Winners and Losers of the Men's 2026 NCAA Tournament Sunday Round 2
The 2026 men's NCAA tournament field has now been whittled from 68 teams down to the Sweet 16.
It all happens so fast that big moments barely even have a chance to be memorialized.
Although, those Alvaro Folgueiras and Dylan Darling shots shan't be forgotten any time soon.
Before we start preparing for the second weekend of the dance, though, let's recap Sunday's action in winners and losers fashion, touching upon each of the eight games that put an end to the second round.
Winner: Fletcher Loyer, Purdue
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There's efficient. There's uber efficient. And then there's Fletcher Loyer scoring 24 points while taking just seven field-goal attempts in a 79-69 victory over Miami (FL) to start Sunday's slate of games.
Needless to say, there were some free throw attempts in the mix there. Kind of hard to average 3.4 points per FGA without some FTA in the equation. Loyer went 4-for-4 from distance, 2-for-3 inside the arc and 8-for-8 from the charity stripe in one of the most automatic games of his career.
Loyer had already been hot heading into that game, shooting 30-for-62 from three-point range in his first eight games in March. That's a huge part of why Purdue has re-emerged as...well...not quite the title-winning favorite that it was heading into the season, but a very real threat to win it all.
Braden Smith is the assists king. Trey Kaufman-Renn is the rock in the post. Oscar Cluff is the near-70 percent interior shooter who can impact games on the glass. CJ Cox is the underappreciated glue guy. But Loyer is the X-factor, ice cold when this team struggled through January, but the possible backbone of a championship run if he continues to convert at a high clip.
Loser: Kentucky's Early Lead vs. Iowa State
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Through the first seven-plus minutes of the second game of the day, it sure looked like Iowa State simply wasn't going to be able to cut the mustard without the injured Joshua Jefferson.
Even with the Wildcats committing three turnovers less than five minutes into the action, Kentucky had jumped out to a 12-point lead, seemingly well on its way to a second consecutive Sweet 16 under Mark Pope.
From that point forward, though, the Cyclones outscored UK by a 76-45 margin.
Those early turnovers snowballed into a major problem, as Iowa State ultimately scored 25 points off 20 Kentucky giveaways.
That's what Iowa State's defense can do to you, but it was the most turnovers this proud program had committed in a single game since a 17-point loss at Georgia Tech in December 2020—early on in that hopelessly disastrous 9-16 campaign.
Perhaps even more than the turnovers, though, the real disaster for Kentucky was an inability to capitalize on Iowa State's compromised frontcourt.
Sans Jefferson, Iowa State had no choice but to play Blake Buchanan as many minutes as possible at the five while putting three-point specialist (and defensive liability) Milan Momcilovic at the four for basically the entire game. And yet, Malachi Moreno and Brandon Garrison combined to play 40 minutes and only officially attempted one shot.
Kentucky also got out-rebounded by Iowa State.
Big Blue Nation probably won't get too upset about that coaching malpractice, though, right? That's usually a pretty chill fan base.
Winner: Dylan Darling, St. John's
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For about 39 minutes and 45 seconds, it appeared the clear choice for winner from St. John's vs. Kansas was going to be Bryce Hopkins.
Kansas essentially dared the Johnnies to win this game via three-pointers, and most of the Red Storm roster validated that strategy, as players not named Hopkins went a combined 5-for-26 from distance. But Hopkins—who hadn't made more than two triples in a game since two days before Thanksgiving—was the exception to that rule, going 6-for-9, including what felt like the dagger to put St. John's up by four with 90 seconds remaining.
The Jayhawks refused to go away, though, battling back from 14 down with eight minutes remaining to tie the game on a pair of Darryn Peterson free throws with 13 seconds left.
After Kansas used not one, not two, not three, but all four of its fouls to give to drain the clock down to 3.9 seconds, it was Dylan Darling's time to have a Tyus Edney type of moment.
Darling had been held scoreless up until that point, going 0-for-4 from three-point range. But he got the ball beyond half court, drove to the rim with no resistance whatsoever from Elmarko Jackson—who was understandably leery about committing a foul at that point, lest he put Darling on the free-throw line for a one-and-one opportunity to win the game—and made the game-winning layup as time expired.
Last year, St. John's won its first NCAA tournament game since 2000. Now, thanks to Darling, Rick Pitino has this program into the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1999.
Only two more wins until their first Final Four since 1985; four more until their first national championship.
Loser: Atlantic Coast Conference
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After four consecutive years of getting five or fewer teams into the NCAA tournament, the ACC had a bit of a renaissance year, sending eight teams to this year's dance.
As we prepare for the Sweet 16, though, one can't help but notice the jarring lack of ACC teams still standing.
SMU and NC State? Gone before the round of 64 began.
Clemson and North Carolina? Upset in the first round.
Louisville? Bounced by Michigan State on Saturday.
And with a chance today to save that narrative for that conference, both Miami (FL) and Virginia bit the dust.
The Hurricanes losing to Purdue was none too surprising, but No. 3 seed Virginia falling to No. 6 Tennessee was a real letdown at the end of a 30-win season.
The Cavaliers more than held their own on the glass against Tennessee's elite rebounding unit. They also shot it pretty well from distance, going 12-for-35 for the game.
But a dose of that old-school, Tony Bennett defense sure would've been swell in this one.
Save for late in the game when Tennessee started shooting itself in the foot with uncharacteristic turnovers, the Wahoos had no real answer for slowing down the Volunteers. There was one stretch of the second half in which Tennessee scored on 12 of 13 possessions—and even on the empty trip, they got a good look and an offensive rebound before throwing the ball away.
Just like that, the ACC is down to Duke. And even the Blue Devils didn't much look like their old selves during that opening weekend.
Winner: Alvaro Folgueiras, Iowa
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While we do not yet know who will win it all, we do now know it won't be the reigning champs.
One year ago, in a second-round game that went back and forth and right down to the wire, No. 1 seed Florida defeated No. 8 seed Connecticut, ensuring there would be a new national champion. And it just so happened to be the Gators winning it all a few weeks later.
This time around, No. 1 seed Florida was on the wrong end of that exchange, courtesy of a cold-blooded Alvaro Folgueiras corner three that will go down in NCAA tournament lore alongside what Northern Iowa's Ali Farokhmanesh did to Kansas back in 2010.
No. 9 seed Iowa had Florida on the ropes all game long, at one point opening up a 12-point lead midway through the second half.
The Gators battled back, though, courtesy of a 26-10 run to pull back ahead by four. But Iowa never panicked—even on a night in which their usual star, Bennett Stirtz, could not buy a three-point bucket in nine tries.
Stirtz did, however, set up one of the biggest buckets in program history, breaking free from Boogie Fland to set up a 3-on-2 break before finding a wide-open Folgueiras in the corner for what proved to be the game-winner, sending Iowa to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1999.
Despite coming off the bench all season long after transferring in from Robert Morris, Folgueiras was maybe the biggest star of their first-round win over Clemson, too. He went for 14 points in each of Iowa's two wins, but he may never have bigger points than those three.
Loser: Dreams of an Actual Cinderella
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Texas making it into the Sweet 16 as a No. 11 seed is surprising, but it's not a Cinderella story.
Same goes for Iowa after its No. 9 over No. 1 upset of Florida.
But we did have one potential Cinderella still dancing at the start of the day, that being the Mountain West's Utah State as the No. 9 seed paired up with No. 1 Arizona.
Unfortunately, midnight struck early for Utah State.
The Aggies battled as best as they could, making things interesting in the second half when their full-court pressure started to rattle the usually unflappable Wildcats.
Every time it got close, though, it seemed like Big 12 Player of the Year Jaden Bradley made a circus shot, or Motiejus Krivas grabbed a demoralizing offensive rebound to keep Utah State from ever getting a chance to tie or take the lead.
It was on the glass that this glass slipper really shattered.
Arizona out-rebounded Utah State by a 54-26 margin, which also played right into the Wildcats attempting 28 more free throws than the Aggies.
Combine that with USU shooting just 8-for-32 from distance and it's hard to believe this game got as sweaty as it did for Arizona.
Alas, nothing but teams from the five major conferences left in this tournament.
Maybe next year...
Winner: The (Big) East Regional
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To be clear, all of the Sweet 16 pairings have the potential for greatness, and not even in an "if you squint, you can see it" sort of way. It's the silver lining on a Cinderella-less tournament that the second weekend delivers possible banger after banger.
But with all due respect to the Midwest, South and West, Washington D.C. and the East Regional is where it's at next weekend.
We already got Duke and Michigan State through to the Sweet 16 on Saturday, and we previously discussed St. John's beating Kansas at the buzzer to set up that sensational showdown with the Blue Devils.
In the late slate, though, Connecticut became the fascinating fourth member of that party in what gradually became a relatively convincing win over UCLA, despite getting nothing out of Solo Ball and Silas Demary Jr.
In place of those usually reliable guards, it was Alex Karaban stepping up in a colossal way for a career-high 27 points, making sure to get his 120th win and one final trip to (at least) the Sweet 16.
Up next for the Huskies is Tom Izzo and the Spartans. And if they win that one battle between...let's just call them emotional coaches...it'll either set up Round IV with the Johnnies or a showdown with National Player of the Year Cameron Boozer for a trip to the Final Four.
In the immortal words of Bart Scott: Can't wait.
Loser: Red Raiders in a Rout
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The round two finale between Alabama and Texas Tech was over almost as soon as it started.
What profiled as the most thrilling matchup of the day was anything but. Alabama stormed out to an early 26-10 lead and never let the Red Raiders get it back to within single digits.
Both lead guards—Alabama's Labaron Philon Jr. and Texas Tech's Christian Anderson—had uncommonly off nights from the field, but Philon's supporting cast just decimated Anderson's, drilling triple after triple.
While Texas Tech shot 4-for-25 from distance, Latrell Wrightsell and Houston Mallette anchored a Crimson Tide onslaught going 19-for-42 from downtown.
Good for Alabama, which could give us an unbelievable game against Michigan in the Sweet 16. However, what a disappointing conclusion to a once-promising Texas Tech season.
Try as they might to tread water after losing All-American JT Toppin to that torn ACL, the Red Raiders never remotely got back to the level of a team that at full strength won at Arizona, beat Duke on a neutral court and split a pair of games with Houston.
Anderson is only a sophomore, but that might be the final time we see him playing at this level. Shame to watch him go out with just seven points in a blowout loss.
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