising the Huskies, saying, “You have to talk about them as one of the most dominant teams that we have seen in the last couple of decades.”

    UConn’s lanky star forward, Adama Sanogo, won Most Outstanding Player honors, finishing with 17 points and 10 rebounds in the final. Tristen Newton also had a double-double with 19 points and 10 boards.

    The Huskies (31-8) became the fifth team since the bracket expanded in 1985 to win all six NCAA Tournament games by double-digits on the way to a championship. They won those six games by an average of an even 20 points, only a fraction less than what North Carolina did in sweeping to the title in 2009.

    San Diego State v Connecticut
    Head coach Dan Hurley of the University of Connecticut Huskies celebrates with his team after they defeated the San Diego State Aztecs 76-59  in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament National Championship game at NRG Stadium on April 03, 2023 in Houston.

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    UConn built a 16-point lead late in the first half, only to see the Aztecs (32-7) trim it to five with 5:19 left. But Jordan Hawkins (16 points), – whose cousin, Angel Reese, won MOP honors the night before to help LSU take the women’s title – answered with a 3 to trigger a 9-0 run.

    “It’s absolutely amazing that we both get this opportunity,” Hawkins said. “The family reunion is going to be crazy.”

    Keshad Johnson scored 14 points for San Diego State, which came up one win shy in this, its first trip to the Final Four. Darrion Trammell and Lamont Butler, he of buzzer-beater fame in the semifinal against Florida Atlantic, had 13 apiece.

    San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher was an assistant with Michigan back in the Fab Five days when the Wolverines lost in the final two years in a row. One of the Fab Five, current Wolverines coach Juwan Howard, was there to console his former coach.

    “We had to be at our best. We weren’t at our best,” Dutcher said. “A lot had to do with UConn.”

    UConn, the favorite and best-seeded team at No. 4 for this Final Four full of underdogs, set the stage for this win over an 11:07 stretch in the first half during which the Aztecs didn’t make a basket. Unable to shoot over or go around this tall, long UConn team, they missed 14 straight shots from the floor.

    They went from leading by four to trailing by 11 and when they weren’t getting shots blocked (Alex Karaban had three and Sanogo had one) or altered on the inside, they were coming up short – a telltale sign of a team that was out of hops after that 72-71 buzzer-beater win two nights earlier.

    UConn fan Bill Murray, whose son is an assistant for the Huskies, was one of the few celebrities on hand to watch them make it five for five in title games. This one marked the last that Jim Nantz would call after 37 years behind the mic.

    “The one thing I learned through all of this is, everybody has a dream and everybody has a story to tell. Just try to find that story. Be kind,” Nantz said as part of his final sign-off from the Final Four.

    He’s had a lot of UConn stories to tell over the years, though this certainly wasn’t the most dramatic.

    Even with that brief bout of uncertainty midway through the second half, UConn never truly let the fifth-seeded Aztecs, who overcame a 14-point deficit in the semifinal, start thinking about any more last-second dramatics.

    This was a team built strictly for 2023 – replenished by Hurley, who went to the transfer portal to find more outside shooting after back-to-back first-round exits in the tournament. Despite the rebuild, UConn was in the “others receiving votes” category in Week 1 of the AP poll.

    “We weren’t ranked going into the year, so we had the chip on our shoulder,” Hurley said. “We knew the level that we could play at, even through those dark times.”

    Despite the new-age roster building, there was something decidedly old-school about the way the Huskies took care of business in the early going.

    They didn’t even think much about 3-point shooting at the start – didn’t make one until more than 13 minutes into the game – instead skip passing into Sanogo on the post and wearing down SDSU while building the early lead two points at a time.

    The Aztecs were too good a team to cave, and an over-pursuing defense is what triggered the late run to within five. But a team built on defense finished the game only shooting 32% from the floor.

    “We cut it to five. I think there were people in the stands that thought, ‘Hey, they’re capable of doing it again,’ and we were,” Dutcher said. “But we ran into too good of a team.”

    And Sanogo – make that Adama – adds himself to others on a first-name basis up on that campus – UConn legends like Kemba (Walker), Rip (Hamilton) and Emeka (Okafor). Sanogo averaged 19.7 points and 9.8 rebounds over UConn’s six-game cruise through the tournament.

    Once the confetti stopped falling, Sanogo recalled a preseason visit the team received from Okafor.

    “After he watched our practice, he was like, ‘I see that I can count on you guys, you guys are a special team,’” Sanogo said.

    After UConn put on a March Madness clinic, everyone else can see that now, too.

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  • Connecticut routs San Diego State to win its fifth NCAA men’s basketball title after dominating tournament | CNN

    Connecticut routs San Diego State to win its fifth NCAA men’s basketball title after dominating tournament | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The University of Connecticut won its fifth men’s basketball national title with a 76-59 victory over San Diego State University on Monday night at NRG Stadium in Houston.

    Senior guard Tristen Newton led UConn (31-8) with 19 points and 10 rebounds while Final Four Most Outstanding Player Adama Sanogo, a junior forward, chipped in with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

    “We weren’t ranked going into the year so we had the chip on our shoulder,” UConn head coach Dan Hurley told game broadcaster CBS. “We knew the level that we could play at, even through those dark times,” he added, referencing the team’s six losses in eight games during the regular season.

    He said going into the tournament his group had confidence garnered during the season.

    “And when you have the type of leaders like Andre Jackson (game-high six assists Monday) and Adama Sanogo, they kept this team together, got us back on track and we knew we were the best team in the tournament going in and we just had to play to our level,” he added.

    San Diego State (32-7) was topped by Keshad Johnson who had 14 points.

    UConn trailed very early but San Diego State was undone by an 11-minute, eight-second stretch in which they scored just five free throws and missed 12 consecutive shots from the field. The Huskies went from down 10-6 to up 36-24 at halftime.

    The Aztecs made a run midway through the second half and narrowed the deficit to five at 60-55 with 5:19 to play but the Huskies scored the next nine to take a comfortable lead into the final two minutes.

    “We battled. Battled back to five in the second half, but gave them too much separation,” San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher said. “We had to be at our best. We weren’t at our best. A lot had to do with UConn.”

    Senior guard Adam Seiko told reporters they gave themselves a chance with their second half comeback but UConn “just made a little bit more plays” at the end.

    “They have a lot of weapons. They were pretty good,” said Matt Bradley, also a senior guard. “To beat them, we had to make shots. I shot poorly. And you had to have a really good game to beat those dudes on the offensive end.”

    UConn won each of its six tournament games by at least 10 points, with its closest game being a 13-point win over the University of Miami in the national semifinals.

    “I just want to thank my teammates, my coaches who believed in me. If it were not for them I would not be here right now,” Sanogo told CBS.

    Jordan Hawkins, who scored 16 points for UConn, talked about winning the crown one day after his cousin, Angel Reese of Louisiana State University, won the women’s title.

    “I mean it’s absolutely amazing that we both get this opportunity and I mean the family reunion is going to be great so that’s all I know,” he said.

    UConn enters rarefied air as only the sixth team to win five NCAA men’s basketball championships, joining UCLA (11), Kentucky (eight), North Carolina (six), Duke (five) and Indiana (five). All of UConn’s titles have come since 1999 with the most recent before Monday occurring in 2014.

    UConn’s women’s teams have won 11 basketball national titles.

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  • NCAA Awards Title To Duke In Final Upset Of March Madness

    NCAA Awards Title To Duke In Final Upset Of March Madness

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    HOUSTON—Capping off a wild tournament defined by surprising underdog victories, the NCAA awarded the national championship title Monday to Duke University in the final upset of March Madness. “After 40 minutes of riveting basketball between San Diego State and the University of Connecticut in a tourney where it often seemed like anyone’s game, it is my privilege to award the championship trophy to head coach Jon Scheyer and the Blue Devils,” NCAA president Charlie Baker said as Duke players and fans stormed the court to celebrate while the defeated Aztecs and Huskies squads headed back to their locker rooms in disappointment. “We’ve had a March Madness for the ages, marked by traditional powerhouse schools losing shocking upsets to schools few people have heard of. But it should surprise no one that the balance of power has been restored, and Duke just picked up its sixth national championship. Let the history books show that the Blue Devils won a thrilling, hard-fought game over Kentucky after beating Kansas in the Final Four round, with lesser-known teams like San Diego State, Florida Atlantic University, and Creighton serving as fun little footnotes.” Following the game, the NCAA unveiled restrictions that would prevent all but the 10 most popular teams nationally from recruiting new players for next season.

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  • LSU defeats Iowa, winning its first NCAA women’s basketball title

    LSU defeats Iowa, winning its first NCAA women’s basketball title

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    Kim Mulkey returned home to Louisiana wanting to bring LSU its first basketball championship. The Hall of Fame coach did just that in only her second year at the school.

    Her Tigers used a record offensive performance to beat Caitlin Clark and Iowa 102-85 on Sunday and win the first basketball title, men’s or women’s, in school history.

    “I turn around and look at the Final Four banners (in the home arena), nowhere did it say national champion,” Mulkey said. “That’s what I came home to do.”

    The victory made Mulkey the first women’s coach to win national titles at two different schools. She won three at Baylor before leaving for LSU two years ago.

    “Coaches coach a lifetime and this is the fourth time I’ve been blessed,” Mulkey said. “Never in the history of LSU basketball, men or women, has (anybody) ever played for a championship.”

    The feisty and flamboyantly dressed Mulkey, who wore a sparkly, golden, tiger-striped outfit, now has the third-most national titles behind Geno Auriemma’s 11 and Pat Summitt’s eight. Mulkey has never lost in a championship game.

    “My tears are tears of joy,” she said. “I’m so happy for everybody back home in Louisiana.”

    LSU v Iowa
    Head coach Kim Mulkey of the LSU Lady Tigers holds the championship trophy after defeating the Iowa Hawkeyes 102-85 during the 2023 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament championship game at American Airlines Center on April 02, 2023 in Dallas, Texas.

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    Clark, The Associated Press national player of the year, couldn’t lead the Hawkeyes to their first national title despite one of the greatest individual performances in NCAA Tournament history. The junior finished with 30 points. She scored 40 in the semifinals to knock out unbeaten South Carolina one game after she had the first 40-point triple-double in NCAA history in the Elite Eight.

    The dazzling guard set the NCAA record for points in a tournament, passing the 177 that Sheryl Swoopes scored in 1993 en route to leading Texas Tech to the title. Clark ended her tournament with 191.

    The 102 points broke the previous high for a championship game, surpassing the 97 that Texas scored against Southern California in 1986.

    “So much for preaching defense and rebounding,” Mulkey said, laughing.

    Taking in the game was first lady Jill Biden, who sat in a suite above the court with tennis great Billie Jean King.

    Mulkey said she hadn’t met the first lady yet but told the AP that if the team was invited to the White House, she’d go.

    Jasmine Carson scored 22 points, Alexis Morris added 21 and Angel Reese had 15 points and 10 rebounds for LSU (34-2).

    NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament - National Championship
    Jasmine Carson #2 and Angel Reese #10 of the Louisiana State Tigers celebrate a three-point goal against the Iowa Hawkeyes during the 2023 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament National Championship at American Airlines Center on April 2, 2023 in Dallas, Texas.

    Ben Solomon/NCAA Photos via Getty Images


    “It’s no one-man show around here. When I go down, the next man is up,” said Reese, who was honored as the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. “Every single time, every time I go out or Alexis goes out, everybody always comes to step up.”

    Trailing by 21 points early in the third quarter, Iowa started hitting from the outside to go on a 15-2 run, hitting four 3-pointers and converting a 3-point play to get within 65-57.

    The Hawkeyes (31-7) trailed 73-64 with 1:03 left in the third quarter when Clark was called for a technical foul. She swatted the ball away on the floor after a foul call against a teammate. That counted as a personal foul for her, her fourth of the game.

    “I thought they called it very, very tight,” Clark said. “Hit with a technical foul for throwing the ball under the basket — sometimes that’s how things go.”

    Clark played the entire fourth quarter with four fouls but couldn’t get the Hawkeyes much closer.

    “They really played well, they were ready to go. They did a great job. I’m just so proud of my team,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. “This is brutal, it’s really tough to walk out of that locker room today and not be able to coach Monika (Czinano) and McKenna (Warnock) again. I’m very thankful for the season we had and don’t want to take anything away from that.”

    After Katari Poole hit a 3-pointer in front of the LSU bench, Mulkey started weeping.

    “With about 1:30 to go, I couldn’t hold it. I got very emotional,” Mulkey said. “That’s not like me, but I knew we would hold on and win this game. I don’t what it was, but I lost it. Very emotional and tears of joy. Don’t know if it’s the mere fact that we’re doing it in my second year back home or that I am back home.”

    A few seconds later after another LSU basket, Reese taunted Clark by putting her hand in front of her face with a “you can’t see me” gesture and then pointed to her ring finger.

    As the final seconds ticked off, Mulkey and Reese hugged, setting off a wild celebration by the Tigers.

    The game was tight for the first 15 minutes before Carson got hot from the outside. She made all six of her shots in the second quarter, including four 3-pointers. After one of them, she threw her hands in the air, which Mulkey mimicked on the sidelines.

    For good measure, the graduate student banked in a shot just before the halftime buzzer to give the Tigers a 59-42 lead at the break. It was the most points ever in the first half of a championship game, breaking the record held by Tennessee since 1998.

    LSU shot 58% from the field in the opening 20 minutes, including going nine for 12 from behind the arc. The Tigers finished the game shooting 54% from the field, including making 11 of 17 3-pointers.

    Clark had 16 points and five assists before picking up her third foul with 3:56 to go in the half, which didn’t go over well with the sellout crowd of more than 19,000 fans.

    Before Sunday, Carson had gone scoreless in five of her seven postseason games in her career. She had 11 points in this NCAA Tournament before the finale.

    “I would definitely say this is the game of my life because I won a national championship on the biggest stage possible in college,” Carson said. “When I woke up I just wanted to win — do anything my team needed in this game, whether it was defense, rebounding, supporting them. I scored tonight and that’s what pushed us and got us momentum.”

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  • UConn defeats Miami to advance to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship tournament title game | CNN

    UConn defeats Miami to advance to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship tournament title game | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Fourth seed UConn advanced to the NCAA men’s basketball championship game following a 72-59 win over No. 5 Miami in the Final Four on Saturday.

    It will be the first NCAA national championship game for the UConn Huskies since 2014.

    The Huskies got off to a quick start Saturday, going up 9-0 within the first five minutes of the game. The Miami Hurricanes tried to come crawling back into the game but ultimately the shots did not fall for the team. Up 10 points, UConn forward Alex Karaban knocked down a three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Huskies a 37-24 lead heading into the half.

    UConn’s strong start continued in the second half, extending the lead to 20 points before the Hurricanes’ shots started to fall. Miami cut the lead down to 10 points again before the Huskies regained momentum.

    Huskies star center Adama Sanogo, who has been observing Ramadan and said earlier he would be eating oranges and coconut water before tip-off, was his dominant self. He finished with a game-high 21 points and 10 rebounds. Guard Jordan Hawkins, who was questionable to play with a non-Covid illness, added 13 points.

    UConn head coach Dan Hurley gave all the credit to his coaching staff and players for the team’s success.

    “I’m just happy I was able to attract the right type of people to put me in this position,” Hurley told the CBS broadcast. “The coaching staff, these amazing players and I appreciate obviously the University of Connecticut. They took a chance on a guy that was a high school coach not too long ago. What a blessing and incredibly grateful. … We’ve been striving for five for a while.”

    Earlier Saturday, No. 5 San Diego State stunned No. 9 Florida Atlantic at the last second to win 72-71 and advance to its first NCAA title game. Trailing 71-70 with less than two seconds left in the game, Aztecs guard Lamont Butler hit a pull-up jumper at the buzzer to propel the school to the national championship game.

    The Huskies now look to win the program’s fifth national championship when they face off with San Diego State on Monday evening at NRG Stadium in Houston.

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  • UConn Knocks Down Miami On Way To NCAA Championship Game

    UConn Knocks Down Miami On Way To NCAA Championship Game

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    HOUSTON (AP) — Nobody was guarding UConn’s best player. So Adama Sanogo spun the ball to get his fingers just right, set his feet behind the 3-point line and splashed in the shot. Then, less than a minute later, he did it again.

    It was as much basketball clinic as highlight video — and all of it perfectly fitting for the Huskies, who are methodically steamrolling through a March Madness bracket that has been a free-for-all everywhere else.

    UConn doled out another drama-free beatdown Saturday, getting 21 points and 10 rebounds from Sanogo to dispatch Miami 72-59 and move one win from the school’s fifth national title.

    “There’s a lot of teams that want to play Monday,” Sanogo said. “It means a lot to us.”

    Jordan Hawkins overcame his stomach bug and scored 13 for the Huskies, who came into this most unexpected Final Four as the only team with any experience on college basketball’s final weekend and with the best seeding of the four teams in Houston — at No. 4.

    Connecticut guard Andrew Hurley (20) celebrates after scoring during their win against Miami in the Final Four on Saturday.

    AP Photo/David J. Phillip

    Against fifth-seeded Miami, they were the best team on the court from beginning to end. Starting with three straight 3s — one jumper from Hawkins and two of those set shots from Sanogo — UConn took a quick 9-0 lead and never trailed.

    “This is something that I worked on all summer, especially shooting,” Sanogo said.

    On Monday in the title game, the Huskies will face San Diego State, which became the first team to hit a buzzer-beater while trailing in a Final Four game for a 72-71 victory over Florida Atlantic. UConn was an early 7 1/2-point favorite, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

    “They’re one of the best teams in the country,” UConn coach Dan Hurley said of the Aztecs. “And I think it’s fitting that both of us kind of earned our way into this title game.”

    Miami forward Norchad Omier is blocked by Connecticut during the second half of a Final Four game in the NCAA Tournament on Saturday.
    Miami forward Norchad Omier is blocked by Connecticut during the second half of a Final Four game in the NCAA Tournament on Saturday.

    But while the early game was an all-timer, the nightcap was simply more of the same from the Huskies (30-8).

    The 13-point win was UConn’s closest since the brackets came out. The Huskies are the sixth team since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985 to reach the title game with five straight double-digit victories. It’s an impressive list of behemoths with a knack for closing: Four of the first five went on to win the championship.

    Some thought Miami (29-8), with the nation’s fifth-ranked offense and four players who have scored 20 points at least three times this season, might be the team to slow this Huskies juggernaut. Not to be.

    Isaiah Wong led the ’Canes with 15 points on 4-for-10 shooting. Harassed constantly by Sanogo, 7-foot-2 Donovan Clingan and the rest of Connecticut’s long-armed, rangy perimeter players, Miami, which came in with the nation’s fifth-best offense, shot 25% in the first half and 33.3% for the game.

    “Obviously what we tried to do not only didn’t work, I couldn’t even recognize it,” Miami coach Jim Larranaga said. “Offensively we were out of sync, but defensively we were too.”

    Not that UConn was all boring. The Huskies enjoyed their own sort of buzzer-beater in the form of a 3 from Alex Karaban that sent the Huskies jogging into the locker room with a 13-point lead at halftime.

    They built it to 20 before the first TV timeout of the second half. By then, Jim Nantz, calling his last Final Four, could start saving his voice for Monday.

    Miami did get it under double digits a few times, but this never got interesting.

    Connecticut guard Joey Calcaterra (3) celebrates after their win against Miami in a Final Four game on Saturday.
    Connecticut guard Joey Calcaterra (3) celebrates after their win against Miami in a Final Four game on Saturday.

    Not helping: Hurricanes guard Nijel Pack missed about five minutes after managers had trouble locating a substitute for a busted shoe. Pack finished with eight points, and Jordan Miller, who hit all 20 shots he took from the floor and the line in Miami’s Elite Eight win, went 4 for 10 for 11 points. Only one Miami player made more than half his shots.

    “I’m a defensive guy first and foremost,” Hurley said. “I just love the way we guarded them. They’re one of the best offenses in the country, and we really disrupted them.”

    UConn had five blocks, including two from Sanogo, and 19 assists, led by eight from Tristen Newton — both signs of the sort of all-around effort the Huskies have been putting in since the start of February, when they began the bounce back from a six-loss-in-eight-games stretch that halted their momentum.

    That cold stretch is a big reason they were seeded only fourth for March. Now, it’s April and the number UConn is thinking about is “5” — as in, a fifth title that will come if it can keep this up for one more game.

    “Maybe it was a little bit delusional,” Huskies guard Andre Jackson Jr. said, “but we always knew we were the best team in our mind.”

    AP March Madness coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness and bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

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  • 4/1: CBS Saturday Morning

    4/1: CBS Saturday Morning

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    4/1: CBS Saturday Morning – CBS News


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    At least 7 dead after tornadoes tear through South, Midwest; Victoria Elizondo uses food to honor her community and heritage.

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  • Jim Nantz opens up on his career and calling his final NCAA Tournament

    Jim Nantz opens up on his career and calling his final NCAA Tournament

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    Jim Nantz opens up on his career and calling his final NCAA Tournament – CBS News


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    Legendary sports broadcaster Jim Nantz is calling his final NCAA Tournament. He spoke to CBS News about his decision to step back after nearly 40 years.

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  • CBS Evening News, March 30, 2023

    CBS Evening News, March 30, 2023

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    CBS Evening News, March 30, 2023 – CBS News


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    Trump indicted by New York City grand jury; Jim Nantz opens up on his career and calling his final NCAA Tournament

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  • Men’s NCAA tournament Final Four field is set after San Diego, Miami victories | CNN

    Men’s NCAA tournament Final Four field is set after San Diego, Miami victories | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    For the first time since 1970, there will be three schools making their first Final Four appearances at the men’s NCAA Tournament following victories by No. 5 seed San Diego State University and No. 5 seed Miami on Sunday.

    San Diego State University clinched the program’s first-ever Final Four appearance with a closely contested 57-56 victory against No. 6 seed Creighton at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky.

    With the game tied at 56, Bluejays guard Ryan Nembhard was called for a foul on Aztecs guard Darrion Trammell with 1.2 seconds left in the game. Replays showed Nembhard’s left hand on Trammell’s right hip as he jumped up for the shot attempt.

    Trammell would be awarded two free throws, missing the first but making the second to give the Aztecs the lead.

    “The moment it wasn’t too big for me to do everything I’ve been through,” Trammell said in the postgame news conference. “I feel like the opportunity was just set there for me. It was God’s timing and I just had to believe in that and just having that confidence that, yeah, I missed the first one but I definitely wasn’t going to miss the second one.”

    Nembhard addressed the foul call in the postgame news conference, saying, “It’s a tough feeling. We worked so hard all year and it comes down to a play like that. I don’t know I think we could’ve done a little bit more to make it a game that didn’t have to go down to that but it’s a tough way to lose.”

    SDSU will play against No. 9 seed Florida Atlantic in Houston, Texas on Saturday, April 1, in a battle of two first-time Final Four contestants.

    Meanwhile, the No. 5 seed Miami mounted a second-half comeback to defeat No. 2 seeded Texas 88-81 to advance to the program’s first-ever Final Four in NCAA tournament history.

    The Longhorns held a 13-point lead with under 15 minutes left in the game, before the Hurricanes broke off on a 12-2 run to even the game up at 72. After exchanging several buckets, the Hurricanes closed out the game on a 9-2 run in the final minute to close out the victory.

    Miami guard Jordan Miller led the way with 27 points, going 7-7 from the field and 13-13 from the free throw line.

    “No one wanted to go home,” Miller said to the CBS broadcast on the team’s come from behind victory. “We came together, we stuck together, we showed really good perseverance and the will, the will to just win and get there.”

    The Hurricanes will play against No. 4 seed UConn in Houston, Texas on Saturday, April 1.

    This year’s men’s NCAA tournament is the first time since seeding began in 1979 no team ranked better than No. 4 has reached the Final Four.

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  • No more No. 1 seeds left in NCAA men’s basketball tournament after Alabama and Houston lose | CNN

    No more No. 1 seeds left in NCAA men’s basketball tournament after Alabama and Houston lose | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    For the first time ever in NCAA men’s basketball tournament history, all four No. 1 seeds have failed to reach the Elite Eight after the top-seeded Alabama Crimson Tide and Houston Cougars were eliminated in the Sweet 16 on Friday.

    Top overall seed Alabama was stunned by No. 5 seed San Diego State, 71-64, at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky.

    The Crimson Tide led by nine points with over 12 minutes left in the game, but the Aztecs went on a 12-0 run to take a 51-48 lead and they never trailed again.

    San Diego State guard Darrion Trammell led the way with 21 points and five rebounds, as the Aztecs advance to the Elite Eight for the first time in men’s program history. San Diego State is also the first Mountain West team to ever advance to the Elite Eight.

    “It’s just who we are, we feel like we can beat any team in the country, ” Trammell said on the TBS broadcast after the game. “We work hard, and we feel like we have the DNA of a winning team that goes far in March. We have experience, we have grit, and we feel like this is what we’re supposed to do.”

    Crimson Tide forward Brandon Miller was held in check on offense most of the night, scoring just nine points on 3-of-19 shooting. He also had six turnovers.

    Miller’s and Alabama’s season comes to an end after a tumultuous regular season campaign marred by an off-court issue surrounding the shooting death of a woman on campus.

    San Diego State will play against either No. 6 Creighton or No. 15 Princeton on Sunday.

    Friday’s action in Kansas City, Missouri, saw No. 5 seed Miami defeat Houston 89-75.

    The game was close for most of the first half, before Miami took an 11-point lead early in the second half. Houston cut the deficit to 51-49 with under 15 minutes left in the game but Miami answered with a 16-2 run to put the game away.

    Miami guard Nijel Pack scored at will in the victory, dropping 26 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including 7-of-10 from the three-point line to lead the Hurricanes to the Elite Eight for the second consecutive season.

    “It just shows that we’re one of the best teams in the country now we’re moving to the Elite Eight,” Pack said on the CBS broadcast after the game. “It’s the top eight schools in the country right now, we still have a lot of work to do but it feels great right now.”

    Miami will next play No. 2 seed Texas or No. 3 seed Xavier, which face off later Friday.

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  • Arkansas Coach Rips Off Shirt To Celebrate Victory Over Defending Champ Kansas

    Arkansas Coach Rips Off Shirt To Celebrate Victory Over Defending Champ Kansas

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    DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Eric Musselman and his players rushed across the floor at the final buzzer to celebrate with their joyfully delirious friends from Arkansas.

    The 58-year-old coach jumped onto the press table, ripped off his red polo shirt and waved it over his head, shouting all the while to the fans’ delight, as has become his tradition after the biggest of his wins.

    And this was a really big one.

    Kansas’ national title defense ended in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday when Arkansas’ Ricky Council IV made five free throws in the closing seconds and the eighth-seeded Razorbacks beat the No. 1 seed Jayhawks 72-71.

    “I would love to lie and say that I felt composed, but we only led for 1:43,” he said. “This has been as challenging and as up-and-down a season as I’ve ever been a part of.

    “For these guys to be rewarded for sticking with it and being able to go to Las Vegas and participate with only 16 teams still standing. … It’s really hard to make this tournament. It’s really hard to win a game in this tournament. It’s really hard to beat defending champions, No. 1 seed. We did it.”

    Arkansas was playing a No. 1 seed for the third straight year. Last year, the Razorbacks knocked out Gonzaga on the way to their second straight Elite Eight. This time, the Razorbacks survived shaky offensive play early and foul trouble late. They became the first team to beat a No. 1 seed with three players fouling out, according to OptaSTATS.

    “That’s such an unbelievable win for our program,” Musselman said. “I keep telling people that we’re getting better. Not many teams can get better this time of year. I’ve never been prouder of a team like tonight.”

    Davonte Davis scored 25 points and Council added 21 as Arkansas rallied from a 12-point second-half deficit. Kansas, playing without ailing coach Bill Self, became the second top seed not to escape the tournament’s first weekend after Purdue lost on Friday night to No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson.

    Arkansas (22-13) is in the Sweet 16 for the third straight year and will play either Saint Mary’s or UConn in the West Region semifinals in Las Vegas on Thursday.

    Self has been with the Jayhawks (28-8) since they arrived in Des Moines and has attended practices and meetings, but he still didn’t feel well enough to coach a game after having a heart procedure March 8 to clear clogged arteries.

    Longtime assistant Norm Roberts was acting coach for a fifth straight game in Self’s absence.

    Kansas, bidding to become the first repeat national champion since Florida in 2006-07, was ahead 35-27 at halftime and lost for the first time in 27 games when entering the second half with a lead. Kansas had been 47-0 in the NCAA Tournament when leading by eight points or more at the half.

    “Our guys have been terrific all year,” Roberts said. “They fought to the very end, made huge plays. It was tough not having Coach here, but we don’t make any excuses. We have to line up and get it done, and we came up a little bit short today.”

    Davis scored 21 of his points in the second half. He fouled out with 1:56 left, turning things over to the veteran Council, a transfer from Wichita State who scored nine of the Razorbacks’ final 11 points.

    “This team was struggling and we figured it out,” Davis said. “I’m glad we did at the right time. Hopefully we continue to do it.”

    Outside the locker room, a sobbing Musselman hugged Davis and shouted, “I (expletive) love you, man!”

    Council’s free throw put Arkansas ahead to stay, 68-67, with 24 seconds left. He then rebounded his own miss of the second free throw and made two more to give the Razorbacks a three-point lead.

    The teams traded free throws, and Arkansas sent Kansas’ Jalen Wilson to the line with 3 seconds left to prevent a potential tying 3-pointer. Wilson made the first free throw and appeared to try to miss the second intentionally, but it banked hard off the glass and in, and Kansas never regained possession.

    Wilson led the Jayhawks with 20 points but lamented grabbing only four rebounds, which he said was a factor in Arkansas holding a 15-2 advantage in second-chance points. No missed rebound hurt more, he said, than when Kansas failed to grab the ball off Council’s missed free throw in the waning seconds.

    “It always comes down to one play, especially hustle plays like that,” Wilson said. “It’s just disappointing to end like that, especially with how great our year was. Credit to them for how they played.”

    Arkansas, which beat Illinois in the first round, was considered a scary matchup for the Jayhawks with its explosive transition game and ability to play lockdown defense.

    But circumstances were less than ideal for the Razorbacks. Guard Anthony Black tweaked a nagging ankle injury early and went to the bench to get re-taped and change shoes, and fellow guard and projected high NBA first-round draft pick Nick Smith Jr. picked up two quick fouls and was limited to 10 minutes and no points in the first half. Also, big man Kamani Johnson was ill and played with a sore toe.

    The Razorbacks were too eager to shoot 3-pointers early. They missed 8 of 9 in the first half and couldn’t get their running game going.

    Kansas was in control for stretches but never could put away the Razorbacks.

    Davis started a game-turning 11-0 Arkansas run in the middle of the second half and Jordan Walsh’s 3-pointer with eight minutes left gave the Razorbacks their first lead since their first basket of the game.

    Arkansas neutralized Wilson when it mattered most, allowing the All-American only two shots over a 15-minute stretch of the second half.

    Arkansas is in the Sweet 16 for the 14th time. The only lower-seeded Razorbacks team to reach a regional semifinal was the 1996 squad, which was a No. 12 under Nolan Richardson, who led the school to its only national title two years earlier.

    If Musselman reaches his first Final Four, he will evoke more memories of those glory years.

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  • No. 15 seed Princeton stuns Missouri to reach Sweet 16

    No. 15 seed Princeton stuns Missouri to reach Sweet 16

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    Blake Peters made five 3-pointers in the second half and the No. 15 seeded Princeton shocked another power conference team to reach the NCAA Tournament regional semifinals for the first time in 56 years by beating No. 7 seed Missouri 78-63 on Saturday.

    As the final minute ticked off the clock, the Princeton fans started chanting “Sweet 16! Sweet 16!” and coach Mitch Henderson cleared the bench with the victory easily in hand.

    This upset was no small-school fluke against a more heralded team. It was a thoroughly dominating performance that sent Princeton to a place it hadn’t been in more than a half-century.

    Princeton v Missouri
    Tosan Evbuomwan #20, Ryan Langborg #3, and Caden Pierce #12, and Keeshawn Kellman #32 of the Princeton Tigers react against the Missouri Tigers in the second round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Golden 1 Center on March 18, 2023 in Sacramento, California.

    Ezra Shaw / Getty Images


    “The world looks at us as two upsets,” forward Tosan Evbuomwan said. “But I feel like we’re supposed to be here. We have a lot of confidence in one another, what we’re doing. There’s definitely no letup with this group.”

    Princeton (23-8) followed up a first-round win over Pac-12 tournament champion Arizona by overwhelming Missouri (25-10) of the Southeastern Conference from the start.

    The Ivy League school known for giving powerhouses scares and occasionally pulling off upsets a generation ago has reached the round of 16 for the first time since 1967, when only 23 teams even made the tournament.

    “I have no words for you,” Peters said. “We have such an unbelievable section (of fans) here. I have the best teammates in the world. I love each and every one of them. when we go out and believe in each other, anything is possible. I know it’s cliche, but anything is possible.”

    Princeton will play the winner of Sunday’s game between Baylor and Creighton in the Sweet 16 in Louisville, Kentucky, on Friday night.

    The Tigers will be the second Ivy League school to make the Sweet 16 in the past 43 tournaments, joining Cornell in 2010. No team from the academically prestigious league that doesn’t give athletic scholarships has gone further since Penn made the Final Four in 1979.

    “I’ve always dreamed of playing deep into the tournament,” said Henderson, a player on Princeton’s teams in 1996 and ’98 that won first-round games. “As a player, got to the second round a couple times. Never got beyond it.”

    This marks the third straight year a team seeded 15th made it to the Sweet 16, following Oral Roberts in 2021 and fellow New Jersey school Saint Peter’s last year. The only other time a 15 seed made it this far came in 2013 when Florida Gulf Coast did it.

    Ryan Langborg led Princeton with 22 points and Peters added 17.

    DeAndre Gholston scored 19 points and Noah Carter added 14 for Missouri, which was seeking its first berth in the Sweet 16 since 2009.

    “We were able to get the lead one time,” coach Dennis Gates said. “We held the lead for 30 seconds in the entire game. Every time we got the lead or when they had the lead, we cut it to six, they came back down and did what a good team would do: Make a shot or make a play.”

    Princeton showed no signs of being outclassed against another power conference team, controlling the play from the start. Keeshawn Kellman had two dunks and a blocked shot in a span of 16 seconds midway through the half.

    Princeton built the lead to 10 points on a corner 3 by Zach Martini and went up 33-19 on a drive by Evbuomwan.

    Missouri responded by scoring the final seven points of the half to go into the break down seven.

    Every time Missouri threatened early in the second half, Princeton had an answer with Peters hitting five 3-pointers. The fourth gave Princeton a 62-43 lead and Missouri never threatened after that.

    “Blake Peters has been making shots coming off the bench for us for weeks,” Henderson said. “This is a very, very confident group. We are so thrilled to be going to the Sweet 16. It is an absolute pleasure being around these guys. They just grit their teeth and they do it.”

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