The first weekend of the NCAA Tournament is officially in the books, and hereâs a rundown of some of the teams, players and coaches that found success, as well as those who faced challenges throughout the week.
Winner: Texas
The Longhorns were one of the last four teams to qualify for the tournament and had to compete in the play-in games in Dayton on Thursday to secure a spot in the field of 64.
Texas kicked off its tournament run by defeating North Carolina State in the First Four. The Longhorns then advanced to face No. 6 BYU, defeating the Cougars. Following that, Texas pulled off a surprising upset over No. 3 Gonzaga in the Round of 32.
Head coach Sean Miller has done an outstanding job in his first season with the Longhorns, and now they have an opportunity to take on Purdue this Thursday.
Loser: Hubert Davis
North Carolina‘s head coach, Hubert Davis, may be on the hot seat after the Tar Heels blew a 19-point lead to VCU on Thursday. The team was without its star forward, Caleb Wilson, who was sidelined for the season with a thumb injury. However, holding a 19-point advantage as the No. 6 seed and then losing the game has nothing to do with Wilson’s absence.
It might be time for North Carolina to make a change, as the loss to VCU could signal what needs to happen with Davis.
Winner: Darius Acuff Jr.
Arkansas star freshman guard Darius Acuff Jr. was eager to leave his mark in his first two games, and he did just that. He scored 24 points against Hawaii and followed it up with an impressive 36 points against High Point.
Not many casual basketball fans might be aware of who Acuff is, especially with BYU’s forward AJ Dybantsa, Kansas star Darryn Peterson, and Duke’s forward Cameron Boozer stealing the spotlight this college basketball season. Yet, Acuff could challenge all of these players as the top pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
Loser: Florida
The Gators, last year’s national champions, won’t be repeating this season after their loss to No. 9 Iowa on Sunday. It may seem a bit harsh to label a team that won a title just a year ago as a “loser,” but Florida was considered one of the heavy favorites to take it all this season. It should not have fallen to the Hawkeyes, especially given all the talent the Gators possess.
Winner: Big Ten
The Big Ten Conference had nine teams competing in the tournament, and six of them will be playing in the Sweet Sixteen: Iowa, Nebraska, Michigan, Michigan State, Illinois and Purdue.
Since Iowa and Nebraska will face each other in the Sweet Sixteen, there will definitely be at least one Big Ten team in the Elite Eight. With any luck, the conference might also see Michigan and Purdue make it to the Elite Eight, considering it has favorable matchups in its Sweet Sixteen games.
The Big Ten hasn’t won the college basketball title since Michigan State did in 2000, and it could likely happen this season.
Loser: Cinderella
The No. 12 seed, High Point, managed to upset the No. 5 Wisconsin team in the third round, but aside from that, this year lacks any major Cinderella stories. We all enjoy watching those thrilling upsets, especially when a No. 15 seed takes on a No. 2 and scores a surprise win.
There was a time when smaller colleges would have upperclassmen on their rosters going head-to-head against the big schools with freshmen and sophomores, but that has changed with NIL deals and the transfer portal. Cinderella’s moment might be fading away for good.
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