Troy Finnegan Articles - Page 24

Even though 16 teams are still battling it out in the NCAA Tournament in the Sweet 16, the rest of college basketball has already turned its attention to the transfer portal. The portal officially opened on Monday, and some of the biggest stars from the mid-major level are looking for a new home and a […]

The madness may have arrived a few days late at this NCAA Tournament, but it got here all the same. The Round of 32 of March Madness was full of drama, close games that went down to the wire, and even a buzzer-beater. Derik Queen sent the final Cinderella hope, No. 12 seed Colorado State […]

While the top of the Big Ten marches on into the Sweet 16, the bottom of the conference is retooling and bringing in some of the most successful coaches at the mid-major level. On Monday, Minnesota basketball added itself to that list by hiring Colorado State’s Niko Medved to be its new head coach, according […]

The Golden State Warriors made their big swing at the trade deadline to try to vault into contention in the Western Conference, and the early returns are very positive. Jimmy Butler is blending in very well with the team since being traded to The Bay before the trade deadline. His relationship with head coach Steve […]

Despite a matchup against the top seed Florida, UConn basketball scrapped and clawed for 40 minutes on Sunday in an NCAA Tournament epic. However, some late heroics from Walter Clayton Jr. sent Florida to the Sweet 16 in a hard-fought 77-75 win. Despite the loss, Dan Hurley’s club fought very hard and put on a […]

For as high as the Texas Rangers were in 2023 when they won the World Series, they may have been just as low in 2024. The Rangers came crashing down to Earth, failing to meet expectations in a frustrating 78-84 season that saw them miss the playoffs. Now, hope has been restored in Arlington as […]

The second round of the NCAA Tournament continues to deliver, as top seed Florida and two-time defending national champion UConn went back and forth in a classic March Madness battle on Sunday. The Huskies took the SEC champs all the way into the final minutes, but a masterful closing stretch helped the Gators come out […]

2024-25 was an interesting season in Austin for Texas basketball, but one thing was clear the entire time: Rodney Terry was not meeting expectations. Even though the Longhorns did just enough to reach the NCAA Tournament, an immediate exit spelled danger for head coach Rodney Terry. In a move that had been expected ever since […]

As the calendar starts to approach April, Opening Day in the MLB is on the horizon. As is the case before every season, teams around the league have plenty of hope that this could be their year to make a run toward the playoffs and compete for a championship. The Baltimore Orioles come into this […]

One of the biggest upset scares on day three of the NCAA Tournament came late on Saturday night when No. 8 seed Gonzaga pushed top-seed Houston to the final buzzer. The Bulldogs didn’t have quite enough to pull off the stunner, as Khalif Battle’s 3-pointer in the final seconds was blocked and the Cougars escaped […]

Iowa basketball fired longtime head coach Fran McCaffery after a disappointing 2024-25 season, and now the Hawkeyes have found the new man who is going to be leading their program. Former Drake head coach Ben McCollum is finalizing a deal to become the next head coach at Iowa, according to David Eickholt and Sean Bock […]

The primary concern for Auburn basketball on Saturday night was taking care of a talented Creighton squad that gave it a real run for its money. The top-seeded Tigers escaped despite trailing by two at halftime, knocking off the ninth-seeded Bluejays 82-70 to advance to the Sweet 16. During the second half, a second concern […]

One team that is flying a bit under the radar during this NCAA Tournament is Tennessee basketball, and a lot of that is because the second-seeded Volunteers haven’t been under any stress. After a comfortable first-round victory over No. 15 seed Wofford, the Volunteers crushed seventh-seeded UCLA in the second round by a score of […]

For much of Saturday night’s second-round game in the NCAA Tournament, it looked like 9th-seeded Creighton basketball had a chance to shock the world. However, it didn’t have quite enough juice to keep pace with top-seed Auburn for the entire 40 minutes as Bruce Pearl’s Tigers pulled away in an 82-70 win. One of the […]

Some college basketball fans have complained about the lack of Cinderella teams in this NCAA Tournament, as many of the top mid-major programs lost in the first round. One of the few remaining teams that could make a feel-good run to the second weekend was Drake after a very impressive win over Missouri in the […]

Arguably the best game of the first three days of March Madness happened late on Saturday night in Denver. No. 3 seed Wisconsin basketball and No. 6 seed BYU clashed in a high-scoring affair with plenty of drama and some great shotmaking for all 40 minutes. In addition to the offensive firepower on display on […]

After both teams fended off frisky mid-major squads in the first round of March Madness, No. 4 seed Texas A&M basketball and No. 5 seed Michigan went back and forth for 40 minutes on Saturday in Denver. Both teams traded heavyweight blows, but it was the Wolverines who came out on top in the end […]

The first two days of March Madness left something to be desired in terms of upsets and drama, but the first day of the Round of 32 brought all of that and more. In the second game of the day, No. 10 seed Arkansas basketball shocked the college hoops world by knocking off No. 2 […]

For years and years, the Big Ten has been known as one of the conferences that consistently comes up short in the NCAA Tournament.  However, that has not been the case this year. The conference absolutely steamrolled through the Round of 64 on Thursday and Friday, finishing with a perfect 8-0 record. Now, with eight […]

For a majority of Friday night’s first round game, UConn seemed poised to advance in the NCAA Tournament. Dan Hurley and the No. 8-seeded Huskies got the job done in the end, holding off a pesky comeback attempt from No. 9 seed Oklahoma to get a hard-fought 67-59 win. While this UConn team hasn’t quite […]

One of the best games of day two of March Madness was one of the closest matchups on paper. No. 7 seed Marquette and No. 10 seed New Mexico went back and forth almost all day in Cleveland, with the Lobos eventually pulling away in the final minutes to get the 75-66 win. Despite trailing […]

After coming into the NCAA Tournament with the cloud of Cooper Flagg’s injury hanging over its head, Duke basketball had absolutely no trouble in the first round. Flagg was back on the floor, looking healthy, and the top-seeded Blue Devils absolutely rolled through the No. 16 seed Mount St. Mary’s 93-49. The victory sets up […]

The first round of the NCAA Tournament is almost in the books, and teams have been making March Madness history all over the country. One of the coolest stories of them all may be what Rick Pitino and his son, Richard, have done at their respective programs. The elder Pitino, “The Godfather” as some call […]

North Carolina basketball was at the center of plenty of controversy on Selection Sunday after it was surprisingly included in the NCAA Tournament. Even though the Tar Heels proved a lot of those doubters wrong with a dominant 93-65 win over San Diego State in the First Four, Ole Miss ended North Carolina’s season with […]

One of the best mid-major schools in all of women’s college basketball has been Grand Canyon over the last few seasons, which naturally means the head coach will get a lot of attention from bigger jobs. Molly Miller has done an excellent job with the Antelopes and turned them into a WAC powerhouse in 2024-25, […]

Despite coming into this NCAA Tournament on a bit of a losing skid, Notre Dame women’s basketball found a groove again in Friday’s first round. The No. 3-seeded Irish dominated No. 14 seed Stephen F. Austin, running away quickly in a 106-54 win on their home floor. Despite the strong performance and the lopsided final […]

The biggest upset of the NCAA Tournament so far was a sound one, as No. 12 seed McNeese State basketball dominated for nearly 40 minutes to beat No. 5 seed Clemson 69-67 in a game that was not as close as the final score indicates. Will Wade’s squad absolutely dominated Clemson in the first half, […]

The NCAA Tournament took a little while into Thursday to get the fireworks going, but Will Wade always brings the explosiveness. Wade’s McNeese State squad played a flawless game while No. 5 seed Clemson basketball put out one of its worst outings of the year in at the 69-67 upset for the Cowboys. The final […]

The first game of the Round of 64 of the NCAA Tournament wasn’t kind to Louisville basketball. After the Cardinals were seeded well below what many experts thought that they should be, Creighton swiftly knocked them out with an 89-75 win in Lexington. Pat Kelsey and the Cardinals were unable to overcome the hot shooting […]

One of the popular upset picks coming into the 2025 NCAA Tournament was No. 13 seed High Point to knock off No. 4 seed Purdue basketball. The high-scoring Panthers can rack it up with just about anyone, but they couldn’t quite keep pace with a sound Purdue squad in a 75-63 Boilermakers win. Despite a […]

The last First Four game of this NCAA Tournament was the best of the four, as Texas and Xavier basketball went back and forth all the way down to the wire for the right to advance to the Round of 64. The Longhorns led for most of the game, but Xavier came back in the […]

The end of the season for Texas basketball came thick and fast, as the Longhorns saw an early lead evaporate in Wednesday’s First Four game against Xavier. Despite a double-digit advantage in the second half, Xavier stormed back to knock Texas out of the NCAA Tournament with an 86-80 win. Now, all eyes point to […]

The St. John’s basketball team is getting ready for an NCAA Tournament run, and Red Storm fans will rightfully feel like this could be their best shot at a championship in recent memory. Rick Pitino has revived college basketball in New York and has St. John’s rolling into the NCAA Tournament as a No. 2 […]

The women’s NCAA Tournament got underway with the start of the First Four on Wednesday night. Like the men’s tournament, March Madness on the women’s side got started off with a bang. Iowa State women’s basketball came all the way back from a 13-point halftime deficit to knock off Princeton 68-63 to advance to the […]

Every NCAA Tournament has blockbuster matchups right from the opening tip that you absolutely cannot miss. The 2025 edition is no different, with huge games all over the board to get March Madness going. Some of the elite mid-majors in the country will be taking on some very talented high-majors in the first round, which […]

Heading into the NCAA Tournament, Houston basketball is clearly one of the favorites to win the national championship. Kelvin Sampson’s Cougars swept the regular season and conference tournament titles in the Big 12 and earned the No. 1 seed in the Midwest region. However, an ankle injury to star big man J’Wan Roberts has been […]

Even though every team in the First Four as an at-large just barely snuck into the March Madness field, San Diego State basketball came into Selection Sunday feeling pretty good about itself. Even though the Aztecs slid into the play-in, they had to deal with a red-hot North Carolina team that had clearly gotten pretty […]

On Tuesday night, March Madness got going the only way it knows how: with a classic battle that came right down to the wire. Alabama State and St. Francis (PA) went at it in a battle of 16-seeds and a coveted NCAA Tournament win on the line. The Red Flash got the early advantage, but […]

The biggest talking point coming out of Selection Sunday and into the First Four on Tuesday night surrounded North Carolina basketball. The Tar Heels were shockingly included in the NCAA Tournament despite a 1-12 record in Quad 1 games this season, making them a complete anomaly among past at-large teams. You wouldn’t have been able […]