Sports
Former Viking Enters Hall of Fame
He wasn’t a game-wrecker for the Minnesota Vikings, but running back Roger Craig indeed played 29 games for the franchise in the early 1990s and is indeed a Hall of Famer. The NFL announced the 2026 class on Thursday night, and Craig broke through.
Craig’s long wait ends, and the Vikings’ Hall conversation shifts from celebration to who could realistically follow him into Canton.
Depending on next year’s votes, Minnesota could send back-to-back Vikings tailbacks to the Hall: Craig and Adrian Peterson.
Roger Craig’s Road to Canton
You better believe Craig finished his career in Minnesota.
Craig Gets the HOF Nod
Craig is in. 49ers.com’s Briana Jeannel wrote Thursday, “The Pro Football Hall of Fame revealed its Class of 2026 during NFL Honors on Thursday night, with former 49ers running back Roger Craig adding his name to the list of NFL greats.”
“Craig was selected by the 49ers in the second round of the 1983 NFL Draft out of the University of Nebraska and became a key figure in San Francisco’s dynasty of the 1980s. A versatile offensive weapon, Craig was a superstar on 49ers head coach Bill Walsh’s West Coast offense, contributing as both a rusher and receiver.”
He became eligible for the Hall in 1999. The man has waited nearly three decades for this moment.
His Stop with the Vikings
In the final two seasons of his career, Craig joined a couple of Vikings RB rooms that included Terry Allen, Barry Word, Scottie Graham, and Robert Smith — basically the aftermath of the failed Herschel Walker trade era.
He logged 868 yards from scrimmage and 6 touchdowns, and primarily served as the RB3. Think Cam Akers in the last couple of seasons with the current Vikings or Zavier Scott in 2025. It was the dawn of the Dennis Green era.
Minnesota reached the postseason in both Craig campaigns but obviously lost before the Super Bowl. It’s a familiar MIN theme since 1976.
Overall Production
Craig logged 8,189 rushing yards in 11 seasons, ranking 47th in NFL history. But he also banked 4,911 receiving yards on 566 career receptions, solidifying his case for the Hall. It had to be the receiving threat because the rushing numbers alone were not enough. For example, the aforementioned Terry Allen rushed for more yards than Craig in his career, and Allen is absolutely nowhere near Hall of Fame consideration.
The deal-sealer for Craig? Three Super Bowls with the 49ers. Those markedly increased his visibility — rightfully so — rubbing shoulders with Joe Montana and Jerry Rice, two HOF automatics.
All told, Craig won Offensive Player of the Year in 1988, was a four-time Pro Bowler, and a two-time All-Pro.
The Other Inductees
Aside from Craig, who got the nod from voters for lifetime achievement and patience, the other inductees were no-brainers:
- Drew Brees (QB)
- Larry Fitzgerald (WR)
- Luke Kuechly (LB)
- Adam Vinatieri (K)
Not a single soul had major beef with the Hall’s choices from that list.
And the voters needed that after the Bill Belichick debacle last week. Mind-bogglingly, the voting committee did not grant Belichick entry on his first attempt.
Fitzgerald fulfilled his Hall of Fame destiny, a notable moment from a Minnesota standpoint because he was a ballboy for the Vikings in the late 1990s.
Arizona Sports‘ Tyler Drake on Fitzgerald’s induction: “Fitzgerald amassed 17,492 receiving yards on 1,432 receptions throughout 17 NFL seasons. There’s only one pass catcher in NFL history who can truly say they did more in those departments: Hall of Famer Jerry Rice, who sits atop the leaderboard for the most receiving yards (22,895) and catches (1,549).”
“Fitzgerald, however, has a leg up on Rice in another aspect — one that Cardinals fans truly appreciate. He stayed put! In a world where athletes change teams on the regular looking for that next big pay day, Fitzgerald was among the anomalies. Seventeen seasons, 263 games played, all with the Cardinals.”
Down the stretch of Fitzgerald’s illustrious career, Vikings fans hoped he’d sign in Minnesota to make the story full circle. No luck.
Drake added, “And although he trails Rice in the categories mentioned above, it’s Fitzgerald holding the top spot when it comes to getting it done with one team. Rice really made a name for himself during his 49ers tenure, but it was Fitzgerald who strung together a better statistical career in the place he was drafted.”
“Fitzgerald also did it with 17 different starting quarterbacks! Despite that many cooks in the kitchen, he still found a way to consistently impact games.”
The aforementioned Adrian Peterson will be eligible for induction in 2027.
Jul 19, 2019; Miami Beach, FL, USA; A general view of custom PlayStation controllers sold by a vender during the Call of Duty League Finals e-sports event at Miami Beach Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-Imagn Images For more than an hour, it appeared as if Team Yandex would get its revenge on Tundra Esports in the best way possible.
Then the clock struck midnight.
Despite dropping the first map and needing more than an hour to survive the second, Tundra beat Yandex 3-1 Sunday to win the ESL One Birmingham event in England.
The win came a day after Tundra swept Yandex 2-0 in the upper-bracket final to advance to the grand final and force Yandex into a do-or-die lower-bracket final to begin Sunday.
The $1 million Dota 2 tournament, featuring 16 teams, awarded $750,000 in prize money and $250,000 in club rewards as well as 35,460 ESL Pro Tour points spread among all participants.
The competition, part of DreamHack Birmingham, began with a group stage, with teams split into two groups of eight. The top two teams from each group advanced to the upper bracket of the playoffs. The third- and fourth-place teams were delegated to the lower-bracket playoffs, with the remaining eight teams eliminated.
Yandex began the day with a 2-1 win over Xtreme Gaming in that lower-bracket final. Yandex took the first map in 41 minutes, dropped the second in 34 minutes, then took the winner-take-all third map in 34 minutes. Yandex was on red all three maps.
Ilya “CHIRA_JUNIOR” Chirtsov of Russia paced Yandex with a 26/15/29 kill/death/assist ratio in the win. China’s Wang “Ame” Chunyu posted a 22/12/22 K/D/A in the loss.
In the grand final, Yandex continued the momentum with a 41-minute on green. In the next map, Tundra and Yandex battled for more than an hour before Tundra emerged with a 62-minute win on green. The next two maps combined barely lasted longer than the second map, with Tundra taking the third in 38 minutes on red and 28 minutes on green to take the match and the title.
After a quiet first map, Bozhidar “bzm” Bogdanov of Bulgaria led Tundra in kills in each of the victorious maps, finishing with a 46/15/53 K/D/A.
Alimzhan “watson” Islambekov of Kazakhstan posted a 37/16/32 to lead Yandex in defeat.
ESL One Birmingham final standings / prize pool (prize money, club reward) 1. $250,000, $40,000 — Tundra Esports
2. $100,000, $30,000 — Team Yandex
3. $80,000, $25,000 — Xtreme Gaming
4. $60,000, $20,000 — PARIVISION 5-6. $40,000, $15,000 — Team Spirit, Aurora Gaming
7-8. $27,500, $12,500 — MOUZ, Team Falcons
9-10. $20,000, $10,000 — GamerLegion, Virtus.pro
11-12. $17,500, $10,000 — BetBoom Team, paiN Gaming 13-14. $15,000, $10,000 — Yakult Brothers, OG
15-16. $10,000, $10,000 — REKONIX, Nigma Galaxy
–Field Level Media
Fabio Wardley and Moses Itauma have faced repeated questions about a potential fight despite being stablemates at the Ben Davison Performance Centre.
Wardley currently holds the WBO belt and has shown he is willing to take on anyone by accepting the hard-hitting Daniel Dubois as his first challenger.
Speaking on the DAZN broadcast post-fight, Wardley was again asked about a potential clash with Itauma.
“Right now, we’re in different places. That is an emphatic victory, he deserves all the credit in the world because Franklin is a tough opponent and no one’s done that to him. I know first hand Moses has all the talent in the world.
“But we are in different places. He’s looking towards where I am currently as world champion. I’m looking at Oleksandr Usyk, Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua. I’m looking higher than that still. There is a gap of separation where we’re at, and that’s only due to time and experience.”
The Ipswich man then outlined the only scenario in which the fight would become a ‘serious conversation.’
“Look, there’s four belts, there’s two of us. The only time this ever becomes a serious conversation is if I have two and he has two, and we have to look around and go, ‘what are we gonna do here?’ Are we gonna do a Klitschko where we just hold on to them, do our defences and hold down the gym with all four belts in there?”
Pushed on what his thinking would be should things play out that way, Wardley admitted that the carrot of undisputed dangling would be hard to turn down.
“I would always want to be undisputed … The title of undisputed is something that I’m sure Moses himself will want to claim at some point and something I want to claim. Like I said, that’s the only time there would be a serious question, but it’s in the distant, distant future right now.”
As it stands, the division offers plenty of match-ups without splitting Ben Davison’s gym and forcing either Wardley or Itauma to seek another trainer. The intrigue from fans, however, only seems to be intensifying, and an expected order from the WBO to install Itauma as mandatory challenger – should Wardley keep his belt against Dubois in May – makes the situation a little more complicated.
Devin Haney is back in the market for his next opponent.
The three-division world champion moved up to the welterweight ranks in November of last year, dropping and outpointing Brian Norman Jr to win the WBO belt.
There are several options for ‘The Dream’ at 147lbs, including three potential unification fights. Lewis Crocker holds the IBF belt, Rolando Romero the WBA and Ryan Garcia the WBC.
A rematch between Haney and Garcia following their controversial 2023 fight – overturned from a Garcia win to a no contest after a failed doping test – would be the preferred option for fans, but Haney had instead been in talks to face ‘Rolly’ Romero.
Romero beat Garcia last year to win the WBA Regular strap and was subsequently elevated to full champion when Jaron Ennis vacated to move up in weight. He has a mandatory challenger in Shakhram Giyasov, though appeared close to securing a two-belt bout with Haney for May in Las Vegas.
However, talks now seem to have fallen apart, with Haney taking to social media to express his frustration.
“Rolly [is] delusional acting like he some kind of draw but can’t sell out a ballroom. Thats why the fight hasn’t been made yet. The money isn’t right. I’m looking at other options he can go fight his mandatory since he’s such a draw.”
Whether or not negotiations with Romero can be salvaged remains to be seen, but this development opens the door to the Garcia rematch, and the latter’s promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, has said he is very keen to make that happen next.
NHL Highlights, March 29
After another dominant display, Moses Itauma is once again being linked to a shot at unified heavyweight ruler, Oleksandr Usyk. In response, Carl Froch has offered his thoughts on that proposed contest, admitting that he ‘does not like the fight’ for one man.
On Saturday night, atop a British bill for the first time in his career, Itauma dispatched of Jermaine Franklin with a special knockout, taking the American out with a crisp and clean left uppercut followed by a devastating right hand that will no doubt appear in his future highlight reels.
With Dillian Whyte and Anthony Joshua unable to halt Franklin in their fights with the game Michigan operator, Itauma’s fifth-round stoppage has sent a major statement to the rest of his division – his power now proven to be real.
As a result, talk of a clash between him and 39-year-old WBC, WBA and IBF heavyweight champion, Usyk, is rife yet again, with hopes that young Itauma, now 14-0 (12 KOs), can intervene on the Ukrainian’s three-fight plan before retirement.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, super-middleweight legend Froch, declared that he ‘does not like that fight for Usyk’.
“I just think that a peak Usyk against a peak Itauma, you would have to say Usyk, but Usyk is a natural cruiserweight and Itauma is a big lump. Have you seen the size of him? Tall, big, strong, heavy, and lightening-fast hands like a middleweight.
“I don’t like the Usyk-Itauma fight. I don’t like it for Usyk. I think that Usyk has done what he needs to do and I’d like to see him hang his gloves up and retire as the number one king. He is the kingpin of the division, of cruiserweight and heavyweight, but he loves fighting and he wants to fight again.
“Would Moses Itauma fancy the fight with Usyk? I am not even sure if his team would fancy it. You wouldn’t usually put someone like him in, at his level, with somebody like Usyk. But, he might have no option and no choice because if he keeps his obliterating opponents the way he has been doing it then that might be a fight that happens.”
However, when predicting how the bout would play out if it were to happen, ‘The Cobra’ found himself unable to go against the dominant world champion, ultimately siding with Usyk due to his superior experience.
“I think that Usyk has got too much experience and that he would be too good for him but you just never know because Moses Itauma looks that good.”
Moses Itauma is set to return to the ring in July, ahead of a planned world title shot before the end of the year.
Oleksandr Usyk’s three-fight plan has got the heavyweight contenders riled up, and one of the names that is on that hit list has admitted that he will be ‘fuming’ if the Ukrainian pursues other options.
Earlier this month, Usyk revealed plans to take on the victor of Fabio Wardley’s upcoming WBO world title defence against Daniel Dubois, after his fight with Rico Verhoeven in May, before finishing his career with a Tyson Fury trilogy clash.
However, fans have demanded that the Ukrainian fights WBC mandatory challenger Agit Kabayel, due to the German’s triumphs over Arslanbek Makhmudov, Frank Sanchez and Zhilei Zhang, which are adjudged to merit a title challenge.
Usyk has since admitted that a showdown with Kabayel could take place and potentially replace one of the three fights that he announced, but Fabio Wardley has told iFL TV that he does not believe the 39-year-old truly knows who he wants to face before hanging up the gloves.
“No one knows [who he is going to fight]. One minute he is over in Egypt fighting a pharaoh or something, the next he wants to fight me, then he wants to fight Kabayel. He doesn’t know what he wants to do.
“I will just crack on, I will keep winning and knocking people out and if he wants to have a go, he can have a go.”
Then, when quizzed whether it would be a relief to avoid Usyk, Wardley declared that he would be ‘fuming’ if he and his fellow undefeated heavyweight did not go toe-to-toe before he retires from the sport.
“Absolutely not, I would be fuming. I got through the Joseph Parker fight and I wanted Usyk. I’m going to get through the Daniel fight and I want Usyk. How many tests does he want [me to have]?
“I feel like I am going through Usyk tests. He is setting me things to do before I am allowed to fight him. So, if I do them, and then he just f**ks off, I will be fuming. I’ll be having words.”
Wardley-Dubois takes place on Saturday, May 9, at the Co-Op Live Arena in Manchester, as the Ipswich fan-favourite makes his first defence of the WBO crown since being elevated to world champion.
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The Vegas Golden Knights only have eight games remaining in the 2025-26 season, but decided to make the stunning move to fire and replace their head coach.
Vegas announced on Sunday that they relieved Bruce Cassidy as head coach and replaced him with John Tortorella.
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Vegas Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy looks on during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Buffalo Sabres, March 3, 2026, in Buffalo, New York. (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes, File)
“We thank Bruce Cassidy for his dedication to our hockey club and community over the past four seasons,” Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon said in a news release. “Under Bruce’s leadership, we reached our ultimate goal in 2023 by bringing a Stanley Cup to Vegas. Bruce will forever be remembered with the utmost regard by our organization for what was accomplished here. With the stretch run of the 2025-26 regular season upon us, we believe that a change is necessary for us to return to the level of play that is expected of our club.
“With John Tortorella, we bring in a Stanley Cup Champion as well as one of the most experienced and respected coaches in the NHL. His guidance will be a great asset to our team at the pivotal point in the season we currently face. We look forward to welcoming John to Vegas.”
John Tortorella, Philadelphia Flyers head coach, arrives for a news conference at the NHL hockey team’s arena on May 12, 2023, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)
BLUE JAYS STARS CAUGHT SITTING IN WRONG SEATS AT MAPLE LEAFS GAME IN HILARIOUS MOMENT
The Golden Knights fell to the Washington Capitals, 5-4, on Saturday in a shootout. It marked the team’s third straight loss and sixth defeat in their last seven games.
Vegas is 32-26-16 this season and in third place in the Pacific Division. If the season ended Sunday, the team would be in the playoffs and have a series against the Edmonton Oilers in the first round.
Tortorella was not coaching in the NHL this season. He spent time as an assistant for Team USA at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics. The Americans took home the gold medal.
Washington Capitals players celebrate as Vegas Golden Knights right wing Pavel Dorofeyev (16) skates off the ice after failing to score during a shootout in an NHL hockey game Saturday, March 28, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)
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He is 770-648-37 as head coach. He won a Stanley Cup title with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Favourite Barnavara at $1.70 failed to make an impact late, crossing only fourth behind stablemate Wootton Verni who claimed a decisive triumph.
Waller credited Wootton Verni’s Australian tenure as pivotal, expressing regret over Barnavara’s display yet acknowledging her excuses.
“Wootton Verni has been here a while now and he found some great form in the spring,” Waller said, referring to the gelding’s wins in the Coongy Handicap and Rosehill Gold Cup.
“Certainly, he’s talented horse and with a bit of give in the ground and being rock-hard fit, he showed the others up.”
Barnavara’s European style involved settling prominently, but a poor start hindered her on Australian soil.
“The plan was to go forward, to be second, third or fourth but she dwelt at the start,” Waller said.
“I think rather than fire her up, Australian horses just find their positions so quickly, whereas if you fire her up first Australian start I guess James (McDonald) would have thought you could of set her alight which is what we didn’t want.
Then when they went slow, it was very hard from back there. They controlled it from the front and made it hard to finish off.”
Tommy Berry guided $5.50 shot Wootton Verni to a two-and-a-half length romp over $4.20 English import Caviar Heights in second after a bold finish, with $26 outsider Portland grabbing third close up.
Barnavara, Group 1 winner from France, surged on the turn but weakened beyond 300m to run fourth.
Berry appreciated having Wootton Verni ahead of the mare Barnavara.
“I was always going to put my bloke into the race,” Berry said.
“I thought the mare (Barnavara) was going to maybe even slide forward and I would be on the back of her.
It’s always nice to be in front of quality horses in the run and they’ve got to chase you.”
James McDonald on Barnavara noted the slow pace disadvantaged her.
“She got back in a slowly run race,” McDonald said. “She will improve.”
Waller is contemplating futures for the pair.
“The plan was always to run Wootton Verni in the Tancred Stakes today but he just didn’t quite fulfill our expectations last start,” Waller said.”So, we’ve come back a grade just to give him some confidence, and he’s got that confidence back.
Is he up to the Queen Elizabeth Stakes? That will be the question we have to answer.”
Barnavara’s path to the Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) at Royal Randwick on April 11 depends on her recovery, Waller indicated.
Caviar Heights’ strong second gives UK handler William Haggas options.
Issy Paul, Haggas’s travelling rep, said Caviar Heights eyes the Queen Elizabeth Stakes or Sydney Cup (3200m) on April 11.
“Caviar Heights will go to either of those races, it will be up to the boss (Haggas),” Paul said.”But we are very happy with Caviar Heights. He has run a really good race and will improve.”
Jockey Tom Marquand lauded Caviar Heights’ effort.
“He ran great,” Marquand said. “We were ruined a little bit by the lack of tempo.
I wish he’d stepped a little better and I’d have been able to be a bit more positive.”
Matthew Smith was satisfied with Portland’s third-place finish.
“He’s run well and continues to improve,” Smith said. “We will look at the JRA Plate for him.”
Kerrin McEvoy aboard Portland described a meritorious run.
“I got onto the back of the favourite but it didn’t really take me anywhere,” McEvoy said.
“I had to switch out to get into the clear and he got going well over the last furlong (a200m).”
Discover leading betting sites offering racing odds for the Neville Sellwood Stakes and similar events.
We have our Final Four.
After four rounds, 64 teams have been sent home and four remain in the hunt for a national championship. Connecticut, Arizona, Michigan and Illinois are en route to Indianapolis, two wins away from winning it all.
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Some of the representatives aren’t much of a surprise, as the top-seeded Wildcats and Wolverines have looked like a tier above the rest of the sport, and anything less than a Final Four appearance would have been a disappointment. The Huskies stunned its away back to a familiar place, and Illinois isn’t really a shocker and are far from an underdog after a very successful season, proving worthy of its spot.
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The results of the weekend not only impacted the championship race, but the sport as a whole. Here are the winners and losers of the Elite Eight:
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Winners
UConn’s comeback
UConn Huskies guard Braylon Mullins (24) celebrates after making the game-winning three-point basket against the Duke Blue Devils in the second half during an Elite Eight game of the East Regional of the men’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at Capital One Arena.
A return to the Final Four didn’t seem possible when Connecticut was down 19 points late in the first half against Duke, but did the Huskies respond.
UConn clawed back in the second half, slowly chipping away at the lead before a 7-0 run put it in striking distance with under four minutes left. The Blue Devils couldn’t stop the momentum and Connecticut pulled out a shocking victory, punctuated by Braylon Mullins’ 3-pointer at the final second. UConn outscored Duke 44-28 in the final 20 minutes for its third trip to the Final Four in four seasons.
It was one of the largest comebacks in NCAA Tournament history, and UConn made Duke the first No. 1 seed to lose a game after being up by at least 15 points at halftime in an ending for the ages.
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Big Ten
The Big Ten rolls onto the biggest stage with the conference getting two teams into the Final Four with Michigan and Illinois. It’s the first time the conference has accomplished the feat since 2015 and fourth time since 1999.
The tournament has been a Big Ten showcase after seven of its nine teams won their first round game. It put a record four teams in the Elite Eight, and was guaranteed to get at least one Final Four team with the Illinois-Iowa winner, and could’ve had up to three, but two is still a very successful result.
It’s been the winner of every round so far. Now all that’s left is finishing it on top with a 50% shot at a national championship, the first since 2000. It could be sealed with an all-Big Ten title game, very much possible.
Breaking droughts
The 2026 Final Four is more than two decades in the making for Arizona and Illinois, getting back to the final stage after falling short so many times.
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Arizona is in the Final Four for the first time since 2001, a relief on the shoulders of the Wildcats after losing all of its past five Elite Eight appearances. They did it in emphatic fashion with a major second half comeback over Purdue to cruise toward a stress-free finish against the Boilermakers. Illinois was able to put away the surprise run against Iowa to reach the semifinals for the first time since 2005, the last time it was close to winning its first national title.
Two successful programs redeemed years of frustrations, and not only have they finally broken through, but they are viable national championship contenders, with Arizona on the verge of its second title and Illinois on the cusp of its biggest accomplishment yet.
Andrej Stojakovic
Watch out dad, son can definitely hoop, too. The son of Peja, Andrej Stojakovic came up clutch for Illinois, a catalyst for his team surviving and advancing.
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Iowa jumped out to a quick double-digit lead, but Stojakovic came in and helped his team recover quickly and eventually win. He made some clutch shots at the end and most importantly, defended Iowa star Bennett Stirtz down the stretch to prevent any late heroics. Even though Keaton Wagler was the star with 25 points, Stojakovic had 17 points and his plus/minus of +19 was the best on the team, proving how vital he was to his team’s success.
The Elite Eight isn’t the only time Stojakovic has come up big in the tournament, but Illinois may have been cooked if he wasn’t the sparkplug he was against the Hawkeyes. His presence keeps his team’s title hopes alive and well.
Losers
Duke chokes
It’s another stunning March loss for Duke. The top overall seed looked destined for the Final Four after jumping to a 19-point lead against UConn in the first half.
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Then came the second half.
The Blue Devils couldn’t stop UConn from rallying at the end, and had the game in its hands in the final seconds, but a shocking turnover turned into a game-winning 3-pointer by the Huskies. UConn outscored Duke 15-5 in the final five minutes. Duke now is the first No. 1 seed in NCAA Tournament history to lose after leading by at least 15 points at halftime, as they were 134-0 in such instances. The 19-point blown lead is tied for the sixth largest in the tournament.
The shocking loss keeps Duke away from winning its first national championship in the Jon Scheyer era, with the last title in 2015. Its the longest the Blue Devils have gone without a championship this century.
SEC
March doesn’t mean more in the SEC as the conference finishes with a dud to follow its historic past season.
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It was going to be hard to follow up two teams in the Final Four en route to a national champion, but the SEC didn’t get close to replicating some of that success. It only got one team in the Elite Eight in Tennessee, and it got blown out by Michigan. The SEC will not be represented in the semifinals for the first time since 2023.
To add insult to injury, the conference did not do well against its fellow Power league in the Big Ten. The SEC went 0-5 vs. Big Ten teams in the tournament, which ended up getting two teams to the Final Four. After an amazing showing in 2025, this one has been a forgettable month in the Southeast.
Lower seeds
Make way for the heavyweights. The 2026 Final Four will feature two No. 1 seeds, a No. 2 and a No. 3 seed, another season of no surprise runs to the semifinals.
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While it’s no surprise when the favorites at the start of the tournament ended up making it to the final weekend, it’s exactly what happened last season when we had an all-No. 1 group. This marks back-to-back years where the Final Four doesn’t feature a team seeded No. 4 or lower, which hasn’t happened since a three-year streak from 2007-09.
This year’s tournament had upsets and some magical runs, but none of them reached the final stage. Are even really solid teams going to have trouble winning a region, and are true Cinderellas dead?
Tennessee
Another Elite Eight, another exit for Rocky Top. The Volunteers are left searching again for their first Final Four after getting stopped at the doorstep.
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Tennessee’s optimism was quickly wiped out early against Michigan, leading to a 33-point rout in one of the largest blowouts in Elite Eight history. While the Vols have nothing to be ashamed about given it was a good run as a No. 6 seed, it’s the third straight season the Vols were eliminated in the regional final.
Rick Barnes has maintained winning in Knoxville, but after coming up short so often, will Tennessee ever get over the hump?
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Elite 8 winners, losers: UConn, Big 10, Duke headline March Madness ups, downs
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