College Hoops Today

Serving College Basketball 365 Days a Year

The Breakfast Buffet: March Madness Edition

Mangia!

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.

Things To Sample

Mark Sears is doing Mark Sears things
An All-American playing like an All-American? We shouldn’t be surprised. The 6-1 Sears was great during the regular season, but he’s played even greater during the NCAA Tournament. In two games during March Madness, Sears is averaging 28 points, eight rebounds, and 5.5 assists while shooting 54.8 percent from the field and 47 percent from three-point range. Those are ridiculous numbers. Sears has willed Alabama in the Sweet 16 for the second straight season under Nate Oats. The Crimson Tide will play North Carolina on Thursday in Los Angeles.

Kyle Smith has his work cut out for him at Stanford
There’s no easy jobs in college basketball and this one may be easier than the previous jobs — Washington State, San Francisco, and Columbia — that Smith has had, but that doesn’t mean it’s not going to be difficult. In an era that’s defined by the transfer portal, Stanford’s academic standards make it very difficult to cast a wide recruiting net when you’re attempting to rebuild a roster. Will Stanford’s administration loosen those restrictions to help Smith get this program up and running? Will the school’s NIL component be strong enough to build a power comparable to what we saw in the 1990s with Mike Montgomery? And how will the Cardinal perform in the ACC — which they will join next season — after a long stint in the Pac-12? These are all questions that Smith must answer, but make no mistake about it: This is by far the best job he’s ever had as a head coach.

The Big Ten is again attempting to break through
32 teams from this league have made the last four NCAA Tournaments and only six have reached the event’s second weekend. Just one of those teams has reached the Elite Eight and none have made the Final Four. We’ll see if that changes this week. The Big Ten currently has two teams — Purdue and Illinois — that will play in the Sweet 16 as the Boilers will face Gonzaga and the Illini will meet Iowa State. The Big Ten has not had a team reach the Final Four since 2019.

On The Side

  • UConn’s Donovan Clingan had eight blocked shots in Sunday’s win over Northwestern. He had 11 in six NCAA Tournament games in 2023.
  • Under Kelvin Sampson, Houston is now 14-5 in March Madness.
  • NC State’s Michael O’Connell has 14 assists and three turnovers in two NCAA Tournament games.
  • This is the first time since 2019 that all four number one seeds have advanced to the Sweet 16.
  • TD Garden in Boston is only 84 miles from Gampel Pavilion, where UConn plays its on-campus home games. The Huskies will play San Diego State on Thursday at TD Garden in the Sweet 16.

Leftovers