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March Madness Weekend 1 – Coaching still Matters
The opening weekend of the men’s March Madness concluded late Sunday night.
The women’s first two rounds of their tournament are ending today (Monday) with eight games being played. As widely expected, the majority of the top 16 seeds in the women’s bracket have remained intact through Sunday evening.
Not so in the men’s division after the second round.
Down went #1 East seed and defending men’s champion Florida!
The Gators were chomped by 9th seed Iowa 73-72 on Sunday in Round 2.
Iowa’s Hawkeyes (now 23-12) lost four of its last five games coming into the NCAA tournament. Iowa finished in 9th place in the Big Ten Conference this season with a mediocre 10-10 record. Obviously, something has clicked for the Hawkeyes.
Iowa’s new basketball coach brought a long track record of success to Iowa City
Ben McCollum isn’t a household name among men’s college basketball coaches – yet.
The 44-year old head coach at Iowa had won four national titles at the NCAA Division II level over his 15 years at Northwest Missouri State University in rural Maryville, Missouri.
That success translated into job offer for McCollum at Drake University in Des Moines last season. The coach took the Division 1 Bulldogs into the second round of the NCAA March Madness tournament last year and finished with an amazing 31-4 record.
Afterwards, the state’s largest public university in Ben McCollum’s birthplace of Iowa City made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.
The Iowa Hawkeyes had fired Fran McCaffery in March, 2025 after 15 seasons at the school. Though Coach McCaffery’s teams made the NCAA tournament field on seven occasions, the Hawkeyes never advanced beyond the second round.
Until this year – under new head coach Ben McCollum.
Iowa defeated defending national champion Florida 73-72 on a three-point shot with less than five seconds to play. The gritty Hawkeyes are advancing to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 1999. They will face another Big Ten upstart in the University of Nebraska.
Cornhuskers coach Fred Hoiberg had the loudest fans this weekend
Oklahoma City is 430 miles south of Lincoln, Nebraska. You would never have guessed the arena wasn’t transported from Oklahoma to Nebraska over the weekend.
OKC’s basketball arena just hosted the first two rounds of the South Region. If you watched either game involving the Nebraska Cornhuskers, the 18,000-seat arena sounded like those contests were being played in a major Nebraska city.
Coach Fred Hoiberg’s Nebraska Cornhuskers are now 26-8. They claimed the school’s first ever March Madness men’s basketball victory on Thursday with a convincing 76-47 win over Sunbelt champion Troy. Big Red basketball fans then returned in even larger numbers Saturday for the team’s second round match-up against SEC tournament runner-up, Vanderbilt.
In one of the most dramatic game of this year’s very exciting NCAA tournament, Nebraska’s loud and proud fans pushed Big Red to grab a two point lead on a basket with 2.2 seconds remaining.
Then, Vanderbilt’s talented freshman guard Tyler Tanner lofted a desperation half-court shot which could have won the game at the buzzer. The ball was online the entire way. It hit the backboard, bounded inside of the rim, but somehow bounced back out again.
Nebraska survived 74-72 and advanced into the Sweet Sixteen round this week in Houston against fellow Big Ten Conference rival, Iowa.
Cornhuskers coach Fred Hoiberg and Iowa men’s coach Ben McCollum have something unique in common – other than playing in the Big Ten Conference.
These two successful basketball coaches were Finance majors in college. Today’s NIL-driven college sports teams require coaches who can manage a payroll as well as they teach a pick and roll.
This weekend’s games may end the coaching careers for other top basketball coaches!
University of Kansas basketball coach Bill Self is 63 years old. He accepted the Jayhawks top job 23 years ago at age 40. Coach Self has won two national championships while at Kansas (2008 and 2022).
His Jayhawks have participated in the NCAA March Madness post-season tournament in each of his 23 years at the school. That’s amazing!
Coach Self’s Kansas Jayhawks were just bounced out of the NCAA tournament on Sunday by a spunky, quirky St. John’s team 67-65. KU finished the season 24-11.
The Kansas Jayhawks simply failed to launch this season. They invested (quite literally) much of the team’s capital into signing a prima donna 5-star basketball recruit named Darryn Peterson. Coach Self already knew that Peterson would be another “one and done” freshman player looking to impress NBA scouts in this June’s annual college draft.
Peterson played well at times and will, no doubt, become a high draft selection in the “We rarely play defense” NBA. He seems quite ready for his future role.
Darryn Peterson took his basketball talents to Kansas. That’s only because the NBA requires future players to be at least one year removed from high school prior to entering their draft.
Much like the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz, Peterson did not seem to play with much of a heart on the basketball court.
He appeared disinterested most of the time when the ball wasn’t in his hands.
Peterson’s inability to fit-in with this year’s Kansas teammates was Coach Bill Self’s fault. He erred in signing Peterson. Anyone watching the games in Round 1 and 2 this weekend saw several other talented college freshmen shining brighter while leading their teams during March Madness.
Stay or go, Coach Bill Self remains the winningest coach in Kansas Jayhawks history.
His 633 basketball victories plus two national titles at Kansas makes him a sure bet for basketball’s Hall of Fame.
Coach Self developed heart issues of his own four years ago. He is not sure if he plans to return to Lawrence to coach the team again next year.
Perhaps this season’s “heart failure” of 5-star freshman dud Darryn Peterson may have convinced the Kansas basketball coach that retirement isn’t such a bad idea after all.
Former North Carolina basketball great and current coach Hubert Davis could be toast soon
Another major college coach on the hot seat right now is Hubert Davis at the University of North Carolina.
The current Tar Heels basketball coach was also a star guard at the school from 1988-1992. Davis became a first round NBA draft pick and played 14 seasons for six different professional teams.
Hubert Davis later became a North Carolina assistant basketball coach. He was the hand-picked successor to Carolina’s long-time basketball coach Roy Williams.
However, Davis just finished his fifth season in Chapel Hill with a “thud” after an ugly first round loss to Virginia Commonwealth University. VCU (a #11 seed) beat #6 North Carolina 82-78 in overtime after the Rams rallied from 19 points down in the second half to force the extra period.
Like it or not, the record of Coach Hubert Davis continues to be compared against former coaches such as Dean Smith and Roy Williams.
North Carolina (much like Kansas) is expected by its fans to compete for national titles. Recent teams at UNC have not been as competitive as Tar Heel Nation would like for them to be.
Hubert Davis (now age 55) played for Coach Dean Smith and was a long-time assistant under his predecessor, Roy Williams. He is considered “family” at North Carolina. With a contract buyout of more than $5 million, Carolina’s well “heeled” (ha ha – get it?) benefactors can easily afford to write a final check to Coach Davis.
Don’t be surprised if this happens quickly in order to find and sign a talented successor.
Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope could be looking for a new job soon, too
Like Hubert Davis at North Carolina, Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope was a very popular player in Lexington prior to becoming the team’s latest head coach.
The 53-year old Mark Pope was captain of Kentucky’s 1996 national championship team. Expectations were sky high for Mark Pope upon his hiring just two years ago. Pope, who bleeds Big Blue blood, was welcomed to his new job at Rupp Arena in 2024 by a standing-room crowd of exuberant fans hoping for a quick turnaround of Kentucky’s basketball fortunes.
Mark Pope took the job after building a successful program at Brigham Young. He was hired by his alma mater to follow a coaching legend. Former head coach John Calipari’s Kentucky teams won nearly 80% of their games over his 15 seasons in Lexington.
However, the expectations at Kentucky (like at Kansas and North Carolina) are to compete for a national title every season.
John Calipari won just one NCAA championship during his 15 years at Kentucky. He was released in 2024 after three straight seasons of failing to advance into the second weekend of March Madness.
Coach Calipari quickly was hired by SEC rival Arkansas. For the second straight season, it will be the Arkansas Razorbacks participating in the NCAA’s second week. The University of Arkansas men will travel to San Jose to face top West region seed Arizona on Thursday night at 8:45 PM CDT on CBS.
Meanwhile, Kentucky’s current basketball coach, Mark Pope, will be at home watching that game on television like the rest of us.
This year’s Big Blue (22-14) was fortunate to have been given a #6 regional seed. The Wildcats were quite lucky to have prevailed 89-84 in overtime against #11 Santa Clara in the opening round. It took a miraculous half-court shot at the buzzer by guard Otega Oweh to put Kentucky into overtime in that game.
Kentucky’s second round opponent was #2 Midwest seed Iowa State. The Cyclones, quite literally, extinguished Big Blew (oops, I mean Big Blue) 82-63 for Kentucky’s largest NCAA playoff loss since the year 1972. Ouch!
Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope has completed Year #2 in Lexington. Some of those same fans who filled-up Rupp Arena to welcome him back to town may be planning to put a “For Sale” sign on the front lawn of his house.
The post March Madness Weekend 1 – Coaching still Matters appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.
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By SwampSwamiSports.comThe opening weekend of the men’s March Madness concluded late Sunday night.
The women’s first two rounds of their tournament are ending today (Monday) with eight games being played. As widely expected, the majority of the top 16 seeds in the women’s bracket have remained intact through Sunday evening.
Not so in the men’s division after the second round.
Down went #1 East seed and defending men’s champion Florida!
The Gators were chomped by 9th seed Iowa 73-72 on Sunday in Round 2.
Iowa’s Hawkeyes (now 23-12) lost four of its last five games coming into the NCAA tournament. Iowa finished in 9th place in the Big Ten Conference this season with a mediocre 10-10 record. Obviously, something has clicked for the Hawkeyes.
Iowa’s new basketball coach brought a long track record of success to Iowa City
Ben McCollum isn’t a household name among men’s college basketball coaches – yet.
The 44-year old head coach at Iowa had won four national titles at the NCAA Division II level over his 15 years at Northwest Missouri State University in rural Maryville, Missouri.
That success translated into job offer for McCollum at Drake University in Des Moines last season. The coach took the Division 1 Bulldogs into the second round of the NCAA March Madness tournament last year and finished with an amazing 31-4 record.
Afterwards, the state’s largest public university in Ben McCollum’s birthplace of Iowa City made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.
The Iowa Hawkeyes had fired Fran McCaffery in March, 2025 after 15 seasons at the school. Though Coach McCaffery’s teams made the NCAA tournament field on seven occasions, the Hawkeyes never advanced beyond the second round.
Until this year – under new head coach Ben McCollum.
Iowa defeated defending national champion Florida 73-72 on a three-point shot with less than five seconds to play. The gritty Hawkeyes are advancing to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 1999. They will face another Big Ten upstart in the University of Nebraska.
Cornhuskers coach Fred Hoiberg had the loudest fans this weekend
Oklahoma City is 430 miles south of Lincoln, Nebraska. You would never have guessed the arena wasn’t transported from Oklahoma to Nebraska over the weekend.
OKC’s basketball arena just hosted the first two rounds of the South Region. If you watched either game involving the Nebraska Cornhuskers, the 18,000-seat arena sounded like those contests were being played in a major Nebraska city.
Coach Fred Hoiberg’s Nebraska Cornhuskers are now 26-8. They claimed the school’s first ever March Madness men’s basketball victory on Thursday with a convincing 76-47 win over Sunbelt champion Troy. Big Red basketball fans then returned in even larger numbers Saturday for the team’s second round match-up against SEC tournament runner-up, Vanderbilt.
In one of the most dramatic game of this year’s very exciting NCAA tournament, Nebraska’s loud and proud fans pushed Big Red to grab a two point lead on a basket with 2.2 seconds remaining.
Then, Vanderbilt’s talented freshman guard Tyler Tanner lofted a desperation half-court shot which could have won the game at the buzzer. The ball was online the entire way. It hit the backboard, bounded inside of the rim, but somehow bounced back out again.
Nebraska survived 74-72 and advanced into the Sweet Sixteen round this week in Houston against fellow Big Ten Conference rival, Iowa.
Cornhuskers coach Fred Hoiberg and Iowa men’s coach Ben McCollum have something unique in common – other than playing in the Big Ten Conference.
These two successful basketball coaches were Finance majors in college. Today’s NIL-driven college sports teams require coaches who can manage a payroll as well as they teach a pick and roll.
This weekend’s games may end the coaching careers for other top basketball coaches!
University of Kansas basketball coach Bill Self is 63 years old. He accepted the Jayhawks top job 23 years ago at age 40. Coach Self has won two national championships while at Kansas (2008 and 2022).
His Jayhawks have participated in the NCAA March Madness post-season tournament in each of his 23 years at the school. That’s amazing!
Coach Self’s Kansas Jayhawks were just bounced out of the NCAA tournament on Sunday by a spunky, quirky St. John’s team 67-65. KU finished the season 24-11.
The Kansas Jayhawks simply failed to launch this season. They invested (quite literally) much of the team’s capital into signing a prima donna 5-star basketball recruit named Darryn Peterson. Coach Self already knew that Peterson would be another “one and done” freshman player looking to impress NBA scouts in this June’s annual college draft.
Peterson played well at times and will, no doubt, become a high draft selection in the “We rarely play defense” NBA. He seems quite ready for his future role.
Darryn Peterson took his basketball talents to Kansas. That’s only because the NBA requires future players to be at least one year removed from high school prior to entering their draft.
Much like the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz, Peterson did not seem to play with much of a heart on the basketball court.
He appeared disinterested most of the time when the ball wasn’t in his hands.
Peterson’s inability to fit-in with this year’s Kansas teammates was Coach Bill Self’s fault. He erred in signing Peterson. Anyone watching the games in Round 1 and 2 this weekend saw several other talented college freshmen shining brighter while leading their teams during March Madness.
Stay or go, Coach Bill Self remains the winningest coach in Kansas Jayhawks history.
His 633 basketball victories plus two national titles at Kansas makes him a sure bet for basketball’s Hall of Fame.
Coach Self developed heart issues of his own four years ago. He is not sure if he plans to return to Lawrence to coach the team again next year.
Perhaps this season’s “heart failure” of 5-star freshman dud Darryn Peterson may have convinced the Kansas basketball coach that retirement isn’t such a bad idea after all.
Former North Carolina basketball great and current coach Hubert Davis could be toast soon
Another major college coach on the hot seat right now is Hubert Davis at the University of North Carolina.
The current Tar Heels basketball coach was also a star guard at the school from 1988-1992. Davis became a first round NBA draft pick and played 14 seasons for six different professional teams.
Hubert Davis later became a North Carolina assistant basketball coach. He was the hand-picked successor to Carolina’s long-time basketball coach Roy Williams.
However, Davis just finished his fifth season in Chapel Hill with a “thud” after an ugly first round loss to Virginia Commonwealth University. VCU (a #11 seed) beat #6 North Carolina 82-78 in overtime after the Rams rallied from 19 points down in the second half to force the extra period.
Like it or not, the record of Coach Hubert Davis continues to be compared against former coaches such as Dean Smith and Roy Williams.
North Carolina (much like Kansas) is expected by its fans to compete for national titles. Recent teams at UNC have not been as competitive as Tar Heel Nation would like for them to be.
Hubert Davis (now age 55) played for Coach Dean Smith and was a long-time assistant under his predecessor, Roy Williams. He is considered “family” at North Carolina. With a contract buyout of more than $5 million, Carolina’s well “heeled” (ha ha – get it?) benefactors can easily afford to write a final check to Coach Davis.
Don’t be surprised if this happens quickly in order to find and sign a talented successor.
Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope could be looking for a new job soon, too
Like Hubert Davis at North Carolina, Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope was a very popular player in Lexington prior to becoming the team’s latest head coach.
The 53-year old Mark Pope was captain of Kentucky’s 1996 national championship team. Expectations were sky high for Mark Pope upon his hiring just two years ago. Pope, who bleeds Big Blue blood, was welcomed to his new job at Rupp Arena in 2024 by a standing-room crowd of exuberant fans hoping for a quick turnaround of Kentucky’s basketball fortunes.
Mark Pope took the job after building a successful program at Brigham Young. He was hired by his alma mater to follow a coaching legend. Former head coach John Calipari’s Kentucky teams won nearly 80% of their games over his 15 seasons in Lexington.
However, the expectations at Kentucky (like at Kansas and North Carolina) are to compete for a national title every season.
John Calipari won just one NCAA championship during his 15 years at Kentucky. He was released in 2024 after three straight seasons of failing to advance into the second weekend of March Madness.
Coach Calipari quickly was hired by SEC rival Arkansas. For the second straight season, it will be the Arkansas Razorbacks participating in the NCAA’s second week. The University of Arkansas men will travel to San Jose to face top West region seed Arizona on Thursday night at 8:45 PM CDT on CBS.
Meanwhile, Kentucky’s current basketball coach, Mark Pope, will be at home watching that game on television like the rest of us.
This year’s Big Blue (22-14) was fortunate to have been given a #6 regional seed. The Wildcats were quite lucky to have prevailed 89-84 in overtime against #11 Santa Clara in the opening round. It took a miraculous half-court shot at the buzzer by guard Otega Oweh to put Kentucky into overtime in that game.
Kentucky’s second round opponent was #2 Midwest seed Iowa State. The Cyclones, quite literally, extinguished Big Blew (oops, I mean Big Blue) 82-63 for Kentucky’s largest NCAA playoff loss since the year 1972. Ouch!
Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope has completed Year #2 in Lexington. Some of those same fans who filled-up Rupp Arena to welcome him back to town may be planning to put a “For Sale” sign on the front lawn of his house.
The post March Madness Weekend 1 – Coaching still Matters appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.