2026 NIT starts

 Eight NIT games today.

Since all the pre Dance talk about Auburn deserving a bid, I'm curious about USA(SBC) playing at Auburn. SBC PoY Chaze Harris (18.9 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 4.9 apg) will be a marked man.

Seattle(WCC) hosts St Thomas (MN) who finished second in the Summit. Nolan Minessale  20ppg for the Tommies

I thought Wichita was snubbed so we'll see if they play well hosting Wyoming.

March 18, 2026

AAC: WICH  got by WYO and Tulsa needed OT to defeat SFA

Christian May (16 points,  8reb), hit go-ahead 3-trey from the corner with 35.5 seconds left for UNCW  in a 68-67 win over Yale,

 USA lost to AUB and DAV fell to OKST, who benched three starters

SEA represented the WCC well with an easy win over UST. Maldonado (15pts, 5 asst) for the Redhawks.

UNLV beat UCI and LIB beat GM

March 19, 2026

L. Wolf (24pts, 7 reb)   for Illinois St(MVC) in 79-58 W over Kent St(MAC) 

MWC: UNM and NEV won and CSU lost to JOES

March 24, 2026

Down to 8 teams . Games are on ESPN 2

Tuesday, March 24 — Quarterfinals 

No. 1 Tulsa vs. No. 3 Wichita State, 7 p.m.  AAC matchup

No. 1 New Mexico vs. Saint Joseph's, 9 p.m. |  MWC /A10

I'll go with Tulsa and UNM tonight and Dayton and Auburn tomorrow night

Wednesday, March 25 — Quarterfinals

No. 2 Dayton vs. No. 4 Illinois State, 7 p.m. |  A10/MVC

No. 1 Auburn vs. No. 2 Nevada, 9 p.m. |  SEC/MWC

March 25, 2026

T. Buljan UNM (27PTS11REB)for the Lobos who handled the JOES, and Tulsa got by WICH

Wes Miller, ex-Cincy HC, signed a five year deal with Charlotte(AAC)

March 26, 2026

 I guess ILLST (MVC) is the Cinderella of the NIT. C. Walker ILST

(13PTS10REB) They beat Dayton while AUB beat Nevada.

April 2 at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indiana: : AUB/ILLST, UNM/Tulsa

March 27, 2026

Saint Marys promotes M. McConnell to replace Bennet (ASU)

Chris Mack leaves Charleston(CofC) for USF. You'll remember him from his stints at Louisville and Xavier coach.

Donlon, an assistant at Clemson , takes the EMU HC job . He was 155-133 as HC at Wright State and Kansas City(formerly UMKC) HC

March 28, 2026

and bam, Mark Turgeon re-appears to be the HC at UMKC (Summit). His last gig was at MD where he was dismissed after the 2020/21 season

March 29, 2026

Travis Ford is back. Ark-LR(WAC) hired him. His last gig was at St Louis(2016-24)

WAC merges with the ASUN to become the United Athletic Conference on July 1, 2026,

April 2, 2026

ILL ST surprising run is done. AUB blew them out . T. Coleman scored 17 for the Redbirds.

DGreen scored 13 for Tulsa in a 74-69 W over UNM

TUL(AAC)/AUB (SEC) in the final  April 5, at 8 p.m. at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. ESPN2 is airing the game.

April 6, 2026

D. Green (TLSA) 25PTS,6REB in an OT loss  to AUB. Tulsa made a he!! of a comeback in the 2nd half after a weak first half. Tigers prevailed in OT.

April 7, 2026

UNC Greensboro Spartans

Former coach: Mike Jones (March 9)

New coach: Jerod Haase (March 17) , who's last HC gig was at Stanford. He was the HC at UAB(2012-16) before that.

2026 Dance is near

 D. Mingo scored 35 for CTL in a win over UAB and faces USF  today in its bid to steal a dance ticket. WICH/Tulsa is the other AAC matchup.

SDSU escaped with a win over UNM to move to the MWC final against USU, who beat Nevada.

I thought SHSU was going to win the game against KENN, who roared back in the second half for the W and faces LT, who beat MOST, in the CUSA final.

UMBC, my alma mater, faces Vermont in the A-East final, It would be funny if the Retrievers made the Dance and faced UVA, coached by Odom., who coached UMBC in the 2018 Dance upset of UVA.

Akron/TOL in the MAC final

Cal Baprist/UVU in the WAC final

Hawaii/UCI in the Big West final

March 15, 2026

Cheers to to D. Armstrong(33pts) and UMBC who beat VER to get  the AE Danced ticket 

A. Lyles (15PTS16REB) for Akron who's Dancing

WICH/USF in the AAC ffinal today. I think both are going to the Dance

Dayton/VCU in the A10 final today. Does the A10 get three tickets with SLU losing to Dayton yesterday

Cal Baptist , Hawaii , KENN, USU , Howard, and PVAM punch tickets

March 16, 2026

WCC (3), MAC(2), and A10(2) is fair , but Wichita St (AAC) and SDSU (MWC) deserved a bid. Big East only got three so it looks like it's a power four(35) now. I'm taking UMBC to beat Howard tomorrow night in one of the play-ins

March 18, 2026

Well UMBC won't  have a  chance to play UVA at the Dance.  Howard played better early and survived a late comeback attempt by the Retrievers. King led UMBC with 19 points

March 19, 2026

MOH shut up some folks last night. Elmer scored 23 for the RedHawks in a play-in W over SMU

I'm tempted to take Akron but don't like the matchup with Texas Tech

March 20, 2026

A10 goes 2-0. SLU blows out GA, and VCU roars back to defeat UNC. Will Schertz, the SLU HC, leave after one season?

High Point(BIg South) edges Wisky.

March 21, 2026

Falslev UTST (22 PTS , 7 REB , 4 AST) and the Ags rode a strong second half to a win over NOVA

Daniels Jr. CABP (25 PTS , 7 REB , 3 AST) on'y scored 18 in the first and were down by 20, and played a better second half in a 68-60 loss to Kansas.

Wright St was in the game with UVA until the final minute. UVA turned up the D on the Jacarmy and held on for the win

MAC: Akron & MOH each lost by 20 or more points.

Wild  action at the end of regulation  UK tied it at the buzzer and survived OT for the W over Santa Clara.

March 22, 2026

R.Martin HIPT (30 PTS , 4 REB , 5 AST) helped the Panthers hang with ARK but fell 94-88. VCU and SLU  were rolled by respectively, ILL and MICH. GONZ lost to TX.

March 23, 2026

Utah St, the last non-power hoops  teams at the 2026 Dance, lost to Zona 78-66.  Aggies were outrebounded  54-26

April 1, 2026

No foolin: : Ben Jacobson, who returned 11 members of his 2024-25 roster to the UNI squad that made the 2026 Dance, is taking the HC job at Utah St.

April 4, 2026

A first name from a an old, western flick-  Nevada Smith, an asst at Marquette, replaces G. McNamara(Syracuse) at Siena. 

Non-power conference tournaments in March 2026

 Horizon: Detroit Mercy has been on my radar for a few weeks. Last night T. Nadeau (17PTS 6REB) for the Titans who move on to face RMU on Sunday

NEC: Chicago St was on the edge of downgrading many of its sports teams a few years ago. They gave LIU a scare  before falling 79-75 . S. Byard (22PTS12REB) for the Cougars

OVC: T. McMorris(15PTS13REB3BLK) for EIU in upset of SIU-Edwardsville

March 6, 2026

SBC: T. Moore (25PTS4STL) in the GASO upset of Ark St  and now faces USA. TXST plays USM in the other semi.

Top seed Navy survived Bucknell to stay alive in the Patriot T

March 7, 2026

MOH needed OT to beat Ohio and remain undefeated. Zips crushed NIU. Not the MACT yet ,but these teams are getting a lot of national ink.

A. Applewhite scored 34 points for GASO in an  upset of  USA . USM got by TXST  in the SBCT

High Point rolled GWEB and looks very tough in the Big SouthT

March 8, 2026

Rod Strickland, a player at DePaul, then the NBA, is going to the Dance again, this time as the HC of LIU(NEC).  He was a key player for DePaul when the Blue Demons went to three straight NCAA Tournaments and back-to-back Sweet Sixteens in the late late 1980s.

 Tenn St will represent the OVC at the Dance

One seed NDST will face three seed ND in the Summit final. George Natsvlishvili made a free throw with 0.1 seconds for the ND Fighting Hawks's in a 67-66 W over 2 seed St. Thomas.

Anderson 25 PTS , 12 REB , 3 AST for HIPU, who faces two seed Winthrop today for the Dance ticket.

March, 9, 2026

GASO continued its hot run with a W over USM and will face Troy, who beat the Herd, in SBCT final.

NDKSU won the Summit 

L. Wells NKU  26PTS 9 REB in a blowout of GB in the HorizonT. NKU plays Wright St tonight. DET /RMU in the  other semi-final matchup

March 10, 2026

After Santa Clara beat SMC in the WCCT semis, I'm guessing  the WCC gets three tickets. Zags beat the Beavers to set up tonight's final. S. Gavalyugov 23PTS, 6AST for the Broncos. 

GASO ran out of gas and fell to Troy in the SBCT. Nice game for Dowd, TROY F,

23 PTS , 13 REB , 3 AST

Wright St won  and faces DET inthe Horizon finaland. Furman  upset ETSU, the 1 seed in the Southern Conference.

March 11, 2026

Zags get the WCC ticket with a W over SC.

K. Pickett WRST had 17PTS,7REB,4BLK in the comenback win over DET for the Horizon ticket.

Sienna knocked off MERR for the MAAC ticket

Southland Semis: SFA came back late to beat TAMCC  and McNeese held up UTRGV

March 12, 2026

McNeese punches Southland ticket. Garcia scored 31in the win over SFA. Will Wade left for the NCST job and Bill Armstrong doesn't miss a beat.

Idaho beat Montans for the Big Sky ticket.

1 seed Liberty upset in the CUSA semis by M. Osei-Bonsu (31PTS8REB) and his MOST teammates

March 13, 2026

L. Bettiol for (25PTS8REB)  MASS in thee upset of MOH. Akron nipped BUFF and TOL and KENT also advance in the MAC.

M. Falslev(24PTS9REB3STL) for USU over UNLV. SDSU, NEV, and NM also advance in the MWC.

KENN beat WKU to face MOST and LT beat MTSU  to face SHSU todayin the CUSA.

Non power hoops, it's mid February

 Enis scored 27 for first place USF(AAC) who needed OT to get by FAU.

Wells scored 19 for RMU(HOR) in a win over OAK. Fourth straight win for the Colonials.

Smiley scored 21 for first place BEL(MVC) in a win over MUR.

Feb 17, 2026

Fricks scored 27 for the Herd in a win over USA that places them in a 3 way tie for second with Troy and USA behind first place Appy.

Coppin St edged SCSU in MEAC action for its third straight win.

Feb 18, 2026

MOH beat UMass but Akron beat WMU to remain 1GB.

Henley scored 21 for GC in a big MWC win over the Aztecs.

Feb 19, 2026

ASUN: C. Ark has won 10 straight to move within a game of APU. Last night QUE beat UNA to move into third.

T. Moore scored 27 for WKU(CUSA, 3rd) in an OT win over DEL.

Feb 20, 2026

J. King scored 24 pts for UMBC in a win over VER, that puts them atop the AM.East

Marshall knocked off APPYwith a strong second half and moved into a tie for first with Troy in the SBC. Speer scored 24 for the Herd

Feb 21, 2026

Horizon: Nadeau scoreed 25 for DET in a W over MILW . Titans is a hot team that's within a half game of second place GB who beat OAK last night

Feb 22, 2026

Three teams are 11-5  atop the Big West . HAW, beat UCSB.  UCI, lost to UCSD. and CSN beat LBSU.

HIgh Point(14-1, Big South) beat Winthrop for it 10th straight W

Feb 23, 2026

Horizon: Lovejoy scored 33 for DET in a W over GB to move into a tie for 2nd with RMU and OAK, 2GB of WRST.

In the AAC, MEM' descent continues. UAB beat them yesterday.

Feb 24, 2026

C. Benson scored 30 for the Privateers in an upset of SFA, which allowed McNeese, a winner over UTRGV, to move within a game of SFA in Southland action.

Feb 25, 2026

MOH and Akron won and remain 1/2. in The MAC 

L'Etang (26PTS10REB3BLK) for  DAY in an A10 upset of SLU.

 Fricks led the Herd to a win over ODU, Troy beat ULL. They are tied with Appy atop the SBC

Feb 26, 2026

WCC- Zags and  SMC made it clear last night they are still the class of the conference. Zags beat POR by 41. M. Lewis  scored 27 for SMC(15-2) in a W over Santa Clara(14-3). 

Broncos finish the regular season against the Beavers. SMC faces the Zags.

Feb 27, 2026

Hawaii and UCI each won to remain tied atop the Big West

RJ Johnson scored 25 for KENN in an upset of LIB. I can see the Flames getting upset in the CUSAT

Feb 28, 2026

Finally a MOH game on CBSSN, and I was underwhelmed. Coach Steele lost his composure a few too many times. Atlason (16pts) was solid for MOH in a comeback win over WMU.

Akron rolled Kent St on ESPN and looks like the better team now T. Johnson(22PTS6REB7AST) for the Zips.

 Appy and the Herd lost, allowing Troy, a winner over ULL to sit alone atop the SBC.

T. Dowd(TROY 22PTS11REB)

March 1, 2026

VCU beat FORD to stay 1GB of SLU in the A10

SMC took care of the Zags leaving them tied atop the WCC. M. Lewis scored 31 for the Gaels Zags get  # 1 seed via tiebreaker (2-0 vs. Santa Clara)

March 2, 2026

K.Giles scored 28 for WICH in a W over UTSA. USF won and has a two game lead in the loss column over WICH and Tulsa.

WICH has one game left. USF & Tulsa each have two games left

Tulsa crushed Tulane.

Wonder if the penny drops on Coach Hardaway.  MEM fell to 7-9 in AAC play. It wasn't that long ago that the PAC 12 was wooing the Tigers.

March 3, 2026

Portland State finished first in the Big Sky with a win over Weber. Jaylin Henderson  (20 points and 10 assists) for the Wildcats. Sac St  made it to an 8 seed  with a win over Idaho St.  

Sac St: Football headed to the MAC in 2026. All other sports to the Big West in 2026

Exit from Big Sky is effective June 30, 2026

March 4, 2026

UNLV clobbered USU 92-65. SDSU didn't take advantage of it losing to BSU, led by D. Fielder(33PTS 9REB). UNM is .5gb of USU in the MWC.

MOH and Akron keep winning in the MAC

Non Power hoops -it's February

 WCC: Ike scored 30 for Gonz in a win over SMC and remains a game ahead of  of SCU who blew out LMU.

Yaloho scored 26 for Wazoo in a romp over PORT, and the Beavers survived SD

SF beat PAC

MOH(MAC) beat NIU to remain undefeated.

Feb 2, 2026

AAC:  T. Riley scored 30 for Tulsa, who's tied wth CHAR for first,  in a W over WICH   J. Riley scored 35 points for ECU in an upset of FAU. MEM lost to TUL and fell to 8th

Feb 3, 2026

P.Johnson scored 35 points for Sac St , who moves to middle of the Big Sky pack with a win over Weber St. 

This is the Hornets first year under Mike Bibby. Shaq is the GM.Next season they join the Big West.

Feb 4, 2026

Akron had a close one, surviving EMU to stay 1GB behind MOH who edged Buffalo. T . Johnson scored 17 for the Zips

I''m keeping my eye on UMass(6-6). M. Banks Jr 37PTS 5STL in  a win over CMU.  Frank Martin was an assistant for Huggy  at Cincy & Kansas ST

Feb 5, 2026

D. Green scored 27 for Tulsa in a W over  FAU and sits alone atop the AAC. USF, a winner over UTSA, and CHAR, a loser to WICH, are in second place.

Feb 8, 2026

SBC took 10 of 13 in the challenge with the MAC. 

Closest games were USM 66 KENT 65, CCU 94-91 win OT over UMass, & JMU 73 TOL 71.

The big attraction was undefeated MIOH 90  MRSH 74. E. Elmer (18pts, 9reb) for the Red Hawks

NIU and Ball St were the other two MAC winners.

Feb 9, 2026

I Nelson(25, 10) for USF in a W over Tulsa which leaves them tied for 1st in the AAC. MEM found a pulse and beat CHAR. WICH beat Tulane.

Feb 10, 2026

Periodic check -in on Chicago St. Cougars(3-9 NEC) beat St Francis. Tankersley and B. Bush each scored 19. LIU(10-1) sits atop the NEC

Attendance was 27 for a Monday afternoon game .

 Huibregtse scored 20 for Bradley(10-5) in a MVC upset of Belmont(12-3)

Feb 11, 2026

Gory scored 21 for the Utes in a win over FRES and sit atop the MWC

GM lost to RICH and fell to third in the A10. Zags blew out Wazoo in WCC action.

Feb 12, 2026

Herd are buzzing around APPY at the top of the SBC with a win over ODU. Fricks scored 24 in the win.

Santa Clara and SMC each won last night. SC is a half game up on the Zags and 1.5 games up on SMC

Feb 13, 2026

Daniels scored 32 for  first place Cal Baptist(WAC)  in a win over SUU. Lancers are a game up on UVU and UTU. UTU beat UVU.

Horizon: Wright St lost  but remains in first with Oakland's loss last night.  green Bay is lurking in 3rd place on a three game winning streak

Feb 14, 2026

MOH keeps rolling with a win over Ohio ,while Akron stays 1GB with the W over UMASS.T.Johnson scored 23 for the Zips.

SLU has one OOC loss to Stanford and a win over SantaClara, first in the WCC.

Feb 15, 2026

Zags knocks SCU out of  first in the WCC. Ike (21pts, 15reb).

JMU knocks APPY out of first, and USA beats Ark St in OT to take the top SBC spot.

USU(MWC) spanked MEM(AAC) M. Collins (24pts)

Non power hoops- conference play in January

 I thought UMass would start off better playing in the MAC , but they are 0-3 in MAC play with an OT loss to BGSU. J. Campbell scored 47 points for the Falcons

ORU/NDSU was a back and forth affair in Summit action , Strickland scored 15 for  the Bison in the double OT win.

CHAR beat WICH in OT in AAC action. Mingo scored 29 for the 49ers.

Herd move 2-1 in the SBC with a W over Appy. Speer scored 21 for MU.

Jan 6, 2026

Green Bay 8-8 ,3-2(HORIZON) edged MILW 79-76 in Horizon play. Gottlieb is having a better season than last year. J.Allen scored 21 points for the Phoenix

Jan 7, 2026

Definitely didn't expect  the Cowboys to squash the Rebels. WYO 98 UNLV 60. Walker scored 28 for WYO.

Dayton  played a sluggish first half against GW but  were only trailing  by 5 at halftime and outscored GW by 12 in the second half for  79-72 W. Bennett scored 20 for the Flyers.

Jan 9, 2026

Gonzaga outscored Santa Clara, 52-40 in the second half for an 89-77 win. Ike scored 34 for the Zags.

LMU outlasted SF in OT. R.Beasley of the Dons was the high scorer of the game with 32 points

Beavers beat the Redhawks

Ok, I still check in on Chicago St. They played decent  but went to 0-3 in the NEC with  a 70-63 loss to FDU. Attendance was 329 and, it was not snowing in Chitown yesterday.

Jan 10, 2026

MAC: Woolfolk scored 20 for MOH(17-0, 5-0)  in a W over Toledo, Lyles(18, 10) for Akron(12-4, 3-1) in a W over BGSU.

Jan 11, 2026

W. Fricks (21PTS10REB3ST) wasn't enough for Herd who fell to G St.  He!! of a matchup in  in VA. JMU out scored ODU 43 -25 in the second half for a home W.

Troy, CCU,USA, USM, Ark St won yessterday. USM is in first by a half game.

Jan 14, 2026

MOH(MAC) remains undefeated, pummels CMU

In MVC action UIC edged UNI Momoh scored 21 for the Flames.  J.Johnson scored 35 for BRAD in an OT win over EVAN.

Jan 15, 2026

It appears UAB is waking up. KLM (19, 12) for the Blazers in a win over TUL.

WTH happened to USM. Campbell scored 30 for the Trojans in a 91-65 W over USM . Troy is in first place in the SBC

Winthrop beat  High Point to move into a tie for first with them in the Big South.

Jan 17, 2026

MAC Friday: Zeigler(28 7 4) led Ball St to a W over Ohio. Kent St survived TOL and sits 1GB of MOH

Jan 18, 2026

Moore (20pts, 6ast) led GCU to a big win over USU . UNLV, NEV, & SDSU also won among theMWC top 6 teams.

Queens sit atop the ASUN after a win over  STET. Mann(20, 10, 6) for Royals

Jan 20, 2026

GMU (FT 49%, FT 65%) survived GW in a nip & tuck game and sit atop the A10 by a half game over SLU who 's ranked 24th in the  AP25

Jan 21, 2026

Suder(MOH) and Whaley(KENT) put up  solid numbers.  The Red Hawks survived in OT 107-101. AKR rolled BUFF and 1.5GB MOH in the MAC.  SLU beat DUQ to move into a tie for first with GMU in the A10.

Jan 22, 2026

It took 2OT for  Seng(34pts) & Troy U to beat ODU and remain atop the SBC. Tulsa handled MEM easily in AAC action. FAU sits atop the AAC

Jan 23, 2026

I have to mention the Herd hitting 26/52 treys in a 115-60 win over ULM. Duninsky and Hollenback each hit 5 treys.

MOSU is in the thick of the CUSA race. Palek score 26 in the Bears win over NMSU.

Hawaii and UCI remain tied atop the Big West. HAW beat CSB and UCI beat UCR.

Jan 24, 2026

Billikens spanked the Bonnies in A10 action

G. Emejuru (16reb) for ECU getting  its first AAC win. ECU 63 NTX 59

UMass is finding its way in the MAC up to 4-5 with a W over BUFF

Jan 25 2026

MEM loses again , this time to WICH. 

TEM and Tulsa each won and are 1GB FAU(AAC)

K.Williams scored 21 for MOSU(CUSA-2nd) in a win over UTEP

Jan 28, 2026

MAC: MOH edged UMass to remain undefeated.

A10: A. Williford, JOES guard had 17pts and 10 reb, in a blowout of LOYCH. T. Green scored 23 for 1st place SLU in a win over GW.

Jan 30, 2026 

Metheny scored 29 for the Flames (10-0, CUSA)in a W over MTSU

C.Davis scored 23 in JMU's upset of first place Troy(SBC)

Pierce(25pts, 10 reb) was not enough for PREB to knock of first place High Point(Big South)

Jan 31, 2026

Horizon: Detroit led by Spratt's 28 points beat NKU. Burch scored 18 in WRST win over MILW and lead Oakland  by a half game.

 Charlotte(AAC) beat Rice for its 4th win in a rowand takes over the top spot.

Last two O5 bowl games are today

 Cincy still has its O-Line, but some of the best Bearcats from other positions  ain't playing today.  Navy 24 Cincy 23

TX St finished the regular season well . I'll go with Bobcats in 27-24 W over Rice in this intrastate matchup

CCU scooped up Ryan Beard the Missouri St HC.

Ohio U promoted Hauser after the Smith mess

Jan 2, 2026

Bobcats crushed the Owls. Navy did the same to Cincy. Solid game from Horvath, the Navy QB. 2-0 this blog 2-0.

I was looking at conference moves and  was reminded that UTEP goes from the CUSA to the MWC on 7/1/26.

Jan 27, 2026

 Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, a safety from Toledo, did not try to the transfer portal and may possibly go in RD1 of the 2026 NFL draft. Forced fumbles  is one of his better stats.

April 8, 2026

EMW , a safety from Toledo, is getting some mention to be taken late in RD1, and Chris Johnson, a CB, from San Diego State, may go early in RD2.

North Dakota State MWC football schedule in 2026 Home games vs. Nevada, NIU, UTEP, Wyoming. 

Away at Air Force, Hawaii, New Mexico, UNLV.

And I'm guessing Hawaii  visits NDS in 2027- crazy.