MBB: 2026 NCAA Tournament Final Four (Arizona, Michigan, Connecticut, Illinois)

[Duke of Destiny]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2041346758257627522

This game was horrifically one sided - there's about 5 others I can share where Uconn players and pushed in the back with no call, or Cadeau flopping all over the place getting calls. Don't care here, but hope we don't see a trend where B10 teams start getting calls.

It couldn’t happen to a better person, a better team, or a better fanbase. UConn would not have even been in this position if not for one sided officiating in their favor in prior games. The referees finally stopped kowtowing to Hurley.

 

[King of Defense]

The difference in the foul count is simple. Nearly half of UConn's field goal attempts were 3-pointers. You're not going to get fouled on those as often as you're going to get clobbered driving the lane.

I think Hurley complained about roughly 75 percent of the possessions that didn't go his way. What a freaking whiner. And he steps several feet out onto the court. His dad should grab him by the ear and tell him to knock it off.

 

[Duke of Destiny]

Lucas Oil is also absolutely the best of the football stadia for basketball.

I can confirm. I saw Duke win in 2015 and it was such a pleasant experience as a fan. Maybe I’d think of it a little differently if they had lost though.

 

[Bluedog]

Lucas Oil is also absolutely the best of the football stadia for basketball.

I can confirm. I saw Duke win in 2015 and it was such a pleasant experience as a fan. Maybe I’d think of it a little differently if they had lost though.

I've been to Lucas Oil twice for Duke basketball. Once for the championship in 2010, and once for the E8 loss in 2013. Very different experiences.....the layout for the E8 was also quite different and the venue only held something like 25-30,000 as it had the court in the endzone with the 50-yard line curtained off. That felt like a road game at Louisville whereas the game vs Butler was more muted despite also being overwhelmingly Butler fans and it being much larger.

 

[-jk]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2041346758257627522

This game was horrifically one sided - there's about 5 others I can share where Uconn players and pushed in the back with no call, or Cadeau flopping all over the place getting calls. Don't care here, but hope we don't see a trend where B10 teams start getting calls.

Clearly not trying hard enough: no broken (orbital) bones!

(Edit to add: I still miss flowy hoops. )

-jk

 

[TKG]

Hurley losing is a small consolation but a consolation, nonetheless.

 

[rocketeli]

The only way I would have watched this game is if it were possible for both teams to lose. But I guess Uconn losing was the best possible result.

 

[weezie]

We had a nice dinner: red beans and rice. Caught up on some shows that we'd fallen behind on. Opened our glorious tax return showing slightly elevated estimateds but no more due next week. Stared out the window at the nut job neighbor and his dog...
All in all a delightful spring evening. What are you all taking about, did something else happen?

 

[MChambers]

And May is coaching for a National Championship tonight. He also made a Final Four with FAU. I love Jon, but this is a results-based business. Nothing is given to you, and you have to prove it on the court. He has no argument over those two (yet).

I'd rather have Jon.

And I don't need cliches about results-based businesses, and proving it on the court. (Which Jon did against May, in their only meeting.)

 

[King of Defense]

I'd rather have Jon.

And I don't need cliches about results-based businesses, and proving it on the court. (Which Jon did against May, in their only meeting.)

I think Duke's oversight in recent years has been a lack of lottery-level upperclassmen, no disrespect intended to Sion James.

I'd rather have a nucleus of Lendeborg, Mara and Cadeau than a nucleus of freshmen. The best nucleus of freshmen we'll ever see was Cooper, Kon and Maluach, and they couldn't quite make it to the final.

K relied too heavily on freshmen in his last years. It's a mistake Jon is repeating.

 

[pat0125]

I was happy that Uconn lost and there were no miracle shots to save them. However, its interesting that Duke had a win over the eventual national championship.

 

[GoDuke2015]

glad to see UCONN lost, not that I could bring myself to watch the game. Tough year for Duke knowing it was so close to ours.

We'll be back. Go Duke.

 

[sagegrouse]

Happy with Michigan win. Moreover, UConn showed its grit and gumption with its comeback at the end. If Karaban makes the open 3, it goes down to the last possession.

 

[duke79]

I'm glad (sort of) that Michigan won. Anyone but UConn, I guess. But I thought it was an ugly basketball game. I've seen less physical play in a rugby match.

 

[BlueDevilDog]

I'm glad (sort of) that Michigan won. Anyone but UConn, I guess. But I thought it was an ugly basketball game. I've seen less physical play in a rugby match.

About as aesthetically unpleasing as a game could get - too many whistles, not enough shot makes. B10 breaks it's 25 year drought.

 

[Monmouth77]

I think Duke's oversight in recent years has been a lack of lottery-level upperclassmen, no disrespect intended to Sion James.

I'd rather have a nucleus of Lendeborg, Mara and Cadeau than a nucleus of freshmen. The best nucleus of freshmen we'll ever see was Cooper, Kon and Maluach, and they couldn't quite make it to the final.

K relied too heavily on freshmen in his last years. It's a mistake Jon is repeating.

I think everyone agrees that it’s helpful to have older, contributing players, but upper class “lottery picks” are basically extinct. Sion and Quinn Cook were pretty similar in talent and experience. Neither were lottery picks. Both were key pieces of Final Four teams. A healthy Caleb Foster might have been (probably would have been) too. Luck plays a bigger role than many want to acknowledge. This is kind of a therapy thread where we want to work out a magical formula. There isn’t one. Jon is a terrific coach and went toe to toe with the guys whose teams played last night. We had some bad luck (and made some bad plays) in the UConn game. That’s quite literally all there is to it.

 

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Man, that was a rock fight

 

[Kpojman11111]

It was hard to watch F4. They say the toughest losses aren’t to better opponents they’re to your own missed chances. It's not to think what could've been.

 

[BrummieDevil]

I think everyone agrees that it’s helpful to have older, contributing players, but upper class “lottery picks” are basically extinct. Sion and Quinn Cook were pretty similar in talent and experience. Neither were lottery picks. Both were key pieces of Final Four teams. A healthy Caleb Foster might have been (probably would have been) too. Luck plays a bigger role than many want to acknowledge. This is kind of a therapy thread where we want to work out a magical formula. There isn’t one. Jon is a terrific coach and went toe to toe with the guys whose teams played last night. We had some bad luck (and made some bad plays) in the UConn game. That’s quite literally all there is to it.

Yeah, it's really hard to have an upperclassman who's a lottery pick because they're something that's almost extinct.

Lendeborg was a consensus First-Team All-American and he's projected near the end of the lottery. Last year, the only upperclassman in the lottery was Coward; the year prior just Edey and Devin Carter; in '23, nobody. There haven't been more than two upperclassmen drafted in the same lottery since 2016.

Getting one as an upperclass transfer is practically one-in-a-million (though Scheyer just about pulled it off last year), whereas getting a Sion (or the other guys Michigan brought in for this title) is very doable.

 

[SamHouston]

Was E Cadeau re-born after being stricken with food poisoning between the Elite Eight and Final Four? But like Mack Brown famously said, “Never can tell about young people”