7:00 AM ET Strap in. The action is about to begin. Now that we’ve trimmed the teams from 68 to a neat 64, the first round of the 2022 NCAA men’s tournament is set to commence. Sixteen teams will take to courts in Buffalo, Fort Worth, Indianapolis on Thursday, but there are no guarantees on
NCAABB
1:24 AM ET DAYTON, Ohio — Notre Dame coach Mike Brey opened his news conference early Thursday by wishing everyone a happy St. Patrick’s Day. “Did you notice Paul’s shot went in at 12:02 on St. Patrick’s Day?” Brey said, referring to forward Paul Atkinson Jr.‘s layup with 1.4 seconds left in double overtime against
10:30 PM ET DAYTON, Ohio — Wright State‘s campus is located just 12 miles from University of Dayton Arena, but the Raiders hadn’t played a game there since 1997. Their return won’t soon be forgotten. Playing in front of a Wright State-heavy crowd Wednesday night in the First Four, the Raiders beat Bryant 93-82 to
8:14 PM ET Pete ThamelESPN Rhode Island has targeted former Indiana coach Archie Miller to be the school’s next coach, sources told ESPN. There’s mutual interest and the sides are working toward finalizing a deal in the upcoming days, sources said. Miller’s arrival at Rhode Island would mark a return to the Atlantic 10, a
7:56 PM ET Money has been pouring in on Duke at sportsbooks around the nation, including one wager that would pay more than $5 million if the Blue Devils send coach Mike Krzyzewski out on a high note by winning the national championship. On Monday, a bettor in New Jersey placed a $300,000 bet on
8:22 PM ET Associated Press GREENVILLE, N.C. — East Carolina hired Tennessee assistant Michael Schwartz as its head men’s basketball coach Wednesday. Athletic director Jon Gilbert announced the hiring. Schwartz spent seven seasons at Tennessee, four as associate head coach. Schwartz has been Tennessee’s defensive coordinator the past five seasons, and the Volunteers are 118-45
Rhode Island targeting Archie Miller, 43, to be Rams’ next men’s basketball coach, sources say Rhode Island has targeted former Indiana coach Archie Miller to be its next coach, sources told ESPN, which would signify a return to the Atlantic 10 for Miller, 43, who authored a successful tenure as coach at Dayton for six
2:44 PM ET The Louisville Cardinals will officially announce Kenny Payne as its next men’s basketball coach at a news conference on Friday morning, sources told ESPN. Payne has been viewed as the favorite since Louisville’s search to replace Chris Mack began in January. Interim athletic director Josh Heird considered a number of other candidates
2:16 PM ET Travis Steele is out as the men’s basketball coach at Xavier following multiple meetings between Steele and the administration on Wednesday, sources confirmed to ESPN. The Musketeers beat Cleveland State in the NIT on Tuesday night, but speculation began to grow Wednesday morning that Steele could be let go before their next
9:56 AM ET Penn State athletic director Sandy Barbour, who has led the department since 2014, will retire this summer, it was announced Wednesday. Barbour, 62, arrived at Penn State in July 2014 after a 10-year tenure as athletic director at Cal. She also spent 1996 to 1999 as Tulane’s athletic director before a long
12:40 PM ET WE’RE ALL FELLOW travelers winding our way through life’s rich pageant, each of us tethered to our own stories and myths, and the Gonzaga Bulldogs‘ Drew Timme would like to hear all of them. Nearly everyone who has played with or against college basketball’s most well-known player has a favorite story, even
7:00 AM ET We ask a lot from March Madness. We ask for chaos and earth-shattering, early-round upsets. We ask for buzzer-beaters. We ask for amazing Cinderella runs, but we also ask for the sport’s biggest stars to play a role deep into the proceedings. We ask for a memorable cast of characters and a
7:50 AM ET For the second straight season, the Gonzaga Bulldogs will open the men’s NCAA tournament as the betting favorite. And for the second straight season, the top-ranked Zags remain the consensus favorite among both ESPN’s panel of men’s college basketball commentators, analysts and writers — albeit by a smaller margin than in 2021
4:02 AM ET ESPN News Services Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams began his postgame news conference Tuesday night with a statement lasting nearly eight minutes in which he decried the Aggies‘ exclusion from the NCAA tournament as something that “defies logic.” Williams’ comments came on the heels of his team’s 74-62 win over Alcorn State
1:23 AM ET DAYTON, Ohio — Trayce Jackson-Davis was the first Indiana player to take the court Tuesday night and the last to leave. Thanks to his efforts, Indiana will play on in the NCAA tournament. Jackson-Davis, brilliant last week at the Big Ten tournament, carried over his performance to his NCAA tournament debut, scoring
12:10 PM ET Associated Press Pat Chambers quickly convinced Florida Gulf Coast that he was the right person to take over its men’s basketball program. It’s a second chance he vowed to not squander. FGCU introduced Chambers on Tuesday as its new coach, a move that came about 18 months after he resigned as coach
12:33 PM ET Associated Press Keegan Murray has given Iowa a first-team Associated Press All-American for the third straight year, and Kofi Cockburn has made it two in a row for Illinois – not bad for a couple programs that haven’t had a whole lot of them. The Fighting Illini never had a first-team pick
10:01 AM ET Yeshiva University’s Ryan Turell will forgo his final year of college eligibility and enter the 2022 NBA draft, he told ESPN. “My full intention is to play professional basketball next year,” Turell said. Turell is the leading scorer in college basketball across all divisions, averaging 27.1 points while shooting 47% from 3.