The first weekend of the NCAA Tournament is a foregone conclusion, with very different winners and losers.
Among the big winners are the Big Ten and John Calipari, who in his second season as head coach led Arkansas to its second Sweet 16 appearance. Meanwhile, Kentucky is on its way home.
advertise
As for future lottery pick Darryn Peterson, he didn’t end up impressing NBA executives at Kansas. Let’s take a look at the biggest winners and losers from the first two rounds:
Winner: John Calipari
John Calipari’s exit from Kentucky marked a sea change in the college basketball landscape.
The most successful program in the game is parting ways with one of the most successful coaches of his era, who created a pipeline of elite talent for Lexington and led the Wildcats to a national championship.
But a chronic lack of tournament success, including a nine-year Final Four drought, made the relationship difficult to sustain. The two parted ways after a first-round exit in the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
advertise
Fast forward two years and Calipari earned the break. Calipari took some of his talent with him to a new job at SEC rival Arkansas and led the Razorbacks to the Sweet 16 in his first year. Now, he’s leading Arkansas back to the Sweet 16 with star point guard Darius Acuff Jr. leading the way through two games and arguably the best player in the tournament.
Acuff, a future NBA lottery pick with top-5 upside and a first-team All-America selection as a freshman, will be scorched earth in the tournament. In wins over Hawaii and High Point, Acuff averaged 30 points, 6.5 assists and 1 steal per game. He shot 49 percent from the field and 5 of 11 three-pointers (45.5 percent). He was the talent Kentucky took for granted during Calipari’s reign.
Now he’s in Arkansas for the second weekend of the tournament. Kentucky returns home after a tough second-round loss to Iowa State, where head coach Mark Pope will enter his third season coaching his alma mater.
-Jason Owens
advertise
Loser: Darin Peterson
Lottery pick Darryn Peterson enters the tournament with a chance to solidify his spot on the NBA draft boards and answer questions that dogged him during his freshman year at Kansas.
With Kansas falling to St. John’s in the second round, questions remain surrounding Peterson and his position at the top of the draft is uncertain.
Peterson’s championship game was a microcosm of his tumultuous regular season at Kansas. In the first round, he scored 10 straight points and showed off his strength with an elite triple to help Kansas take a 26-point lead against Cal Baptist.
advertise
But late in the second half, when Cal Bapist cut the lead to six points, Peterson disappeared in the final seconds. He made his 28th point with 5:43 left in the game but did not score again. In fact, he was barely involved in Kansas’ offense and didn’t touch the ball on multiple runs down the court as he cut Cal Baptist’s 66-52 deficit to 66-60 in the final minutes.
Kansas survived a failed bid to prepare for Sunday’s game against St. John’s. Peterson once again led the Jayhawks with 21 points. But there were times during the game when he wasn’t involved in KU’s offense. Then on the final play, Peterson, a formidable defender, offered no help and Dylan Darling drove through the Kansas defense almost unchallenged and drained the game-winning layup at the buzzer.
This may be the final image of Peterson’s college career. And it’s not a flattering look.
advertise
-Jason Owens
Winner: Betting favorite
There are no upsets in the NCAA Tournament, which is very good business for those betting on the favorites.
The favorites went 16-0 in the first round on Friday, and that good fortune carried over into the second round. Yes, No. 11 Texas gave us a true upset by beating No. 3 Gonzaga, but even some of the games that looked like upsets actually weren’t.
No. 6 Tennessee has a slight advantage over No. 3 Virginia. The same goes for No. 5 St. John’s, which is 3.5 points ahead of No. 4 Kansas.
There are countless theories as to why the favorites are doing so well this year – zero budget being a major idea. Will this momentum continue into the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight? We’re not so sure. In the next few rounds, the gap between the teams will be significantly narrowed.
advertise
——Nick Bromberg
Losers: West Coast Conference
The West Coast Conference’s days of winning three NCAA tournament bids may be over. They are disappearing, with none of the three WCC teams in the tournament making it past the second round. Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s University and Santa Clara University are all participating in the 2026 men’s tournament.
But the Gaels lost to No. 10 Texas A&M in the first round, and No. 10 Santa Clara was defeated in overtime by No. 7 Kentucky on Friday after Otega Oweh’s incredible buzzer-beater sent the game into overtime. The No. 3 Zags had some scuffles with No. 14 Kennesaw State, but it was the only win the WCC got.
advertise
Gonzaga was defeated on Saturday night by an 11th-ranked Texas team that started the NCAA Tournament as a top-four seed. This was Gonzaga’s last game as a West Coast Conference team.
The Bulldogs will join the revamped Pac-12 in the 2026-27 season. Much of the WCC’s luster will follow. Gonzaga is one of the greats in college basketball and has made tremendous contributions to the league over the past two decades. 2026 marks the fourth time in league history that it will have three NCAA Tournament teams. All four of these examples occurred in the 2000s.
——Nick Bromberg
Winner: Big Ten
The Big Ten enters Sunday with its NCAA Tournament status determined and four Sweet 16 bids secured.
advertise
Then two more games were added, one of which was the biggest upset of the tournament. Purdue clinched the league’s fifth Sweet 16 berth with a 79-69 win over Miami earlier Sunday. Ninth-seeded Iowa State pulled off an upset victory over No. 1-seeded and defending champion Florida State on the second weekend of the tournament.
Alvaro Folgueiras’ 3-pointer with 4.2 seconds left sealed the upset victory. UCLA fell short of the Big Ten on Sunday night as UConn suffered its only loss in the second round with a 7-7 record.
But Iowa State and Purdue will join Michigan State, Michigan State, Nebraska and Illinois in the Big Ten party in the Sweet Sixteen.
advertise
-Jason Owens
Loser: Blue Blood
Especially North Carolina, Kansas and Kentucky.
None of the highly regarded programs survived the first weekend, with North Carolina holding a 19-point lead over Virginia Commonwealth in the first round, Kentucky getting blown out against Iowa State in the second round, and Kansas halting a St. John’s rally in the second half against a weak Jayhawks defense with a buzzer-beater at the rim.
Not only will these three programs not add to their total of 18 NCAA championships. But they will all leave the Championship with a degree of uncertainty about their manager.
advertise
There are rumors that North Carolina could part ways with Hubert Davis as early as this week. Mark Pope’s seat at Kentucky isn’t that hot, but he will enter his third season coaching his alma mater under intense pressure.
Kansas’ Hall of Fame coach said after Sunday’s loss that “I haven’t decided yet” whether he will return for a 24th season with the Jayhawks. His legacy as a two-time NCAA champion is solid, and the 63-year-old Self, who is battling ongoing health issues, wants to consult with his family before deciding on his basketball future.
This is a critical moment for all three programs, and decisions over the next few days and season will determine their futures.
-Jason Owens