Sports
Big Ten March Madness Contenders Ranked by Analytics
The last time a Big Ten school won the NCAA Tournament, Dusty May was a senior at Indiana working as a team manager for Bob Knight and preparing for a life in coaching.
Considering the Michigan boss turns 50 in December, it has indeed been a long, long time since Michigan State — led by Tom Izzo, Mateen Cleaves and the rest of the Flintstones — captured the 2000 NCAA title in Indianapolis.
Now, all these years later, May has constructed the Big Ten’s most dominant team since Izzo’s champs, which means the Wolverines have a great chance to snap the league’s 25-year absence from the “One Shining Moment” spotlight.
As of Friday morning, Michigan was the odds-on favorite to win it all according to BetMGM, Caesars, DraftKings, FanDuel and presumably every other online sportsbook.
If you don’t care what the gambling world thinks, Michigan ranks No. 1 in Wins Above Bubble — a crucial metric the NCAA Tournament committee loves — along with a close No. 2 to Duke in the national NET ranking and KenPom.
Michigan’s KenPom rating of +38.39 ranks as the fourth-highest number since Ken Pomeroy started calculating his rankings in 1996-97. These Wolverines — who stand out because of their depth and their frontcourt led by likely first-team All-American Yaxel Lendeborg — trail only 1999 Duke, 2024 Duke…and the Duke team that just edged them on Saturday night in Washington, D.C.
Because Michigan boasts such a high ceiling, yet has struggled to reach it the last few games, May spends a lot of his time these days alternating between boosting and cajoling his bunch.
After Tuesday’s relatively narrow home win over Minnesota that clinched a share of the Big Ten title, May used such phrases as “We have such big and lofty goals in front of us…” and “I know this: The further we get into this, our guys have a further gear they can kick into…” and “Proud of our guys that we’ve been able to weather the storms to go through this (Big Ten) marathon that we’re on to get to this point, but if you get to the last five miles of a marathon and you collapse and you don’t stay hydrated, then it’s all for naught. We’ve got to keep pushing, keep moving forward and getting better.”
But Michigan (26-2) ain’t the only Big Ten squad on the short list of teams with a legitimate shot to capture the NCAA title on April 6 in Indianapolis.
Other Big Ten teams that can win the title
How do we know? Thanks to the steady improvements made in statistical analysis, predictive metrics and results-based metrics over the last 10-odd years — think Ken Pomeroy KenPom), Bart Torvik (T-Rank), Kevin Pauga (KPI), Evan Miyakawa, etc. — it’s easier to identify the teams truly worthy of a championship.
To put it another way, it’s nearly impossible for a great team’s potential to be camouflaged by a less than incredible record. For example, Illinois enters Friday’s visit from Michigan with a 22-6 record. That’s only good for No. 10 in the current Associated Press Top 25 and No. 11 in the coaches poll.
But KenPom sees through the record and ranks the Fighting Illini, who boast the nation’s most efficient offense, as the nation’s No. 4 team. Torvik has the Illini at No. 5.
It might not sound like a big difference whether you’re considered the nation’s fifth-best or 10th-best team, but the last decade’s worth of results suggests it’s huge.
Here are the last 10 NCAA champions and where they stood in KenPom’s national rankings when the brackets were revealed on Selection Sunday:
2025: Florida 2nd
2024: Connecticut 1st
2023: Connecticut 4th
2022: Kansas 6th
2021: Baylor 4th
2019: Virginia 1st
2018: Villanova 2nd
2017: UNC 3rd
2016: Villanova 5th
2015: Duke 6th
Of course, there’s no rule you have to be among the nation’s top six on March 15 or you can’t win the NCAA championship, but it’s clearly the trend. That’s why Illinois coach Brad Underwood doesn’t give a spit that Michigan has all but clinched the conference crown.
“I couldn’t tell you the Big Ten standings — and I mean that,” Underwood said Thursday. “I couldn’t tell you what that is. Michigan’s obviously in a place to win the league, but I couldn’t tell you who’s where. That is an absolute waste of my time.
“I do care about and look at the analytics and where we’re at and the NET and the KenPom and Torvik and all of that. I pay attention to that because it’s got wide-ranging stuff that helps me gauge my team much more than (the standings).”
With Michigan at No. 2 and Illinois at No. 4 in the current KenPoms, that’s two Big Ten teams that can dream on a title. Does anybody else belong alongside Duke, Arizona, Florida, Houston and Iowa State?
Purdue, No. 8 in KenPom, has enough time to climb into the top six, but the Boilers keep flunking key showdowns. With Thursday’s 2-point loss to Michigan State, they’ve dropped home games to Michigan, Illinois and Sparty — and the 23-point home loss to Iowa State on Dec. 6 also will resonate come NCAA seeding time.
So, No. 10 Michigan State? Perhaps, but it feels like Izzo has a team similar to last year’s that had to fight its guts out just to reach the Elite Eight. Izzo ratified that viewpoint during Peacock’s postgame show Thursday while sharing how much he enjoyed spending 90 minutes with former Purdue coach Gene Keady that morning. Among other things, they talked about how many teams today don’t seem as together.
“I said, ‘You know, that’s one thing I have: We’re not overly talented, but we are connected and together,’ ” Izzo said.
And No. 12 Nebraska? It has been a legendary year for Fred Hoiberg’s squad, but how can you project an NCAA championship for a school that has never won an NCAA Tournament game?
Sports
Minnesota United blank Timbers for 3rd straight win
Apr 18, 2026; Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota United FC forward Kelvin Yeboah (9) shoots the ball as Portland Timbers defender Finn Surman (20) and defender Brandon Bye (5) defend during the first half at Allianz Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images Tomas Chancalay had a goal and an assist as the Minnesota United won their third match in a row with Saturday night’s 2-0 victory against the Portland Timbers at Saint Paul, Minn.
Kelvin Yeboah scored the other goal, making it three matches in a row that he has a goal for the Loons (4-2-2, 14 points). Minnesota goalkeeper Drake Callender made two saves for the clean sheet.
Yeboah has half of his team’s 10 goals in MLS play. He’s the team’s only player with more than one goal.
James Pantemis made five saves for Portland (2-5-1, 7 points), which fell to 0-4-0 in road matches.
Chancalay scored his first goal of the season in the 16th minute off Jefferson Diaz’s assist.
Yeboah’s goal in the 60th minute capped a fastbreak with a short-range shot after Chancalay provided the final pass. Chancalay has four assists this year.
Portland has surrendered two or more goals in each of its last three road matches.
The Timbers began a busy stretch that includes several road assignments with a largely solid game despite failing to score. They held a 4-3 edge in corner kicks and a 55%-45% possession advantage, but Minnesota outshot the visitors 17-12, including 7-2 on shots on target.
The teams played to a 1-1 draw last August in the same stadium.
Portland stays on the road next Saturday, visiting San Diego FC. Minnesota plays twice next week, visiting FC Dallas on Wednesday before hosting LAFC on Saturday.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Troy Johnston's clutch double leads Rockies' comeback win over Dodgers
Apr 18, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Kyle Tucker (23) is congratulated by designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) after a two-run home run during the first inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images Troy Johnston hit a go-ahead two-run double in the sixth inning and the Colorado Rockies held on for a 4-3 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday night in Denver.
Johnston had three of Colorado’s seven hits as the Rockies won for only the second time in nine games.
Kyle Tucker and Dalton Rushing homered for the Dodgers, who had their four-game winning streak snapped. Shohei Ohtani was 1-for-4 to extend his on-base streak to 50 games.
Brennan Bernardino (2-0) delivered 1 1/3 no-hit innings in relief, and Victor Vodnik pitched the ninth for his third save.
Will Klein (1-1) allowed hits to each of the first three batters he faced in the sixth, including Johnston’s game-winning double.
The first two Dodgers reached in the eighth against Jaden Hill and they loaded the bases with two outs before Hill retired Max Muncy on a groundout to second base.
Colorado starter Ryan Feltner went 5 2/3 innings, allowing three runs (two earned) and five hits with a walk and five strikeouts.
Los Angeles starter Emmet Sheehan gave up two runs on four hits in five innings, with two walks and four strikeouts.
The Dodgers led 2-0 two pitches into the game. After Ohtani hit the first pitch into play and reached on an error by Johnston, Tucker drove the first pitch he saw into the second deck in right for his third home run with the Dodgers.
TJ Rumfield’s RBI single made it 2-1 in the bottom of the first.
Rushing’s solo homer with one out in the second restored the two-run lead.
Kyle Karros’ sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning made it 3-2, scoring Johnston, who had singled, stolen second and moved to third on a groundout.
The Dodgers threatened when Freddie Freeman tripled with one out in the visitor’s half of the sixth. But Karros at third dove to stop Teoscar Hernandez’s grounder down the line, retiring him at first. Bernardino replaced Feltner and struck out Muncy to end the threat.
The Dodgers threatened with a pair of two-out singles in the ninth before Tucker’s flyout to left ended the game. Los Angeles was hitless in seven at-bats with runners in scoring position, stranding eight in the narrow loss
–Field Level Media
Sports
Flyers emerge with win over Penguins in opening tussle of playoff series
Apr 18, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Cam York (8) checks Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby (87) in front of Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar (80) during the first period against in game one of the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images Porter Martone scored a timely goal late for the Philadelphia Flyers, who skated away with a 3-2 road victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins to take a 1-0 lead in their best-of-seven, first-round playoff series on Saturday night.
Travis Sanheim and Jamie Drysdale also scored for Philadelphia. Trevor Zegras, Denver Barkey, Rasmus Ristolainen, Christian Dvorak and Travis Konecny registered assists.
Dan Vladar stopped 15 shots for the Flyers, none bigger than a point-blank stop on Anthony Mantha in the closing seconds to preserve the win.
Evgeni Malkin scored his 68th postseason goal for the Penguins and assisted on Bryan Rust’s goal. Tommy Novak, Rickard Rakell and Erik Karlsson earned assists.
Stuart Skinner faced 20 shots and made 17 saves.
The postseason renewal of the Battle of Pennsylvania was exactly that for the two teams ending lengthy playoff droughts. It was a physical affair that featured just 26 shots on goal and 59 hits through the first two periods. That favored the Flyers, who finished the season fourth in the league in hits.
Martone, the 19-year-old who joined Philadelphia from Michigan State on March 31, scored what appeared to be an insurance goal with 2:37 left that gave the Flyers a 3-1 lead. That prompted Pittsburgh to pull Skinner for a sixth attacker.
A tussle between Penguins star Sidney Crosby and Sanheim sent both to the penalty box with 1:09 left, and Rust made it a one-goal game from the high slot eight seconds later.
Drysdale gave Philadelphia the lead midway through the second. Zegras skated behind the net and found the defenseman in the faceoff circle. Denver Barkey also assisted on the goal and further helped by screening Skinner.
Less than seven minutes later, Malkin provided the equalizer as the Penguins applied pressure in the attack zone. Vladar stopped Rakell but allowed a long rebound to his right that Novak tapped to the 39-year-old, who scored from the faceoff circle with 4:09 left in the period.
Sanheim reclaimed the lead for Philadelphia at the midway point of the third.
Pittsburgh’s 17 shots on goal were its fewest in a postseason game since the Penguins mustered just 12 in Game 5 of the 2017 Stanley Cup Final against the Nashville Predators.
–Field Level Media
