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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

The Sweet 16 games in East Region feels like a Final Four
The four head coaches that will be in Washington D.C. on Friday night — Jon Scheyer, Rick Pitino, Tom Izzo, and Dan Hurley — have combined for 18 Final Four appearances and five national titles. And the four programs that will be playing on Friday night — Duke, St. John’s, Michigan State, and UConn — all represent big time brands with major pedigree. This is the juiciest remaining region in the 2026 NCAA Tournament.

Meleek Thomas is playing at a high level
Darius Acuff gets so much attention for Arkansas and rightfully so, but the Razorbacks’ other talented freshman is also playing at a high level in the NCAA Tournament. Through two games in March Madness, the 6-5 Thomas is averaging 20.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 3.0 assists while shooting 53 percent from the field and 40 percent from the field. Arkansas needs Thomas to continue to have this type of production if it’s going to have a chance to beat Arizona later this week in the Sweet 16 in San Jose.

Arizona State hit a home run by hiring Randy Bennett
Many people never felt that Bennett would ever leave Moraga after 25 years at Saint Mary’s, but the ability of Arizona State AD Graham Rossini to procure a coach of this caliber is a major accomplishment. A Phoenix native, Bennett returns home with the difficult task of building a perennial contender in the Big 12, but it’s a challenge that he’ll ultimately embrace with open arms. Under Bennett’s stewardship, the Gaels played in either the NCAA Tournament or the Postseason NIT every year since the 2007-08 season and were consistently one of the best mid-major programs in college basketball.

On The Side

  • Jon Scheyer said Monday on INSIDE COLLEGE BASKETBALL NOW that there’s an “outside chance” that Duke’s Caleb Foster (foot) could play in Friday’s Sweet 16 game against St. John’s. The 6-4 Foster has not played since March 7th and averages 8.7 points.
  • Tennessee has advanced to the Sweet 16 in four straight seasons under Rick Barnes. The Vols have reached the Elite Eight in each of the past two years.
  • Ben McCollum has a combined record of 56-16 in two years as a Division 1 head coach at both Iowa and Drake.
  • VCU announced on Monday that Phil Martelli Jr. has received a contract extension through the 2031-32 season. The 44-year old head coach led the Rams to their first NCAA Tournament win since 2016 last week against North Carolina.
  • College Hoops Today reported on Monday that Syracuse and Providence will meet next season in a neutral site game at TD Garden in Boston.

Leftovers