Let’s catch up on the hoops exploits of the Never Been Kissed – those schools who have never made the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament since it first expanded to 64 teams in 1985.

TUESDAY RECAP

• (3) Hofstra did not sh*t the bed in their battle with (4) Monmouth, 75-69 in the Coastal final, punching their ticket behind freshman Preston Edmead and his 26 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals & 40 minutes
• (3) Santa Clara hung in for a half vs (1) Gonzaga but ultimately lost 79-68 in the West Coast final. Their place in the bracket seems secure.
• (1) Stephen F. Austin came out cold but heated up in the second half to win 60-58 over (4) Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in one Southland semifinal
• (2) McNeese had to go three(!) overtimes to get by (3) UT Rio Grande Valley in the other Southland semifinal. The Cowboys tied it with six seconds left in regulation to force the overtime, fell behind in both of the first two extra sessions and finally came out on top.
• (11) SMU led by one at half, then used a 13-0 run midway through the second half to dispatch (14) Syracuse in the ACC first round

WEDNESDAY RECAP

• (2) McNeese led wire-to-wire and secured the Southland title and autobid with a decisive 76-59 win over (1) Stephen F. Austin in the final
• (2) Sam Houston St over (10) New Mexico St 69-61 in the CUSA quarterfinal, while (1) Liberty was knocked off clearing a path
• (6) TCU shot the lights out down the stretch to separate from (11) Oklahoma St and win 95-88 in the Big XII second round
• (8) UCF went to overtime and prevailed 66-65 over (9) Cincinnati in the Big XII second round
• (11) SMU lost to (6) Louisville 62-58 in ACC second round action, with Boopie Miller going 0-8 from three. This will be a long week and a long wait for the Mustangs until Selection Sunday.
• (6) Boise St fell 84-74 to (11) San Jose St in Mountain West first round, despite the Broncos Javan Buchanan’s 28 points & 13 rebounds. Their slim hopes evaporated with the early conference exit.
• (7) Colorado St beat (10) Fresno St 67-63 in the Mountain West first round

THURSDAY RECAP

• (6) TCU traded runs with (3) Kansas in the Big XII quarterfinal and were tied at 61 with six minutes left, but faded down the stretch and lost 78-73. Kansas was a whopping 30-37 from the foul line in Kansas City, and Darryn Peterson led the way with 24 points and 8 rebounds for the Jayhawks. This loss will not hurt the Horned Frogs standing and they should be safely in the field having won 9 of their last 11.
• (2) Akron survived a cold spell and a furious (7) Buffalo rally to squeak by 73-70 in the MAC quarterfinal. The big news of the tournament was 31-0 (1) Miami OH losing to (8) UMass, sparking sports talk debates around the country whether the Redhawks are more deserving than a middling SEC team like Auburn. Our take is that the Redhawks schedule is absolutely hideous but the tournament is more fun with them in. Sorry Auburn, we’d take the ‘hawks.
• (1) Utah St smoked (8) UNLV 80-60 in the Mountain West quarterfinal in Las Vegas
• (3) New Mexico held serve 93-77 over (11) San Jose St in their Mountain West quarterfinal
• (4) Grand Canyon fell to (5) Nevada 84-80 in their Mountain West quarterfinal and the Antelopes under Bryce Drew are sure to see their three year streak of making the Big Dance come to an end
• (7) Colorado St lost to (2) San Diego St 72-61 in the Mountain West quarterfinal, with a 17-3 Aztec run spanning halftime the decisive span. The Rams have made 3 of the past 4 NCAA tournaments but will not be in this one.
• (8) UCF ran into the buzzsaw that is (1) Arizona in Big XII quarterfinal, falling behind 35-8 and barely treading water thereafter to bow out 81-59. Joey Brackets believes the Knights have done enough to secure their first bid since 2019.

FRIDAY RECAP

• (1) Saint Louis turned the clock back to late January, falling way behind (9) George Washington in their Atlantic 10 quarterfinal — same as in their 1/27 game at Chaifetz Arena — only to storm back in the second half and win semi-comfortably 88-80
• (1) Utah Valley survived a late charge by (4) UT Arlington to win 67-65 in the WAC semifinal
• (1) UC Irvine opened 15-2 and easily handled (4) Cal State Northridge (CSUN) 93-78 in the Big West semifinal
• (3) New Mexico lost a nail-biter to (2) San Diego St 64-62 in the Mountain West semifinal, and the Lobos land squarely on the bubble for Sunday, seemingly the wrong side of it
• (2) Nebraska was hammered by (7) Purdue 74-58 in the Big Ten quarterfinal, with Herbie allowing the Boilers to rebound 40% of their own misses. The Huskers will go into the NCAA tournament as one of the strongest NBK entrants in history, but this result portends trouble for the second round.
• (2) Sam Houston St was upset 79-73 by (6) Kennesaw St in the CUSA semifinal. Po’Boigh King was a DNP and the Bearkats were short-handed for this one, and are NIT-bound at best.

COMING UP….

SATURDAY

The day before Selection Sunday is special, with a lot of action across the country and every game is either a semifinal or a final. Fitting that our list of teams of interest is now down to 16.

• (2) Akron (74% chance of winning per KenPom) vs (4) Toledo in the MAC FINAL
• (1) Utah St (59%) vs (2) San Diego St in the Mountain West FINAL
• (1) Utah Valley (58%) vs (2) Cal Baptist in the WAC FINAL
• (1) UC Irvine (53%) vs (2) Hawaii in the Big West FINAL
• (1) South Florida (84%) vs (5) Charlotte in the American semifinal
• (1) Saint Louis (69%) vs (4) Dayton in the A-10 semifinal
• (1) Yale (66%) @ (4) Cornell in the Ivy semifinal

Data courtesy Kenpom.com , ESPN Bracketology, ESPN Bubble Watch and Ken Pomeroy’s Substack