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
Lakers star Luka Doncic suspended 1 game after 16th technical foul
Mar 27, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) drives against Brooklyn Nets forward Ziaire Williams (1) during the second half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: William Liang-Imagn Images The NBA suspended Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic for one game without pay on Saturday for receiving his 16th technical foul this season, and he will miss Monday’s game against the visiting Washington Wizards.
Doncic, the league’s leading scorer, was assessed a technical along with Brooklyn forward Ziaire Williams when they jostled each other with 5:12 remaining in the third quarter of the host Lakers’ 116-99 victory on Friday.
An offensive foul was called seconds earlier on Doncic, and a video review showed him pushing Williams, with the Nets player retaliating by swiping at Doncic’s face.
The 16th technical triggered an automatic suspension, which will cost Doncic 1/174th of his annual salary, about $264,000, per ESPN. League rules stipulate that following the 16th technical, for every two additional technicals, the player will be suspended another game without pay.
The Lakers had successfully appealed Doncic’s most-recent technical for a yelling match with Orlando Magic center Goga Bitadze on March 21. The league rescinded the technicals.
Doncic, 27, is averaging 33.7 points, 8.2 assists and 7.8 rebounds for the Lakers (48-26), who are in third place in the Western Conference with eight games remaining in the regular season.
A six-time All-Star guard, Doncic has been selected All-NBA first team five times and was the 2018-19 NBA Rookie of the Year.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Marta Suarez scores 33 as TCU upends Virginia in Sweet 16
Mar 28, 2026; Sacramento, CA, USA; Texas Christian University Horned Frogs guard Olivia Miles (5) and forward Marta Suárez (7) embrace after a called foul during the second quarter of the game against the Virginia Cavaliers in the Sweet Sixteen game of the Sacramento Regional 4 of the women’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images Marta Suarez scored a career-high 33 points, Olivia Miles added 28 points in a near triple-double and third-seeded TCU ended Virginia’s magical NCAA Tournament run with a 79-69 victory in the Sweet 16 in Sacramento on Saturday.
Miles had 10 rebounds and eight assists and Suarez had 10 rebounds as the Horned Frogs (32-5) overcame a one-point halftime deficit by scoring the first 11 points of the third quarter to take control.
The Horned Frogs will make their second straight Elite Eight appearance when they meet top-seeded South Carolina on Monday.
Suarez had 13 points in the third quarter, when Miles had six assists and four rebounds as the Frogs pushed their lead to 15. The 10th-seeded Cavaliers did not get closer than eight until the final 31 seconds.
Miles’ two free throws with 26.1 seconds left for a 77-69 lead clinched it. She is one of four Division I players with at least 600 points, 250 rebounds and 100 assists.
Paris Clark had 20 points and Kymora Johnson had 18 for the Cavaliers (22-12), the lowest seed to reach the Sweet 16 since 2022.
Clara Silva had eight points and eight rebounds for TCU, which had a 38-29 edge on the boards and limited Virginia to 41% shooting.
Virginia led by seven late in the first quarter. TCU took a 35-33 lead with 1:09 left in the first half, when Suarez made a free throw after Romi Levy was called for a Flagrant 1 foul for pulling Miles down as she drove to the basket.
Clark’s three-point play gave the Cavaliers a 36-35 lead at halftime.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Troy appoints NC State assistant Adam Howard as new coach
Nov 13, 2024; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach Fred Hoiberg and assistant coach Adam Howard watch play during the first half against the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-Imagn Images North Carolina State assistant Adam Howard is the new head coach at Troy, the school announced Saturday night.
Howard replaces Scott Cross, who left after the NCAA Tournament to become head coach at Georgia Tech. Cross finished his seven-year tenure with five straight 20-win campaigns.
Troy went 22-12 this season and reached the NCAA tourney for the second straight season. The Trojans, seeded 13th, were routed 76-47 by Nebraska in the first round of this year’s tournament.
Howard will look to continue the success. He had a two-season stint as an assistant with Troy (2016-18) earlier in his career with the Trojans qualifying for the 2017 NCAA Tournament.
Last season was Howard’s lone campaign at NC State, which went 20-14 and reached the NCAA Tournament before losing to the Texas in the First Four. Wolfpack coach Will Wade departed for LSU after the season.
Howard’s other stops as an assistant coach include Southern Miss (2012-14), Tennessee (2014), South Alabama (2018-22) and Nebraska (2022-25).
Howard resigned at Tennessee in November 2014, citing personal reasons, during a time when he and then-Volunteers coach Donnie Tyndall were being investigated by the NCAA for recruiting violations at Southern Miss, where Tyndall was previously the head coach.
–Field Level Media
Lakers star Luka Doncic suspended 1 game after 16th technical foul
Marta Suarez scores 33 as TCU upends Virginia in Sweet 16
