Amazing accomplishment by Belgium, actually scoring a goal against the Spain '85 Bears. Salute.
John Gasaway
@johngasaway.bsky.social
Writer: johngasaway.substack.com (it's free!) Author Election of 1840 revisionist Taught basketball analytics
"Radical anti-possession football that would make even Jose Mourinho wince." www.nytimes.com/athletic/744...
Thomas Tuchel is guilty of orchestrating England’s craven World Cup demise
The German coach was supposed to be the master of big-game management but this felt like a self-inflicted collapse
nytimes.com
Not sure the juice -- "Wow, very shaky image of a goal that's clear and beautiful in every other view" -- is worth the squeeze on the ref cam.
It will be nice when we get to the point where we have Lukaku- and KDB-level talent and don't need to start them.
There is no good time to pull a Younghoe Koo, but....
The middle 25 minutes of that 102-minute match were peak football.
Possibly the newly expanded size of the field is quickly forgotten in a cherished tournament.
Not to be fussy or pedantic but he stopped being the Celtics coach five years ago.
Darryn Peterson politely telling his father to hold the mic closer was precious.
Every game where the president wasn't there was kind of the same.
Foul up three demands equal time for when foul up three does work.
Diagramming crunch-time shots by hero instead of location is close to unavoidable. Be nice to the coach.
Cade Cunningam just duplicated the Ty Jerome 2019 Final Four double-dribble. These refs didn't call it either and the announcers didn't notice. So maybe it is hard to catch.
As is said of faculty politics, social media discourse preferring that 19 and not 21 percent of teams qualify is perhaps so heated because the stakes are so low.
It's standard for elite men's head coaches who dance every year to oppose tournament expansion. That's fine, they're sincere, they count. Also true this same group *hated* expanding to 64 in the 1980s. Bob Knight wanted to go back to 32. From March 2025: johngasaway.substack.com/p/keep-march...
Keep March mad
On preservation and risk
johngasaway.substack.com
Not sure bench points holds water as a stat when an unhappy coach benches two starters in Game 7 as a motivational ploy.
Q: Major-conference teams project to get 79 percent of new bids with expansion. Don't expand. A: They got 89 percent of at-larges in 2026. Q: 79 percent is still high. A: Expanding lowers it from 89 to 79. Expanding more would lower it more. Q: 79's too high. A: 89 it is.
What to make of an expansion sought by few except a strange alliance of rapacious elite conferences and long disadvantaged mid-majors. Well, and me. johngasaway.substack.com/p/one-whinin...
One whining moment
Costs and benefits of an unpopular tournament expansion
johngasaway.substack.com
The most annoying part about the NCAAT expanding is also the biggest reason why it's going to happen: the ever-lurking threat that, if the power conferences didn't get their way, they may just up and leave and start their own bracket. But that's bullshit and was never going to happen. Column:
Why March Madness expansion is really happening: NCAA unnecessarily folded to a bluff from power conferences
March Madness is going to expand because of soft threats and endless greed from the power conferences, Matt Norlander argues
cbssports.com
I believe everyone I follow here except @kenpom.com and possibly @lukedecock.bsky.social not only opposes this but does so vehemently. I'm in the very tiny minority this time and I could be wrong. Been known to happen. Now we'll find out. www.espn.com/mens-college...
Sources: NCAA basketball tournaments set to move to 76 teams
The NCAA has initiated the final steps to expand the men's and women's NCAA basketball tournaments to 76 teams, with sources telling ESPN that clearing the final steps needed is just a formality.
espn.com
Congratulations to the entire 2026 field for setting a new record for accuracy at the line over 67 games: 73.3 percent. Tonight's combined 84 percent shooting from Michigan (25-of-28) and UConn (12-of-16) made the difference. Must be the shooting background. Football venues forever.
Immaculate season and true team effort. Michigan, I salute you.
After 60 minutes UConn Final Four opponents are 6-of-34 on threes.
Granting UM is the most balanced Great Team offense on usage ever, Lendeborg club trillioning so far.
Gasaway household contains heartbroken men's basketball multitudes. But at least this was an amazing game. D-III championship paid tribute to UK-Santa Clara 2026 AND Lorenzo Charles 1983. Still a great season for Emory. Go, Eagles! Congrats, Mary Washington.... www.ncaa.com/game/6538153
Mary Washington vs Emory DIII Men's Basketball Game Summary - April 5th, 2026 | NCAA.com
Live scores from the Mary Washington and Emory DIII Men's Basketball game, including box scores, individual and team statistics and play-by-play.
ncaa.com
Illinois scored less than a point per possession twice this year. Both times it was against UConn.