Sports
Who got left out? NCAA Tournament committee snubs
Mar 12, 2026; Nashville, TN, USA; Auburn Tigers head coach Steven Pearl reacts to a call against the Tennessee Volunteers during the second half at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images The Southeastern Conference received 10 bids to the NCAA Tournament, but two of the biggest snubs also were teams from the league.
Oklahoma and Auburn were on the outside of the 68-team field when SMU of the Atlantic Coast Conference landed the final spot.
The Sooners (19-15) were the first team omitted, followed by Auburn (17-16). Ironically, the two schools tied for 11th place in the SEC in the regular season with 7-11 records.
Also among the first four out were San Diego State (22-11) of the Mountain West and Indiana (18-14) of the Big Ten.
Joining SMU as No. 11 seeds and among the last teams in the field were North Carolina State (ACC), Texas (SEC) and Miami (Ohio) of the Mid-American Conference.
Selection committee chairman Keith Gill said the committee got the right teams in the field. The Sun Belt Conference commissioner said it’s not easy when it is narrowed down to a few teams for one spot.
“When you try to compare those teams and get to that last team in the field, and this year that was SMU, that conversation between them and those teams outside the tournament is really challenging. All those teams had good years and have good things on their resume, and they also had some things that probably weren’t as good.
“When you try to compare those things and get to the last team in the tournament, it is tense and you just try to make sure you are making the best decision.”
Oklahoma got into the mix with a strong finish. The Sooners were just 11-12 after losing to Kentucky on Feb. 4 before winning eight of their final 11 games.
Oklahoma had a six-game winning streak during the stretch but none were against a ranked team. The Sooners went 1-1 in the SEC tourney, getting eliminated by Arkansas in the quarterfinals.
Auburn was 14-7 in late January before collapsing down the stretch. The Tigers went 3-9 the rest of the way, including a 0-4 mark against ranked teams.
Former Auburn coach Bruce Pearl — whose son Steven now coaches the team — said the Tigers should have been in due to their tough schedule.
Pearl, serving as a CBS studio analyst, said Oklahoma or Auburn should have been in the tournament instead of SMU.
“You have to win your way in or lose your way out,” Bruce Pearl said. “For me, you always say ‘You’re going to put one in, who you gonna take out?’ For me, SMU with a 191 out-of-conference strength of schedule. I don’t know that they should have been rewarded.”
San Diego State, the 2023 NCAA Tournament runner-up, was bypassed as the Mountain West got just one team (Utah State) in the field for the first time since 2017.
The Aztecs had participated in the last five NCAA Tournaments.
“I’m disappointed for our players and our great fans that we weren’t selected to compete in this year’s NCAA Tournament,” San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher said in a statement. “There are only 68 spots available and, unfortunately, we didn’t get one of them.
“We fought hard all year and in a league that featured seven teams that won at least 20 games, we completed the regular season alone in second place and reached the championship game of our conference tournament. All those are accomplishments we can be proud of, but in the committee’s eyes it just wasn’t enough to be included in the field. We respect the work they do.”
Dutcher said his team will call it a season and won’t play in any postseason tournaments.
Indiana also reportedly won’t play in a postseason season tourney after missing out on the NCAA field.
The Hoosiers finished 10th in the Big Ten (9-11 conference record) in Darian DeVries’ first season as a coach. But a late-season 1-6 nosedive that included a loss to Northwestern in its first Big Ten tourney game helped sink Indiana.
Other teams that still had hopes in the middle of last week were Stanford (20-12) of the ACC, New Mexico (23-10) of the Mountain West and Cincinnati (18-15) of the Big 12.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Miko Rantanen, Stars double-up Penguins
Mar 28, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Dallas Stars center Wyatt Johnston (53) and Pittsburgh Penguins center Ben Kindel (81) fight for the puck during the second period at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images Miko Rantanen scored in his first game in nearly two months, and the Dallas Stars tallied three unanswered second-period goals to end a four-game skid and defeat the host Pittsburgh Penguins 6-3 on Saturday.
Rantanen and Jason Robertson each had a goal and an assist for Dallas (44-18-11, 99 points), which had gone 0-3-1 in its last four. The Stars trailed 1-0 and 2-1 in this contest before exploding for three goals, two on the power play, in the second.
Rookie Justin Hryckowian, Lian Bichsel and Mavrik Bourque also scored for the Stars, who swept the two-game season series with Pittsburgh after winning in Dallas in December.
Erik Karlsson had a goal and two assists for Pittsburgh (36-21-16, 88 points), which was playing without both Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby due to lower-body injuries.
Anthony Mantha and Noel Acciari also scored for Pittsburgh, which lost its third game at PPG Paints Arena in the past week. The Penguins were outscored 17-6 in those three home contests.
Mantha redirected a Karlsson slapshot to put Pittsburgh in front on a power-play goal just over two minutes into the game.
Hryckowian evened the score for Dallas early in the second period, capitalizing on a broken play that left him wide open in front of the net with the puck.
Karlsson answered for the Penguins 48 seconds later with a wrister for his 13th goal of the season. In the process, he broke two franchise records for defensemen.
The goal was his ninth in March, the most in a single month by a Penguins blueliner. This was also his ninth multi-point game in March, which broke Randy Carlyle’s mark, set in December 1980, for most multi-point games in a single month by a defenseman.
The Stars responded over the next few minutes. Robertson scored on the power play 7:12 into the period to even the game. It was Robertson’s 40th goal, tying him with Wyatt Johnston for the team lead.
Three minutes later, Rantanen, who had missed 15 games in a row with a lower-body injury, tallied his 21st of the season on another power-play opportunity.
Bichsel doubled the Stars’ advantage less than 90 seconds later on a strange sequence. He went behind the goal, stapled to Karlsson, proceeded to throw the Swede’s stick to the floor with no whistle, and then scored what turned out to be the game-winner.
Jake Oettinger improved to 7-1-0 in his career against Pittsburgh. He allowed three goals on only 12 shots, as Pittsburgh posted four, five and three shots over the three periods. Stuart Skinner made 20 stops for the Penguins.
Dallas, which entered with the fourth-best road record in the league, improved to 22-8-7 away from home.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Tobias Harris sparks Pistons to road win over Timberwolves
Mar 28, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Detroit Pistons forward Tobias Harris (12) dribbles the ball as Minnesota Timberwolves forward Julius Randle (30) and guard Terrence Shannon Jr. (1) defend during the second half at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images Tobias Harris scored 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting, and the Detroit Pistons pulled away for a 109-87 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday afternoon in Minneapolis.
Ronald Holland II and Daniss Jenkins chipped in 13 points apiece for Detroit (54-20), which won for the sixth time in its past seven games. Paul Reed added 12 points off the bench, and Jalen Duren notched a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds.
Donte DiVincenzo led Minnesota (45-29) with 22 points and made five shots from beyond the arc. Rudy Gobert finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Julius Randle notched 11 points despite missing 11 of 13 shots from the field.
Detroit outscored Minnesota 60-43 in the second half to seal the victory.
The Pistons opened the second half on a 7-1 run to go ahead by double digits. Ausar Thompson made a layup to finish the run and put Detroit ahead 56-45 with 9:53 to go in the third quarter.
By the start of the fourth quarter, Detroit increased its lead to 14 points. Caris LeVert knocked down a pullup jump shot from 15 feet to make it 74-60 in favor of the Pistons.
The TImberwolves trailed by double digits for the duration of the fourth quarter. They fell behind by 20 points when Harris made a free throw with 6:04 to play.
The Pistons held on to a 49-44 advantage at the half.
Detroit led by as many as 13 points before the break. Duren made a pair of free throws to put the Pistons on top 37-24 with 9:40 remaining.
Minnesota responded with a 15-6 run to cut the deficit to 43-39 late in the half.
Both teams played without their top players. Anthony Edwards remained out for the Timberwolves because of inflammation in his right knee, and Cade Cunningham remained out for the Pistons as he recovers from a collapsed lung.
The Timberwolves also played without Jaden McDaniels (knee) and Ayo Dosunmu (calf). Terrence Shannon Jr. made his second career start in the backcourt.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Tobias Harris sparks Pistons to road win over Timberwolves
Mar 28, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Detroit Pistons forward Tobias Harris (12) dribbles the ball as Minnesota Timberwolves forward Julius Randle (30) and guard Terrence Shannon Jr. (1) defend during the second half at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images Tobias Harris scored 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting, and the Detroit Pistons pulled away for a 109-87 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday afternoon in Minneapolis.
Ronald Holland II and Daniss Jenkins chipped in 13 points apiece for Detroit (54-20), which won for the sixth time in its past seven games. Paul Reed added 12 points off the bench, and Jalen Duren notched a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds.
Donte DiVincenzo led Minnesota (45-29) with 22 points and made five shots from beyond the arc. Rudy Gobert finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Julius Randle notched 11 points despite missing 11 of 13 shots from the field.
Detroit outscored Minnesota 60-43 in the second half to seal the victory.
The Pistons opened the second half on a 7-1 run to go ahead by double digits. Ausar Thompson made a layup to finish the run and put Detroit ahead 56-45 with 9:53 to go in the third quarter.
By the start of the fourth quarter, Detroit increased its lead to 14 points. Caris LeVert knocked down a pullup jump shot from 15 feet to make it 74-60 in favor of the Pistons.
The TImberwolves trailed by double digits for the duration of the fourth quarter. They fell behind by 20 points when Harris made a free throw with 6:04 to play.
The Pistons held on to a 49-44 advantage at the half.
Detroit led by as many as 13 points before the break. Duren made a pair of free throws to put the Pistons on top 37-24 with 9:40 remaining.
Minnesota responded with a 15-6 run to cut the deficit to 43-39 late in the half.
Both teams played without their top players. Anthony Edwards remained out for the Timberwolves because of inflammation in his right knee, and Cade Cunningham remained out for the Pistons as he recovers from a collapsed lung.
The Timberwolves also played without Jaden McDaniels (knee) and Ayo Dosunmu (calf). Terrence Shannon Jr. made his second career start in the backcourt.
–Field Level Media
Miko Rantanen, Stars double-up Penguins
Tobias Harris sparks Pistons to road win over Timberwolves
