Second Round Sunday brought two defeats to the Never Been Kissed (NBK), and closed the book on the teams we have been tracking in this space. Fitting in a year dominated by the big conferences, in a tournament were all four #1 seeds would advance out of their regionals for only the second time ever, that we would see no teams advance to their first Sweet Sixteen since 1985.
Colorado St and Maryland played one of the more entertaining and exciting games of this tournament in the second round. The Rams jumped out to an early lead 24-12 after ten minutes of action, with the Terps steadying things a bit to go into halftime down just 37-30. In a nip-and-tuck second half, Colorado St went into a 1 for 8 shooting funk and were staring at elimination after Maryland’s Julian Reese (brother of Angel) hit two free throws with 22 seconds left to give the Terps a two-point lead. CSU’s Jalen Lake drained a three-pointer with six seconds left, giving the Rams the lead and giving us hope of a 2025 NBK Graduate. Maryland got the ball to midcourt, called a timeout, and gave it to freshman sensation Derik Queen to make the winning floating banker as time expired. The first buzzer beater of the tournament sent Maryland to the next round and Colorado St packing.
New Mexico versus Michigan St mirrored CSU-MD only so far as the underdog got off to a fast start. Michigan St played big with seven blocks and control of the boards and got the Lobos’ big man Nelly Junior Joseph in foul trouble. This game was a bit of a throwback as New Mexico was only 4 for 13 from three point range, and Michgan St only 4 for 15. (In the very next round, Alabama would set all sorts of records going 25 for 51 from three to trounce BYU).
Three of the four schools above were in the news immediately following these elimination games as the Coaching Carousel started to turn in earnest. Colorado St coach Niko Medved took the Minnesota job, formerly held by New Mexico coach Richard Pitino, who left to take the Xavier job. CSU filled their spot by promoting longtime Medved assistant, kU killer, and Norther Iowa legend Ali Farokhmanesh to the top spot. UNM looks to be turning to UC San Diego coach Eric Olen, keeping him within the NBK.
Maryland coach Kevin Willard left to take the Villanova job, and Buzz Williams departed Texas A&M to take over at Maryland — these are not NBK schools but we thought it was an interesting shuffle nonetheless.
Drake coach Ben McCollum departed for Iowa, and looks to be taking point guard and MVC Larry Bird Player of the Year Bennett Stirtz with him. The Bulldogs tapped South Dakota State coach Eric Henderson to fill in. Bryant coach Phil Martelli Jr upgraded to VCU after Ryan Odom left that job for Virginia.
Lastly, Saint Francis PA ended their run in the NBK by declaring their intention to drop down to Division II for basketball starting next year.
Here are the final NBK rankings for 2025 – we will see you again next year.
Data courtesy Kenpom.com and Basketball Reference
Inspiration from Rock M Nation and Bill Connelly
Team colors courtesy:Benjamin S. Baumer and Gregory J. Matthews (2020). teamcolors: Color Palettes for Pro Sports Teams. R package version 0.0.4