St. John’s Dylan Darling became the first player in NCAA Tournament history to make a game-winning buzzer-shot for his first basket of the game to beat Kansas.

The Red Storms Zuby Ejiofor, 2026 Big East Player of the Year, helped St. John’s beat his former team, 67-65.

Journey Houston drives for a layup against UVA’s Caitlin Weimar. UVA won the game, 83-75.

Following the initial weekend of NCAA Division I Basketball competition, more commonly known as March Madness, the respective men’s and women’s marches in their races for national championship glory have reached the “Sweet 16” stage.

In the men’s division, number one seeds Arizona, Michigan and Duke advanced while defending champion and number one seeded Florida was upset by ninth seeded Iowa. Iowa Hawkeye substitute forward Alvaro Folgueiras (14 points) hit the game-winning three-point shot with 4.5 seconds left in regulation time to stun the Gators.

Another major upset was recorded by the number five seeded St. John’s Red Storm over the fourth-seeded Kansas Jayhawks by the final score of 67-65. Red Storm guard Dylan Darling stepped into NCAA tournament history when he scored the game-winning basket as the buzzer sounded. This is the first time in postseason tournament history that a player scored a true game-winning buzzer-beating basket as his only points of the game.

Much of the postgame conversation centered on the health condition of Kansas coach Bill Self, who has battled heart issues. The 27-year coach of the Jayhawks was quoted: “I love what I do, but I want to feel good while I am doing this job.” Don’t be surprised if Self, a two-time national championship coach, steps down from his position in the near future.

The rest of the men’s Sweet-16 bracket and matchups go as follows: Top-seeded Duke vs. (5) St. John’s; (1) Michigan vs. (4) Alabama; (1) Arizona vs. (4) Arkansas; (2) Houston vs. (3) Illinois; (2) Purdue vs. (11) Texas; (2) Connecticut vs. (3) Michigan State; (2) Iowa State vs. (6) Tennessee; and (4) Nebraska vs. (9) Iowa.

The Lady Huskies of Connecticut continued their dominating journey toward back-to-back national titles by thoroughly embarrassing the University of Texas/San Antonio (UTSA) and Syracuse in their first two postseason outings. All-American Azzi Fudd, the “Final 4 Most Outstanding Player” of last year’s national championship squad, scored a career-high 26 points in the first half of their 98-45 demolition of (9) Syracuse in her last game at Gampel Pavilion. This game was a no-contest affair from the opening tap. Fudd would finish with 34 points on eight three-point shots, matching her career highs in both departments. All this on the 71st birthday of her legendary coach Geno Auriemma, who has his team on the fast track for his record 13th NCAA Division One national basketball championship.

The Huskies, riding a 52-game winning streak, are the gold standard for Women’s Division One roundball competition. The other top seeds include the Lady Gamecocks of South Carolina, the UCLA Bruins and the Longhorns from the University of Texas, who seem to be the only real competitors capable of presenting a legitimate challenge to the current UConn dynasty. They are making their 32nd straight Sweet 16 appearance, the longest active streak in NCAA Division One women’s basketball history.

But that won’t stop the rest of the field from trying. The Sweet 16 matchups break down as follows: In the Fort Worth section, the top overall number one seed Connecticut will play (4) North Carolina.

Number one-seeded Texas (with 16 100-point games to its credit this season, the most in a single season in NCAA Division I history) will also play in Fort Worth, their home state, against (5) Kentucky. Number 2 Vanderbilt (led by Mikayla Blake’s 25 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists) advanced to its first Sweet 16 appearance since 2009 and will face Notre Dame, ranked sixth. The number two Michigan Wolverines will tangle with number three Louisville.

Number one South Carolina, who are 32-2 following a 101-61 win over (9) USC, are headed to Sacramento, California, to face number four Oklahoma. Their game against the Trojans included an NCAA Tournament record 17 steals. This will be the Gamecocks’ 12th straight Sweet 16.

The UCLA Bruins come into their next match in California with a 33-1 record, including a 27-game win streak, following an 87-68 victory over number eight Oklahoma State, behind career-high 35 points from senior All-American Lauren Betts. They will battle (4) Minnesota. Number two Louisiana State University will play (3) Duke.

Third-ranked Texas Christian University will play (10) Virginia. The 10th-ranked Virginia Lady Wahoos, who had to “play their way” into the tournament, upset the Iowa Hawkeyes 83-75 in double overtime in Ames, Iowa, to advance to their first Sweet 16 since 2000. Virginia coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton said, “We were just so resilient in this game. Iowa is a really good team. ...No matter what they threw at us, we just did not get rattled. We just believed that we were going to win this game before it even started.”

The most outstanding scoring game was turned in by Jaloni Cambridge, who tossed in 41 points against Notre Dame for the Ohio State Buckeyes. But her spectacular scoring output went for naught as All-American guard Hannah Hidalgo literally stole the victory for (6) Notre Dame over (3) OSU. The 5’6” Hidalgo finished with 26 points, 13 rebounds and eight steals to vault her team to an 83-73 win and a fifth straight trip to the Sweet 16. She also set the Notre Dame single-season scoring record with 856 points. Her coach, Niele Ivey, credited the Fighting Irish’s unsung heroes after the win.” I have an incredible coaching staff, so I credit them having this team ready every night, every practice, supporting me. You know, I have to do a lot, so having a great support staff — coaching staff, support staff. I have so many people and so many people who surround this program that help us to be elite.”

The Madness that is college basketball in the month of March is moving toward more high-tension games as we head to the “Final 4” weekend. It takes six tournament victories to be the National Champions of Division I College basketball.

There will be no repeat champion in NCAA Division I men’s college basketball. The repeat possibility is favorable in women’s college basketball. But the real winners in this scenario will be the teams that survive this six-game drama to wear the national championship crown, and those who will enjoy every minute of the ride.

On a final note of interest: Harvard University’s women’s basketball team won the first two games of the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT). Convincing victories over Navy (73-52) and Eastern Kentucky (63-34) have vaulted coach Carrie Moore’s Crimson team to the third round of the postseason tournament.