10 Things I Won't Forget About the 2026 NCAA Tournament
I covered the NCAA Tournament for the first time. I attended the Final Four in Indianapolis. Here's what will stick with me.
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Hello! It’s been a while. I hope my return from hiatus finds you well. I have officially climbed out from under the 2026 college basketball season — what a year! — and my first season as the producer of the Eye on College Basketball Podcast.
With a little more time on my hands, I’d like to fire up the keyboard here on the Statless newsletter. I hope to build some semi-regular programming over the next few weeks and months. But today, it feels appropriate to share some thoughts about the sport around which my life has revolved for the last five months.
Let’s dive in. 10 things that will stick with me from the 2026 NCAA Tournament.
1. Elliot Cadeau’s redemption
I was an Elliot Cadeau hater. Hand up. I picked Michigan to lose prior to the Final Four in the NCAA Tournament because I wasn’t confident in Cadeau’s ability to bring it for six straight games.
I was quite wrong.
The player Cadeau became this season that culminated with his Most Outstanding Player performance in Indianapolis deserves nothing but admiration.
Many have highlighted his journey from beyond the 3-point line. Going from an unguarded perimeter threat to a more-than-serviceable shooter who made three trifectas in half of Michigan’s NCAA tournament games. More than a few words describe his tumultuous career which started in Chapel Hill and ended with a well-deserved Instagram live from the celebration in Lucas Oil Stadium on Monday night.
Here is the thing I want to highlight. This is the list of notable guards that made it to Indianapolis.
Jaden Bradley
Brayden Burries
Keaton Wagler
Kylan Boswell
Silas Demary Jr.
Solo Ball
And Elliot Cadeau
Future lottery picks. A Big 12 Player of the Year. Players in the highest tier of guard productivity this season. And Cadeau was better than all of them.
I thought Arizona had a chance to beat Michigan because they were the best equipped team in the country to not be overwhelmed by the Wolverines’ size. Assuming someone could handle that size and speed was probably the bigger miss, but Cadeau was easily the best guard on the floor in both games he played in the Circle City.
That type of ceiling felt so unlikely when he arrived at Michigan. This was a heavyweight Final Four in many ways and the 3 seed that made it happened to have a lottery-level guard leading the way. Cadeau was the standard. Cadeau’s confidence was the standard. That will stick for a long time.
2. Michigan’s unrelenting size
With 3:02 left in the second half, Braylon Mullins was called for an offensive foul and the broadcast caught him saying, “what am I supposed to do?”
I’m willing to wager a lot of teams uttered those words against Michigan this season.
I’m fascinated by the evolution of basketball and it’s relationship with size. From “we have to draft as many huge guys as possible to guard Shaq” in the early 2000’s, to the small ball revolution of the 2010’s and back to size in 2026. This Michigan team is the epitome of size and skill and the marriage between the two eras of basketball that proceed it.
Oh, Michigan starts Yaxel Lendeborg, Morez Johnson Jr. and Aday Mara? Well you must be able to expose them by spacing the floor? Nope. Lendeborg and Johnson can switch everything and if you manage to get to the rim a 7’3 behemoth that moves well and has the 6th best block rate in the country is waiting for you.
Well, ok. If they aren’t vulnerable defensively they must be a little stale on the offensive end. Nope. Yaxel is basically college Lebron, they’re a top 25 tempo team in the sport and they were top 35 in 3-point field goal percentage.
When a team dominates a season like this, copycats will follow. None will be as successful, almost certainly. Dusty May and his staff so expertly crafted a roster whose size is amplified by the speed, talent and versatility on which it stands.
3. How UConn got to the title game
Michigan was the best team, but UConn is the best program. And they’ve figured out this silly (endearing), single-elimination tournament in a way few have in the history of the sport. But my goodness were the Huskies scrappy the last three weeks.
I don’t need to go any further to illustrate that point than their game log from the tournament.
Round of 64: UConn 82, Furman 71
Needed every bit of Tarris Reed’s 31 points and 27 rebounds
Round of 32: UConn 73, UCLA 57
This was a convincing performance
Sweet 16: UConn 67, Michigan State 63
Lost the middle 20 minutes of this game by 20 points. Pulled it out in the end
Elite Eight: UConn 73, Duke 72
Needed a Duke collapse in the 2nd half just to have a chance. Not to mention the Braylon Mullins shot
Final Four: UConn 71, Illinois 62
I would also consider this one pretty convincing, but not unbelievable.
Title Game: Michigan 69, UConn 63
I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a team with so little to prove as a program fight the way that UConn did. I haven’t asked Dan Hurley, but I’m sure a lot of it has to do with the way he handled last season and the shortcomings of last year’s Huskies team. The group led by Hurley and Karaban has absolutely nothing to prove to the college basketball world, but they fought like they did all tournament long.
I couldn’t believe they actually had a chance to take down Duke. Furthermore, taking down Michigan felt so unlikely for the first 38 minutes, but with less than two minutes left they had a 3-pointer in the air to cut the lead to a single possession.
UConn is doing the damn thing. We all know it. But I thought UConn advanced through the bracket with an urgency that is hard to come by with so many accolades already in the rafters in Storrs.
4. It’s still worth believing in the cinderella story
The cinderella story. Is it still woven into the fabric of the NCAA tournament? When all 1, 2, 3 and 4 seeds make it to the Round of 32 for the second season in a row, it’s a fair question.
I’m happy to announce I believe the answer is yes. Even if it looks a little different.
Is it harder than ever for a Loyola Chicago or George Mason to make a run to the Final Four? Certainly. Some might say impossible. But Siena, High Point and VCU reminded us mid-major teams can still get our hearts racing in the big dance.
I would argue that’s … kinda the point? To for a moment believe something no one in their right mind would predict might actually be possible? It’s a little like the gravity of a 3-point shooter. The respect the defense has for a shooter is just as important as the shot going in. We were reminded to respect the shooter this March, even if the shot didn’t ultimately go in.
5. The Tyler Tanner Shot
This shot didn’t go in.
For those who don’t know, I went to Butler (we’ll get to that in a bit). I’m more than familiar with the lore of the rare missed shot with historical longevity.
Naturally, every time I mention the Gordon Hayward shot, it was an inch closer to going in than the last time.
“I think it was like 6 inches from going in”
“Just 4 inches away from falling”
The Tyler Tanner shot actually was that close to going in. I still can’t believe it didn’t. And a player like Tanner is the perfect kind of march hero. Nashville kid. Stuck around to play at Vanderbilt with Mark Byington. Byington takes every chance he can to tell the world how Tanner makes him a better person.
Oh, and that game?! We got THAT game from … Nebraska and Vanderbilt! What a world!
6. Speaking of Nebraska …
Not only did Nebraska finally win an NCAA tournament game in 2026, they also went to the Sweet 16 and were favored against Iowa to go to the Elite Eight.
Awesome stuff. Starting 20-0. Finishing 28-7. Finding a way to get the 2 seed in the Big Ten tournament with a 15-5 conference record. That record confirmed they weren’t just a good story but one of the best teams in the sport this season. Fred Hoiberg had what looked like the most connected group in the country for large parts of the year and they finally delivered tournament delight to Lincoln.
—
Fred Hoiberg is now seven seasons into his tenure as the Nebraska head coach. His 28 wins in 2025-26 bested his first three seasons combined. Nebraska advanced to the second weekend because Hoiberg was given time to figure it out.
As coaches like Dusty May are turning 7-win teams into national champions in roughly 24 months, coaches are going to get less and less time, especially when given the resources deemed necessary to compete. Now, Nebraska is a bottom half of the Big Ten team in terms of NIL resources, but that isn’t my point here. My point is everyone knows how good Hoiberg is including the brass at Nebraska.
Sometimes the right guy doesn’t mean the right results immediately. I’m thrilled for Nebraska fans and cherishing the university’s decision to invest time and resources into the man who is clearly right for the job.
7. “The Shot” Part 2 courtesy of Otega Oweh & Allen Graves
Just … just watch.
First of all, the sequence is just unbelievable. Kentucky-Santa Clara was quickly circled when the bracket came out as a must-watch matchup in the first round. The bout was a juicy combination of “Kentucky badly needs to beat Santa Clara” and “is Santa Clara just better than Kentucky?”
It delivered big time.
Oweh making this shot was fitting. It was a weird year for the SEC’s preseason player of the year. He was the lead role in Kentucky’s now-notorious $22 million cast. But before Thanksgiving, he turned in a combined 8-of-25 performance in two Kentucky losses to Louisville and Michigan State. Those losses kickstarted the conversation about Kentucky’s quality and Oweh was often at the center of it alongside Mark Pope.
The senior guard ultimately turned in an awesome conference play performance overshadowed by the aggressively mediocre product Pope’s team was putting on the floor. I felt for most of the season that Oweh’s play was under appreciated.
Pope is under a lot of pressure the next 12 months. If 2026-27 goes poorly, the Pope era in Lexington won’t make it to this time next year. Oweh’s shot makes things a little less catastrophic even after getting steamrolled by Iowa State two days later. Without Oweh? Pope might not have made it out of this season. Without Oweh’s shot? Things in Lexington are even more awkward than they already are.
8. Miami University gets a win in Dayton
Schedule this, advanced metrics that. Give me Miami over Auburn ALL. DAY. LONG.
Now that’s out of the way …
What a season for the RedHawks. We had a blast talking about them on the podcast this year and watching them win in Dayton was a treat.
Not only did they win their First Four game, but they beat a high major team that was also on the bubble! Closed curtains. End of story. I don’t want to hear anything else about Travis Steele’s team other than commemorating the year that was in Oxford.
31-0. 31-0!
A win in Dayton was the perfect scenario for the RedHawks for a couple of reasons. First, Oxford is 42.7 miles from Dayton. It was a home game and the building felt as such. Second, the entire college basketball world was forced to pay attention because they got to play a standalone game on Wednesday night. No chance they fall between the cracks on the busy Thursday or Friday around the corner. Everyone had to sit, watch and appreciate.
9. A “what if” tournament in many ways
Did this NCAA tournament live up to the regular season we got? Curious what you think! Let me know in the comments. I would say no.
I would then offer a list of teams with different realities due to injury. A component that slowly but surely strengthened its grip on this still-great college basketball season.
These tournament teams all dealt with big-time injuries:
No. 1 (seed) Duke - Caleb Foster, Pat Ngongba. Obviously, the Blue Devils have nothing to blame but themselves for not making it to Indianapolis, ultimately.
No. 2 Iowa State - Joshua Jefferson watched his season end in street clothes
No. 3 Gonzaga - Braden Huff is one of the best big men in college basketball. He played his final game on January 8.
No. 6 Louisville - Is there a world where healthy Mikel Brown is the best freshman in the sport? That might be a stretch, but top 4 isn’t. He played just 11 of Louisville’s last 25 games and missed the last six.
No. 6 BYU - Richie Saunders tore his ACL in mid-February. At that point, the most anticipated BYU season of all-time was destined for a disappointing conclusion. A healthy Cougars versus Arizona for a trip to the Final Four on the line (in theory)? Oh what a treat that would’ve been.
No. 6 North Carolina - Hubert Davis is still the head coach in Chapel Hill if Caleb Wilson doesn’t get hurt and re-injured on the doorstep of his return. It’s as simple as that.
No. 7 Kentucky - We talked a little Kentucky. Things aren’t great. But things would probably be better if Jaland Lowe and Jayden Quaintance combined for more than 13 games.
From beginning to end, it was a great year for the sport. I don’t think the tournament will be remembered that way. With that being said, there were almost certainly moments left undiscovered because of these injuries.
10. My first Final Four in my college town
I adore Indianapolis. It’s approachable. Downtown is walkable. The people are second-to-none. It has sneaky good golf just like the rest of Indiana. And it’s where I went to college (Shoutout to my beloved Butler Bulldogs. Ronald Nored, let’s ride).
My first Final Four coming in my college town is pretty surreal. Almost unreal. New places are scary. New places and meeting new people is a double whammy. At least for me. The Circle City having my back as I met my colleagues in-person for the first time was perfect. Sidebar: those colleagues are great. Cheers to GP, Norlander, Fink, Salerno, Trotter, Cobb, Adi and many more. It was a pleasure.
Like every job, there are things I love about mine. There are things I wish were different. Some of those things are my fault. Some not. But I have a hard time picking something to change about the weekend (maybe bring my golf clubs lol). Indianapolis, you’re a star. Thank you for being the best wingman.
OH! And we hooped in Hinkle. Nothing better.
And with that, I’ll see you in Detroit in 2027.
Thanks for reading :) Catch you next time on Statless.