"You play, what, 36 games, and you try to put yourself in this situation as often as you can. I think every team that's here knows that this weekend is probably the biggest weekend of the year."
Since 2006, Inside Higher Ed has used the NCAA's data on teams' academic performance to select its March Madness winners. First, we compare teams' academic progress rate, the metric the NCAA uses to measure athlete retention and academic eligibility. This year, we used data from 2023-24, the most recent available.
A dire white paper published by three administrators at the University of Louisville about how manifestly untenable and economically punitive the current state of college sports is, even for elite programs. The report is indeed very dire, and accurate insofar as it assesses that, whatever the future of college sports is, it's probably won't involve the NCAA and is also unlikely to get easier for non-elite institutions in an increasingly consolidating national business.
College football's lone transfer portal window for the 2026 season has, for all intents and purposes, closed. Thousands of players entered and programs across the country vigorously filled needs -- and in some cases radically overhauled their roster. Even in a condensed two-week window, the movement left behind a wake of change. Some programs prioritized retention and leaned more heavily on traditional recruiting, a path that can still produce winning results.
Six automatic bids to the NCAA tournament will be awarded to the winners of the six conference tournaments, with championship games scheduled for March 20 and 21. Ten more teams will earn at-large spots determined by the NPI formula, which replaces the PairWise rankings this season. Every game can impact the NPI rankings, which factor in strength of schedule, home/road splits and overtime results.
Before this season tipped off, it would have seemed equally unlikely that this late-January edition of Power Rankings would feature Nebraska in the top five or Miami (Ohio) at all. And yet, that's where things stand after two of the three remaining unbeatens survived another week without a loss. Looking purely at efficiency-based metrics, which tend to be more predictive than résumé-based metrics, neither team fits the bill on paper.
Henderson arrives with elite production against top Texas competition and a feel for the game that can't be coached. With Conner Weigman returning, Henderson doesn't need to be "the guy" on Day 1, but he's too talented to keep off the field. Expect Henderson to be involved in situational packages, red zone wrinkles and some possible momentum-swing snaps.
Jacksonville is outscoring opponents by 6.1 points per game with a +178 scoring differential overall. It puts up 72.9 points per game (68th in college basketball) and allows 66.8 per outing (242nd in college basketball).
The late Joe Kapp could make that claim. He played two sports at Cal, best known for leading the Bears to their most recent Rose Bowl following the 1958 season. But the man who later quarterbacked the BC Lions to a Canadian Grey Cup championship and the Minnesota Vikings into Super Bowl IV also played hoops for the Bears. He was an All-American in football, a backup guard on the basketball team. Kapp played the 1956-57 and '57-58 seasons, averaging just 1.8 points each season.
Chattanooga has a +158 scoring differential, topping opponents by 5.8 points per game. It is putting up 64.4 points per game to rank 210th in college basketball and is allowing 58.6 per outing to rank 43rd in college basketball.
They looked every bit like the nation's best defensive team, keeping the Wolverines off the offensive glass and out of transition. And while the Blue Devils don't look as explosive on the offensive end as some of the other top teams, they sandwiched that Michigan win with two games against Syracuse and Notre Dame in which they scored 201 total points.
