Jon Joseph

Thank you, NJ. Roster management in today's CFB is, in itself, a full-time job. Not losing a starter with poachers on the prowl is a rare accomplishment. If you are only picking from the portal, you can go 13-0 as did FSU in 2023, but you can also crash and burn like FSU in 2024 and 2025. Rather than deal with the roster turnover and the demands from parents and agents, one of Dan Lanning's mentors, Nick Saban, walked away from the game. Dan is wisely following the model of another mentor, Kirby Smart, who uses the portal as necessary to fill holes in the roster. Thanks for another terrific post.

Thanks to H Duck for the detailed and spot-on takes on the Tournament to date. And other Forum friends who have corrected my errors. Six B1G teams in the Sweet 16 is a conference record. We will see one of Iowa or Nebraska in the Elite 8, matching up with Houston, not on the Cougars' usual home court, but just minutes away from campus. As friend H has noted, many of the Blue Blood basketball programs are not in this Sweet 16.

Here's the Sweet 16 broadcast information presented by On3 - Here's hoping that the B1G teams keep on making Bank. 🤑 On32026 NCAA Tournament: Tip-off times, TV channels announce...Tip-off times and television channels for the NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen games have been announced by Turner.

Yes, it was a tough outing for Georgia. So far, the Big Ten is getting the benefit of the bounce. The Florida and Vanderbilt losses could have easily gone the other way. I think 4-seed Arkansas in the West has a decent chance of taking down Arizona and then Purdue, if Texas, behind excellent coach Sean Miller and playing with house money, hasn't already defeated Purdue. 4-seed Bama in the Midwest has the size to pull off a B1G upset and take down Michigan. It's March, and there will be Madness and mad fans. Unfortunately, Oregon fans know what it's like for their team to Flounder 😁 in the postseason. 🤬

CBS Sports looks at FanDuel's 2026 Big Ten Wins Total. https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/big-ten-win-totals-2026-odds-predictions-picks-each-team/

A Sweet 16 ranking from SBNation - https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/1107507/sweet-16-teams-march-madness?ueid=66c3ca35924fb3254520a3f8fe2aa9ce&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=SB%20Nation%20Daily%20Update%202026-03-23&utm_term=

Bleacher Reports Tourney Winners and Losers includes Kentucky's $22 million roster on the L side. Winners and Losers of the Men's 2026 NCAA Tournament Sund...The 2026 men's NCAA tournament field has now been whittled from 68 teams down to the Sweet 16.

FYI - Andy Staples, who walked on at Florida and is well-versed in It Just Means More stuff, recommends the following win total bets - OVER - Georgia 9.5, Kentucky 4.5, Oklahoma 7.5, Ole Miss 7.5, but only if Trinidad Chambliss is eligible, so stay away from the Rebels. UNDER - Vanderbilt 6.5 In Andy's opinion, the other SEC teams are too close to call, including Texas 9.5, Texas A&M 9.5, Alabama 8.5, and LSU 7.5. This will be Kiffin's toughest SEC slate. PO teams Alabama, Texas A+M, and Ole Miss are on the schedule, and LSU also plays Texas, and is on the road at Auburn and Tennessee. The last two games in the regular season see the Tigers on the road at Tennessee and Arkansas. Dabo and Clemson will be looking for revenge in Kiffin's opening game. Will QB Sam Leavitt be healthy after last season's foot injury? The word is that Kiffin really wanted UW's Demond Williams and settled for Leavitt. Off the Wall - When USC Athletic Director Jen Cohen was the AD at Washington, she hired Kalen DeBoer. If Riley does not get the Trojans to the playoffs and Bama wins 9 or fewer games, could we see DeBoer in LA?

Cornhuskers were this close to being shucked. 🤪 On3WATCH: Fred Hoiberg reacts to Tyler Tanner's near half-co....

On3, courtesy of ESPN, ranks the Sweet 16 - So far, I think B12 Iowa State has been more impressive than Arizona. I also wonder if Arizona has the size to match up with the Wolverines. A Midwest Regional final of Michigan vs. Iowa State could produce the tournament champion. On32026 March Madness: ESPN ranks all remaining Sweet 16 tea....

It's a B1G Tournament - https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/2026/03/23/march-madness-winners-losers-sweet-16-ncaa-tournament/89278154007/?utm_source=usatoday-sports-strada&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=usatbaseline&utm_term=hero&utm_

The Sweet 16 - Thursday, March 26th 11 Texas vs 2 Purdue - 7 PM/ 4 PM - CBS - San Jose B1G vs SEC. Texas could be the best 11-seed in NCAA Tournament history. 9 Iowa vs 4 Nebraska - 7:30 PM/ 4:30 PM - TBS - Houston As was the case with Alabama vs. Oklahoma in the CFB playoff, with many teams from the same conference in the field, there will be teams from the same conference matching up. It so happens that the Hawkeyes and the Huskers are permanent football opponents and have a terrific rivalry. 4 Arkansas vs 1 Arizona - 9:45 PM/ 6:45 PM - CBS - San Jose 3 Illinois vs 2 Houston - 10:05 PM/ 7:05 PM - TBS - Houston Home cooking for the Houston Cougars. Friday, March 27th 5 Saint John's vs 1 Duke - 7 PM/ 4 PM - CBS - Washington, DC 1 Michigan vs 4 Alabama - 7:35 PM/ 4:35 PM - TBS - Chicago One sure bet: more fans will be wearing Blue than Crimson. The second B1G vs SEC match-up. 3 Michigan State vs 2 U Conn - 9:45 PM/ 6:45 PM - CBS - DC Hats off to coach Tom Izzo, coaching in his 17th Sweet 16. A 10 PM tip-off. It's not about the money, it's about the student-athletes, right? 🤑 6 Tennessee vs 2 Iowa State 10 PM/ 7 PM - TBS - Chicago ENJOY!

UCLA battled, but UConn was just too tough. Especially without the Bruins' top scorer and rebounder, Biladeau, not able to go. Six B1G teams in the Sweet 16 is a B1G conference record.

Well, tough loss, but consider the location and the competition. Graves and crew are bringing women's CBB back. South Carolina lost in Austin. An excellent and well-coached Longhorns team is odds-on to win it all. But UCLA may be Bruin-up another idea.

You don't need a Hawk's Eye to see that the B1G is coming through. See you later, Gator. Iowa 73 - Florida 72 - In Tampa, Florida. 😍 6th B1G team to advance to the Sweet 16. Come on, UCLA!

What the Pac-10 needed was a litigator with Mike Witty's experience and moxie, and not the firm of Bend, Over, and Smile.

Purdue comes through! The U is Tournament MIA. Purdue 79 - Miami 69 Five of seven B1G teams advance to the Sweet 16, with a chance for two more B1G teams to go to the Sweet 16. How Sweet it is! 👍👌😍

Thanks, Mike. Your analysis is solid, based on the forum to which the breakaway Pac schools subjected themselves. The Pac-10 should have gone to bankruptcy court and filed Chapter 7 liquidation. Bankruptcy court is a court of equity. The fact that two member schools argued they had the right to manage the conference's affairs would not have overcome 10 schools filing for bankruptcy. I have the same beef with the House settlement. Why enter into a settlement when you know the majority of the schools that settled will ignore the terms of the settlement, and every time you have tried to unilaterally tried to limit player compensation, you lost? File Chapter 11. The House settlement enriched the plaintiff's attorneys and did nothing for the good of the game. It simply kept a neutered NCAA in authority. The marketplace left Oregon State and Washington State behind, two schools that for decades benefited from the success of other conference members' media clout and tournament wins. Benefited while spending less money on athletics than the majority of the conference. As Charles notes above, the post-breakup behavior of Oregon State and Washington State has been the height of hypocrisy. Much of the Pac-10 money went toward breaking up the Mountain West, to what purpose? CFB now has a Group of 6 instead of a Group of 5. The Pac-12 reaped the whirlwind of pathetic, unfocused management, and the two-member schools whose leaders helped enable the mismanagement, the two with the least market power were left behind by Fox, ESPN, CBS and NBC. Oregon was supposed to hang in for a speculative streaming deal, perhaps backed up by CW? That would have been financial negligence, per se.

A Tourney update from CBS Sports - https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/march-madness-scores-winners-losers-duke-michigan-texas-a-m/

Thanks for the correction, I can't believe I made a missed State? 😁 How could I have forgotten that the um, er, ah, Aggies have taken Gonzo's place as the bouncing ball leader of the Pac? Unfortunately (🤣), the Tourney dinero earned by the Logan Utes will stay with a conference that the Pac Men are suing. Perhaps justice is served?🤑

The B1G goes 4 for 4 on the day. 3 Illinois 76 - 11 VCU 55 4 Nebraska 74 - 5 Vanderbilt 72 - Nice to get a win over the SEC tournament runner-up. With the Michigan and Michigan State wins earlier today, 25% of the Sweet 16 is B1G. Tomorrow's B1G games: Noon/ 9 AM - 2 Purdue vs 7 Miami in St. Louis, MO. - CBS - 7 PM/ 4 PM - 9 Iowa vs 1 Florida in Tampa, Florida - TBS 8:45 PM/ 5:45 PM - 7 UCLA vs 2 UConn in Philadelphia, PA. - TNT Purdue is a -7.5 favorite. Florida and UConn are odds-on to win. Both the Gators and the UConn Huskies will have far more fans in the stands. UCLA big man Tyler Bilodeau, who sat out the first game with an injury, is expected to suit up for the game against the Gators. Look for Purdue to come through, and maybe we'll see a B1G upset or two. 🙃

The Pac 8 + Gonzo kiss the tournament Goodbye. 🤪 No. 3 Gonzaga 68 - No. 11 Texas 74

Tomorrow, Sunday, March 22nd, No. 8 Oregon vs. No. 1 Texas - 3 PM Pacific - ESPN

Michigan (makes no miss) State, after Michigan takes down Saint Louie, Sparty takes care of Louis(ville) - Michigan State 77 - Louisville 69

Michigan meets Saint Louie in Buffalo and leaves the Billikens feeling Blue - Michigan 95 - Saint Louis U 72