2026 NCAA Tournament (Day 2)

Games I watched (some of):

Queens University 71-104 Purdue

I am proud to say I am a Queens (College) alumnus and I was proud of my alma mater finally making it to the big dance. And for 15 minutes or so, they acquitted themselves admirably. But Purdue went on a run right before halftime, kept that run going after the break. Purdue is a good team and they did what good teams do: they handled their business and didn't fall for the scrappy underdog routine. As for Queens, hey, man they hung tough for a while, made some plays, looked good out there, but just couldn't hang with the big dogs. Purdue has a great PG (broke the all time NCAA assist record in this game) and they look ready to make a meaningful run.  

Furman 71-82 Connecticut

Turned this one on kinda late, it was close for much of the game but by the time I got to it, Furman had pretty much shot their wad and the Huskies were able to ease the game to victory. Good survival skills for UConn should come in handy.

Wright State 73-82 Virginia

UVA's first win in the tourney in eons and I gotta say: I was not impressed. They play such a slow down style that they are just built to be upset. Wright State succumbed to foul trouble by the end and just couldn't hang down the stretch. 

Santa Clara 84-89 (OT) Kentucky

Game of the day! I was impressed with Santa Clara, this was meant to look like an easy match for the Wildcats but really Santa Clara is the veteran team that showed a lot of grit throughout the season. UK, on the other hand, has some nice players but never found any consistency or real identity all season long. The game was back and forth, thought the Wildcats were generally better but they couldn't get any seperation and it felt like Santa Clara was doing everything they needed to do to steal it late. But Oweh tied it up late, Santa Clara hit a 3 with 2 seconds left, Oweh was able to heave up a prayer just beyond mid court--that went in! (*) OT went back and forth but UK made the defensive plays (two blocks!) in the final minute and got the outlet bucket needed to ice the W. Is this the wakeup call UK needed? Are they ready to go on a run? Well, their next match is against (2) Iowa State, so we'll know right away whether this something the Cats can build on. As for Santa Clara, tough L, they really could've won this match--and may have given Iowa State a real shock.

Missouri 66-80 Miami

The two teams were similar for the most part, the game was close til the midway through the 2nd half when Miami's scoring just became more reliable. Miami is not bad, they were defeinitely better than Missouri, but I'm not sure I'm that afraid of them going forward. 

Utah State 86-76 Villanova

Utah State was the better side all the way through. I kept waiting for Nova to make some kind of run or take some control of the match but they just never did. Not sure if Utah State is pretty good or if Villanova just didn't have it this year. 

Iowa 67-61 Clemson

These two struck me as pretty much the exact same team, except that Iowa was a better shooting team and the better bet to win throughout, which is what happened.

Games I watched on the scoreboard ticker: 

Long Island University 58-92 Arizona

Prairie View A&M 55-114 Florida

Tennessee State 74-108 Iowa State

Hofstra 70-90 Alabama

Felt like Alabama would be an upset candidate and Hofstra hung with them for most of the 1st half, but Alabama went on a run and finished them fairly early, it looks like. 

California Baptist 60-68 Kansas

Cal Bap scored a bunch late, don't think this game was as close as the score suggests.

Akron 71-91 Texas Tech

Northern Iowa 53-79 St. John's

Miami (OH) 56-78 Tennessee

UT jumped on them early and seemed in control throughout. 

Central Florida 71-75 UCLA

This one, too, got close late, I think UCLA actually had this rather easily. 

(*) It was long but it was a makeable shot, Oweh did well to get such a good look at that moment. 

2026 NCAA Tournament (Day 1)

Games I watched (some of):

Siena 65-71 Duke

Siena pushed Duke, this was a close game in the last 2 minutes. Siena made ZERO substitutions in the entire game! And, well, as you can imagine, their offense completely ran out of gas in the last 5 minutes. Duke clawed back and overwhelmed Siena late, but this was no easy match for the Blue Devils, they sweated this out. Hats off to Siena, if they had even one more guy on that bench they might've won this game. Could be the wake up call Duke needs (or it might show that they're just not ready to be as dominant as they ought to be).

Troy 47-76 Nebraska

Nebraska got going about 10 minutes in and that was that. Nebraska can score and Troy just couldn't hang.

High Point 83-82 Wisconsin

Great game! Back and forth all the way through, High Point made plays in the last few minutes and Wisconsin did not. High Point was the better team, this didn't feel like an upset while watching it. 

South Florida 79-83 Louisville

South Florida was hitting shots early, felt like Louisville was fumbling. Then around halftime, Louisville got going, built up a nice lead, sat on it for most of the 2nd half, then South Florida went on a run to make the game look close. If South Florida had gone on their run about 10 minutes earlier, this could've turned out different. Hard to tell if Louisville is actually any good. 

Virginia Commonwealth 82-78 (OT) North Carolina

North Carolina ran out of gas late, tough L but they were an upset candidate ever since they lost their best player (Caleb Williams) to injury a month ago. VCU stayed strong, made the plays they needed to down the stretch and UNC just couldn't score in OT. I wasn't overly impressed with VCU, kinda feels like UNC was ready to lose. 

Texas Christian 66-64 Ohio State

Back and forth all the way, two evenly matched teams. Thought the Buckeyes could've won it late but they didn't. Not overly impressed with either team but TCU was the better team. 

Saint Louis 102-77 Georgia

St. Louis is good, dude! UGA was kinda so-so this year, had a few nice W's but nothing overwhelming. But St. Louis just took it to them early and often and I think they're gonna be a tough out going forward (watch out, Michigan!).

Games I watched on scoreboard ticker:

Howard 80-101 Michigan

Idaho 47-78 Houston

North Dakota State 67-92 Michigan State

Pennsylvania 70-105 Illinois

Kennesaw State 64-73 Gonzaga

Hawaii 78-97 Arkansas

McNeese 68-78 Vanderbilt

Texas 79-71 Brigham Young

Texas A&M 63-50 Saint Mary's

Pretty much all of these games were the same to me: the winning team was ahead for the most part throughout, didn't seem like there was too much drama in the 2nd halves of any of these matches.

2025-26 Champions League (Round of 16)

1st leg

Galatasaray 1-0 Liverpool

For the first few minutes of the game, Galatasaray kept giving the ball away in their own backfield--over and over again!--that it felt for a while like they were never going to get the ball across midfield and were desperately trying to give the game away as quick as possible. But soon enough, they did finally move the ball downfield, got a corner and scored in the 5th minute. Liverpool must've felt shell shocked: they had already blown a half dozen good opportunities before the audience was even paying attention and now they're down 1-0. After that it was a fairly even game, they each had a goal taken away: Liverpool for a handball (correct call) and Galatasaray for an offside (eh, that was 50-50, the dude really wasn't in the play). I expect Liverpool to put up a fuller richer effort back in England, so this one is not over.

Atalanta 1-6 Bayern Munich

Bayern came to play, Atalanta didn't know what hit them. Bayern scored, then scored again almost instantly, then scored again almost instantly, then peppered the keeper a few more times before the half and it was clear pretty quick that this one was over. I honestly snoozed through most the 2nd half, every time I looked up Bayern had scored again. Atalanta is here because Dortmund collapsed badly in the last round, not saying they don't belong here but they clearly weren't ready for Bayern. This one's over. 

Atletico Madrid 5-2 Tottenham

Oh man! Early on, the keeper lost his balance and it was 1-0; a minute later the defender loses his footing and it was 2-0; keeper slips again, 3-0 before the game has even started. Tottenham did well to keep playing, keep pushing, they got back a coupla goals, but this will be one of those matches that Tottenham fans remember for years and years. Does Tottenham have a shot back home in the next leg? I doubt it, man, they shouldn't get crushed this bad again, but this was bad enough. I definitely like Atletico's chances to move on. 

Newcastle United 1-1 Barcelona

Oof! Really thought Newcastle outplayed Barca, they really came to play while Barca felt like they were just chillin'. Thought Newcastle did a good job on the attack, pushed Barca back consistently, kept them out of scoring range pretty effectively. Felt let a hard earned draw, then Newcastle got a stunning goal in the 87th minute and it seemed like Newcastle was gonna score the stunning upset. Then in extra time, a foul in the box (the right call, it was a legit foul) and Barca scratches back the draw with a buzzer beater. Ooooooohhhhhhhhh maaaaaaaannnnnnnn. Still live in the 2nd leg, if Newcastle can pick up where they left off with the attacking intensity, they can catch Barca waffling, this one's definitely still in play. 

Leverkusen 1-1 Arsenal

Arsenal felt to me like the better side, but in the first half they played to a straight nothing-nothing draw. Right out of the half Leverkusen connected on a corner kick and it felt like that was gonna be all the scoring. But Arsenal found the net with a PK (I'm blanking on the play, don't remember if I thought it was the right call or not), just before the close and they're going back to England with an even chance to move on. Leverkusen is a nice team but they didn't feel dangerous on the attack, I think I'd take Arsenal to move on. 

Bodo 3-0 Sporting CP

Bodo! Never heard of Bodo before but when they scorched Inter Milan in back to back games in the round of 24, they definitely caught my attention. They're grit and grind, man, they hustle, they make the plays that the preening rock stars of soccer never follow through on and that edge has served them well so far, I can totally see it working through at least one more round. But, then again: I thought this match was actually pretty even with Bodo being uniquely successful on their chances, but I didn't think they overwhelmed Sporting by any means. Can Sporting can go back home and find 3 goals? I dunno, maybe, I can't rule it just yet because I don't know these teams at all. I'm all into Bodo, rooting for them, certainly looking good (so far), but Sporting still has a chance to move on and I expect them to bring it in the 2nd leg. 

Paris-St Germain 5-2 Chelsea

(Did I watch this one? I'm not remembering this one)

Real Madrid 3-0 Manchester City

1st half hat trick for Valverde and that was pretty much it for Man City. They were nice goals, too, they weren't cheapies, they were sweet. Didn't feel like Man City couldn't hang, just that Real made the most of their chances. Real's in the driver's seat but Man City can have a good day, too, so worth keeping an eye on.  

2nd leg

Sporting 5-0 (AET) Bodo (agg 5-3)

Ahhh, yeah....that's too bad. I was all in on Bodo fever but this result was not particularly surprising. Bodo had no attack at all, they seemed to think that just bunkering was going to be good enough and that did not work. Hey, even in the 1st leg I didn't think Bodo wildly outplayed Sporting, I just thought they converted their opportunities better. But in the 2nd leg, Sporting attacked nonstop--even through 2 OT periods--and Bodo just never got any offense going at all. Sorry, Bodo, I was rooting for you, but your time was up. Sporting is frisky, gonna be a tough out.

Arsenal 2-0 Leverkusen (agg 3-1)

Felt bad for Leverkusen's goalie, he made a ton of great saves--and Arsenal's goals were both untouchable, certainly not his fault. But Arsenal attacked and Levekusen just didn't, Leverkusen just didn't generate much going forward. The 1st leg was even, maybe Arsenal was a tad better, but in the 2nd leg I thought Arsenal dominated Levekusen. Hard to tell, actually, how good Arsenal is, Leverkusen didn't put up enough of a fight to really bring out Arsenal. 

Manchester City 1-2 Real Madrid (agg 1-5)

Real just got it done, Man City tried but they couldn't get anything consistent going forward and they had 2 goals taken away for off-sides (both calls were correct). I thought Man City did their best and it just wasn't good enough. As for Real, didn't even think they played their best. 

Chelsea 0-3 Paris SG (agg 2-8)

Oh, Chelsea. Blasted in the first game, out of sorts in the 2nd leg, too. PSG finished their chances, Chelsea did not. 

Barcelona 7-2 Newcastle (agg 8-3)

Wow, a really tight, tense match....for the 1st half. Barca was getting goals but Newcastle was matching and they never seemed rattled, felt like Newcastle had...I dunno...figured something out, because they didn't seem afraid of Barca. Then Barca got a PK right before half (ehh, I get the call, there was contact, but I would've let it go, I think it was a 50/50 call) and snatched the lead. But before you know it, Barca scored three quick goals and, well, that was that. Felt bad for Newcastle, they were really bringing it for about 45 minutes but they couldn't make it mean anything. Barca is definitely looking good.

Liverpool 4-0 Galatasaray (agg 4-1)

Similar to the Barca match, it was tense and tight and a fascinating match until halftime. Then Liverpool just kept scoring in the 2nd half and Galatasaray just couldn't stop them. I thought Liverpool was the better team throughout, it was only a matter of time before Liverpool found the goal. But once they did, good lord, the avalanche just kept getting bigger and bigger as it came down the mountain. 

Tottenham 3-2 Atletico Madrid (agg 5-7)

Fun match, Tottenham balled out but they couldn't keep Atletico off the scoreboard and that was just it. Atletico is looking good, thought Tottenham was actually a pretty good opponent.

Bayern Munich 4-1 Atalanta (agg 10-2)

Didn't watch any of this, didn't have to, it was plainly obvious from the first leg that Atalanta just wasn't up to this. Bayern is heating up, gonna be a tough out.