Was bummed to see Xavier lose last night to Texas, but the Musketeers went as far as they could go with essentially a 7-man rotation. The future is bright for them and the Hoyas.

I’m now pulling for the Jays, SDSU, and Florida Atlantic. That said, Texas looks awfully good and could win it all. Tomorrow’s game against Miami should be a great one.

I would define that as UNC, Duke, UCLA, Kentucky, Kansas, Indiana. Yes Indiana still included, taking the long view. UConn has championships, so they’re the closest to a traditional power still alive, but I’m looking beyond 25 years.

Edit to add: last time without one of the 6 teams listed above reaching the elite eight was 1959.

but UConn seems nouveau riche. They are the Miami of the basketball world.

There are Helms Champions from before the tournaments, and the NIT and NCAA vied for prominence up until 1950, so Helms is still the best way to go until 1950.

Including the two KU championships from the 1920s explains the difference between KU and Connecticut.

KU championships: 1922, 1923, 1952, 1988, 2008, 2022
Conn championships: 1999, 2004, 2011, 2014
Duke championships: 1991, 1992, 2001, 2010, 2015

But part of Miami football is that they are not long-tenured - they are ranked in the mid-40s for total wins. Duke, on the other hand, is ranked #4 for wins.

So perhaps UConn IS Miami, whereas Duke is more of a Nebraska, who played for a long time with many wins, but only started winning championships post-70s.

And Kansas is Alabama or USC (but not ND, because they've actually won it all recently).

I think there’s a solid next tier with Villanova, Syracuse, Louisville, and Arizona that Connecticut belongs in.

Wins tonight, no #1 or #2 and three #3 left.

In fact, I’m not sure there’s been a year with no
#1’s in the final 4?

I found 2011, 2006, and 1980.