Troy Finnegan Articles - Page 36

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 […]

While 68 teams get ready to compete in the NCAA Tournament this spring, plenty of others are cleaning up other postseason tournaments while simultaneously getting ready for next season. That distinction goes for both coaches and players, and plenty of stars have hopped in the transfer portal since the conclusion of the conference tournaments on […]

The week of March Madness is here and we are under 72 hours away from the festivities getting underway. The biggest stars in college basketball will be going at it all over the nation as they try to become the next NCAA Tournament hero. Some of those stars will waste no time going at each […]

In just a matter of days, things have completely come crashing down for West Virginia basketball. After losing in its first game of the Big 12 Tournament against Colorado, the Mountaineers were snubbed from the NCAA Tournament as the first team out of the field. Things went from bad to worse on Tuesday when head […]

Just days before the NCAA Tournament gets underway, the most high-profile head coach opening in college basketball has officially been filled. After Mike Woodson’s departure from Indiana basketball, the Hoosiers have reached an agreement with West Virginia head coach Darian DeVries to be the new head coach in Bloomington, according to Matt Norlander of CBS […]

One of the teams that many people thought got over-seeded on Selection Sunday was Memphis basketball. Memphis swept the regular season and tournament titles in the AAC and finished with a 29-5 record, but there were plenty of arguments for Penny Hardaway’s squad to be a seed line or two lower because of some lackluster […]

Heading into the NCAA Tournament, Duke basketball is one of the favorites to win the national championship. Duke has earned that distinction after a stellar regular season that saw it roll through the ACC, beat Auburn in the non-conference, and take home the ACC Tournament Championship with a win over Louisville on Saturday night. There […]

While some teams are gearing up for the NCAA Tournament in college basketball, others are already looking towards the offseason as they try to get a roster ready to make a run at the Big Dance next season. Wyoming basketball is one of the latter squads after a disappointing season that saw them finish 12-10 […]

Times are tough in Morgantown this March, and West Virginia basketball is still reeling from one of the biggest NCAA Tournament shockers in recent history. The Mountaineers were snubbed from the March Madness bracket despite a solid resume that included six Quad 1 wins and a .500 record in one of the toughest conferences in […]

St. John’s basketball is one of the hottest teams in the country this season under Rick Pitino. The Johnnies are storming into the NCAA Tournament as a No. 2 seed after winning the Big East regular season title and cruising through the Big East Tournament on their way to the title. Before the Red Storm […]

In just year two under Tobin Anderson, Iona basketball was just 40 minutes away from reaching the NCAA Tournament. The Gaels eventually fell short against Mount St. Mary’s in the MAAC title game, but they still seemed to be on an upward trajectory heading into year three with Anderson at the helm. Apparently, the decision […]

Most years on Selection Sunday, the discussion around some of the snubs and surprising exclusions mostly comes down to nitpicking. Teams with similar resumes are compared, and some fans value certain metrics while the committee values others. That is not the case with West Virginia basketball in 2025. The Mountaineers were essentially a lock to […]

The biggest talking point on every Selection Sunday always surrounds which teams barely got into the 68-team NCAA Tournament field and which were just left out. That has never been more true this year, as fans of some of the country’s most notable teams went at it over the March Madness candidacies of their squads. […]

One of the best days on the college basketball calendar is here and the bracket bonanza is in full swing. On Sunday afternoon, the NCAA Tournament selection committee revealed the official March Madness bracket, and there are plenty of storylines to hit on during the countdown to the best postseason in sports. North Carolina? Who […]