SAN ANTONIO — How much can one program take? How can Houston stomach another one of these? Another portrait of coming so close, only to see it all recede from view, covered instead by the wrong colored confetti? On this Monday night in April, it was Emanuel Sharp crouching deep, his hands atop his head,…
The budget needed to field a competitive college basketball roster seems to be the only thing in the world trending up right now, and the beautiful consequence is that most of the best players with eligibility remaining are returning to school. It is in that uncertain world, in the wake of Florida’s national championship win…
The Athletic has in-depth coverage of the 2025 Men’s Final Four. The men’s NCAA Tournament started with 68 teams and plenty of March Madness dreams. Three weeks and 66 games later, we’re set for Monday’s national championship game, where the fun will come to its conclusion as Florida and Houston meet in San Antonio. It’s been…
SAN ANTONIO — J’Wan Roberts extended his hands. Settle down, he begged. Yes, this was impossible. Yes, this whole swirling, bizarre night was on the verge of alchemy. Yes, this was about to be the night that Houston pulled off a comeback so stunning, so jarring, that it will take everyone — specifically those souls…
One of the four head coaches left working in the men’s NCAA Tournament will win his first national championship Monday night. It could be Houston’s Kelvin Sampson in his 36th season of running a program at age 69. It could be Duke’s Jon Scheyer in his third at age 37. Auburn’s Bruce Pearl is on…
To find Cinderella stories at this men’s Final Four, you have to look at the name on the back of the jersey rather than the front. For the second time in the history of the NCAA Tournament’s modern-day bracketing practices, all four top seeds advanced to the national semifinals. It will be No. 1 Florida…
Predictable. Compelling. Depressing. Exciting. Indicative of future tournaments that will lack the charm America has grown to love. Indicative of a weekend ahead that will thrill American basketball lovers. Take your pick and acknowledge two truths. One, the men’s NCAA Tournament Final Four will feature all No. 1 seeds for the first time since 2008…
The men’s basketball selection committee had an easy job at the top of the bracket this year. The 2025 NCAA Tournament might have the best collection of No. 1 seeds in March Madness history. By the numbers, it is the best, at least in college basketball’s advanced analytics era, which dates to 1997, when Ken…
(Editor’s note: This article is part of the Bracket Central series, an inside look at the run-up to the men’s & women’s NCAA Tournaments, along with analysis and picks during the tournaments.) Drake’s in, so we can dispense with the arguments about whether Ben McCollum’s Bulldogs would have made the field of 68 without winning the Missouri Valley…
LAWRENCE, Kan. — With 51.5 seconds left in regulation, as Houston coach Kelvin Sampson called timeout after Kansas guard Rylan Griffen had buried a 3 to put the Jayhawks ahead by 4, Sampson’s wife Karen got out of her seat behind the Cougars’ bench, said goodbye to the nice Kansas fans who sat next to…