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The Breakfast Buffet — March Madness Edition

Who’s hungry for college basketball?

Here’s today’s installment of “The Breakfast Buffet”, a daily column that can be found here every single morning getting you caught up to date on everything that’s happened from the day/night before and everything that’s going to happen in the next 24 hours.

Mangia!

Things To Sample

Jay Wright can join truly elite company with two more wins
These are the coaches who have won three or more national titles in men’s college basketball: John Wooden, Mike Krzyzewski, Adolph Rupp, Bob Knight, Roy Williams, and Jim Calhoun. Wright can join that exclusive club with two more wins this weekend. It’s not the most talked about storyline this week in New Orleans, but it’s definitely one to keep in mind as Villanova participates in the Final Four for the fourth time in the last 13 NCAA Tournaments.

Caleb Daniels will play a major role for Villanova against Kansas
The Wildcats are 16-2 in games this season where Daniels scores in double figures. He’ll play extended minutes on Saturday against Kansas due to Justin Moore’s achilles injury. The 6-4, 210 pound senior is averaging 11 points and 6.3 rebounds in four NCAA Tournament games.

Duke-North Carolina feels like the “most anticipated semifinal game ever”
That is not hyperbole. We’ve had great matchups before in the Final Four, but none of those games have the buildup and anticipation that Saturday’s showdown between Duke and North Carolina possesses. This is the first matchup in the NCAA Tournament between these two bitter rivals. If the Tar Heels win on Saturday, they’ll be responsible for ending Coach K’s career four weeks after beating him in his final game at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Shaheen Holloway takes the baton at Seton Hall
What was expected for weeks finally became official on Wednesday as Seton Hall announced that Holloway — who just led St. Peter’s to the Sweet 16 — will succeed Kevin Willard — who is now at Maryland — as head coach of the Pirates. The 45-year old Holloway starred for Seton Hall at point guard over 20 years ago and is revered on the South Orange campus. He’ll now will be tasked with keeping the Pirates in the annual NCAA Tournament conversation. Seton Hall has played in five of the last six NCAA Tournaments under Willard.

Stanford is again dealing with a difficult spring
We’ve seen this movie before. It’s not even April 1st and Stanford has already lost two of its top three scorers in Jaiden Delaire (10.1) — who transferred — and Harrison Ingram (10.5) — who declared for the 2022 NBA Draft. These types of defections are more difficult for a program like Stanford because its academic standards do not allow it to restock via the transfer portal. It’s a recurring issue for the Cardinal, who have not played in the NCAA Tournament in six seasons under Jerod Haase.

Leftovers