by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 3/22/2026 Photo by Christine Tannous/ IndyStar 2 Miami vs 7 Purdue Prediction: Purdue Purdue is still my favorite to make it out of the West and after rolling on Queens in the first round and Miami barely making it past Missouri, this one should be in the 90-70 range for the Boilermakers. 2 Iowa State vs 7 Kentucky Prediction: Iowa State The Cyclones had an easy First Round but will have to deal with Otega Oweh and Mouhamed Dioubate this time

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 3/21/2026 Photo by Brynn Anderson/ Associated Press 1 Duke vs 9 TCU Prediction: Duke Duke may have came out flat against Siena but they came out in the 2nd half and looked like they have all year. Watch for them to come out against TCU on fire. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 6 Louisville vs 3 Michigan St   Prediction: Michigan St Michigan State has been one of my favorite teams for this tournament and I see no reason to change cour

by Joel Piton Sportz Nation - 3/20/2026 Photo: Vincent Carchietta/ImagnImages March Madness has never been kind to assumptions. Programs like Duke, Arizona, and Michigan State may dominate the headlines every year, but what makes the tournament hype is the reliance on unpredictability. Just last season, Florida reminded the college basketball world that a hot streak at the right time can outweigh months of expectations. In a single-elimination format, reputations won't win ga

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 3/19/26 We're FINALLY here! Before the first round starts today at 12:15 between Ohio State and TCU lets dive into the bracket as a whole and even some of the more exciting matchups! The tightest matchups are of course between the closest seeds, with 8 Utah State - 9 Villanova and 7 Miami - 10 Missouri having the closest spreads with Utah State -1.5. In total, 3 of the 8-9 matchups, 3 of the 7-10 matchups and 2 of the 6-11 matchups have a sprea

by Zak Drapeau, Matt Hylen, Joel Piton and Elias Meredith Sportz Nation - 3/18/2026 Graphic by NCAA.com Zak Drapeau - Winner: Duke Final Four: Duke , Purdue , Houston , Virginia It should be noted that I'm not an expert in college basketball and more or less hadn't paid attention to the sport besides some NBA Draft prospects until late February. Duke is the clear favorite to win it all but will have to contend with the strongest quarter of the bracket in the East to even make

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 3/18/26 All odds courtesy of Caesar's Sportsbook as of 3/17 Photo by Ethan Hymen/ Yahoo Sports To Win NCAA Championship : 1. Duke +300 2. Arizona +350 3. Michigan +370 4. Florida +700 5. Houston +1100 6. Iowa State +1600 7. Purdue +2000 8. Illinois +2200 9. UConn +2200 I have Duke winning this year and by a comfortable margin. I really like Houston, Purdue and Arizona as well after their runs in their respective confer

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 3/17/26 Photo by Jarod C. Tilton/ Getty Images 16 UMBC vs 16 Howard to face 1 Michigan Tuesday at 6:40 pm One of the only 2 teams to ever win a March Madness game with a #16-ranking, UMBC faces off against Howard in the first First Four game. As a slight favorite vs Howard, UMBC is led by their back court pairing of Jah'Likai King and Ace Valentine who together average 27-7.5-5.5 on 44% shooting. Together with some great role playing from forwar

by Elias Meredith Sportz Nation - 3/16/2026 SATURDAY: 2 ARIZONA VS 5 HOUSTON Photo by Charlie Riedel/ AP Photo Saturday night, 2 Big 12 powerhouses traveled to T-Mobile Arena in Kansas City, Missouri for a right to be named the 2025-2026 Big 12 champions. The freshman duo of Brayden Burries and Koa Peat each scored 21 points a piece to give the Arizona Wildcats their first conference championship as Big 12 members in a 79-74 victory over the Houston Cougars. Once Arizona gr

By Elias Meredith Sportz Nation - 3/13/26 Photo by Nell Redmond/AP Photo Thursday night, the No. 1 Duke Blue Devils traveled 141 miles southwest to face the Florida State Seminoles at the Spectrum to kick off ACC Tournament play. A game where Duke were 16 point favorites came down to the last shot. Senior guard Robert McCray V missed a game-winning three point attempt as time expired, as Duke escaped with an 80-79 win. The first half was filled with ties and lead changes. Bot

by Elias Meredith Sportz Nation - 3/9/26 SATURDAY: 22 MIAMI VS LOUISVILLE Photo by Jeff Romance/Imagn Images Saturday afternoon, the Louisville Cardinals traveled south to Coral Gables, Florida to face the Miami Hurricanes. Senior guard Ryan Conwell finished with 24 points in the 92-89 road victory. The Cardinals finished off their regular season on a 3-game winning streak. In the first half, Louisville started the game on a 13-2 scoring run, including 8 unanswered points. L

by Elias Meredith Sportz Nation - 2/20/2026 APPALACHIAN STATE VS MARSHALL Photo by Joseph Chapman/App State Men’s Basketball Media The Marshall Thundering Herd traveled south to face the Sunbelt Conference-leading Appalachian State Mountaineers at Holmes Convocation Center in Boone, North Carolina. The Thundering Herd’s upperclassman-underclassman backcourt of Jalen Speer and Landon Joseph each scored 24 in a 94-93 win over Appalachian State. In the first half, the game remai

By Elias Meredith Sportz Nation - 2/16/26 SATURDAY: 1 ARIZONA VS 16 TEXAS TECH Photo by: Rick Scuteri/AP Photo The No. 16 Texas Tech Red Raiders visited Tucson, Arizona to face off against the No. 1 Arizona Wildcats. 2025 Big 12 Player of the Year, Junior JT Toppin had a monster game, dropping 31 points and 13 rebounds in an upset win. Texas Tech’s 78-75 overtime win against Arizona gives them their third consecutive victory. Arizona dropped their second straight game. Arizon

CINCINNATI VS WEST VIRGINIA Photo by Aaron Doster/Imagn Images Wednesday night, the West Virginia Mountaineers looked to get back to their winning ways as they traveled northwest to face a struggling Cincinnati Bearcat team. The Bearcats have lost 3 of their last 4, but looked to get back above .500 with a win against West Virginia.  West Virginia would come back from 14 down to defeat Cincinnati 59-54. West Virginia seniors Honor Huff and Brenen Lorient each finished with d

SATURDAY: 13 BYU vs 14 KANSAS Photo by Colin E. Braley/AP Photo On Saturday afternoon, the Kansas Jayhawks played their 1,000th game at the iconic Allen Fieldhouse. This game was headlined by two NBA lottery picks facing off in Kansas’ Darryn Peterson and BYU’s AJ Dybantsa.   All five of the Kansas starters finished with double figures as the Jayhawks defeated the Cougars, 90-82 in a packed Allen Fieldhouse. In the first half, it was all Jayhawks. Halfway through the first h

By Elias Meredith 1/29/26 - Sportz Nation Photo by Nick Rahlman/The Gazette via AP Wednesday night, the USC Trojans finished their Midwest trip in Iowa after a narrow two-point win over Wisconsin last Sunday. USC looked to bring momentum into the matchup against the Iowa Hawkeyes. The Hawkeyes came into the matchup 10-1 at home, which made them favorites. Senior guards Bennett Stirtz and Tavion Banks led the way for Iowa, each scoring 20 in the comeback victory. The first hal

SATURDAY: 22 KANSAS AT WEST VIRGINIA  Photo by Kathleen Batten/AP Photo Saturday afternoon, the West Virginia Mountaineers hosted the Kansas Jayhawks in an afternoon matinee. The senior tandem of Honor Huff and Brenen Lorient combined for 41 points in West Virginia’s 86-75 victory over Kansas.  West Virginia has now won three of their last four, beat their first ranked opponent of the season, and handed the Jayhawks their second consecutive loss. The first half was full of ti

by Zak Drapeau 1/31/2025 Sportz Nation Here's a look at my list of my Top 24 Athletes of 2024 , with guys like Shohei Ohtani, Connor McDavid and a slew of Summer Olympians dominating the list. Without an Olympic event this year, this list will be compiled of mostly athletes in the big sporting leagues such as NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, various Soccer leagues and others. In the fourth year of doing this list, I am a bit biased toward the top sports leagues but will always give credi

by Elias Meredith 12/15/25 Sportz Nation SATURDAY: 13 ILLINOIS VS 23 NEBRASKA Photo by Ron Johnson/Imagn Images The 2025 Nebraska Cornhuskers looked to make history with an upset win over the Illinois Fighting Illini Saturday night. They would become the first team in Nebraska men’s basketball history to go 11-0 to start the season.  The Cornhuskers most impressive win of the season came in story book fashion. Senior guard JaMarques Lawrence drilled a game-winning three from

by Elias Meredith 11/20/25 Sportz Nation HOFSTRA VS TEMPLE Photo by Harvey Levine/OwlsDaily The Hofstra Pride traveled two hours south to visit the Temple Owls in the City of Brotherly Love. The Pride were looking to extend their winning streak to three games, but the Owls had other plans. The Owls soared to 81-76 win, advancing to 3-1 for the third straight time to start a season. It was a total team effort, as 4 of 5 of the Temple starters finished with double digits. The O

by Elias Meredith 11/17/25 Sportz Nation FRIDAY: 5 ARIZONA VS 15 UCLA Photo by Kiyoshi Mio/Imagn Images Former PAC-12 conference members faced off in the Hall of Fame Series at the Intuit Dome. The first game this season in the NBA’s newest arena did not disappoint, as fans from both schools packed the stands to support their respective teams. The atmosphere gave the game a March-like feel in November. Senior guard Anthony Dell’Orso led all scorers with 20 off the bench as th