March is starting to beckon everyone in college basketball, and especially those who didn\u2019t make the cut last spring. One good way for a program to truly hunger for a spot in the NCAA tournament? Sit at home and watch 68 other teams play in it.<\/p>\n
Here, then, are six particularly fascinating teams making loud noises so far in 2026, after not getting past the NCAA tournament door in 2025.<\/p>\n
NEBRASKA<\/p>\n
On March 9, 2025, the Cornhuskers were blown away at home by Iowa 83-68 for the fifth consecutive loss, finishing the regular season 17-14 and 7-13 in the Big Ten. So low they didn\u2019t even qualify for the conference tournament, which had room for 15 teams in the bracket but not them. You\u2019re missing the NCAA tournament by light years if you can\u2019t even get in your own league\u2019s event.<\/p>\n
Nebraska hasn\u2019t lost a game since.<\/p>\n
There were four victories in the College Basketball Crown last March and the 19-0 start now, and that adds up to a 23-game winning streak, longest in the nation \u2014 and 15 games ahead of anyone else in the Big Ten. The Cornhuskers\u2019 No. 7 Associated Press ranking is their highest in history, and you have to go back to 1965-66 to find the only other season they were in the top 10.<\/p>\n
MARCH MADNESS: Andy Katz’s first NCAA tournament projections of the year<\/a><\/p>\n So Nebraska won\u2019t be missing March this time. New faces are helping do this. The top four scorers average a combined 54.2 points a game and none of them were in the lineup last season. And there is a fresh confidence at crunch time in Lincoln. Nebraska is 4-0 in one-possession games, three of those in the Big Ten. Last season the Cornhuskers were 0-6.<\/p>\n The faithful have waited a long time for this, and their fervor makes it tough on visitors. Among Nebraska’s home wins are 21 points over Creighton, 30 over Wisconsin and 35 over Oregon. Washington trailed by 18 and lost by 10 Wednesday night and afterward coach Danny Sprinkle called it “the best crowd that we\u2019ve played in front of this year.\u201d<\/p>\n MIAMI (OHIO)<\/p>\n Clearly, these guys will not go gently for the first defeat, if one ever comes. Consider the recent days.<\/p>\n Saturday, Eian Elmer\u2019s 3-pointer at the buzzer off an offensive rebound saves the day against Buffalo and forces overtime. Peter Suder\u2019s 3-pointer with just over a second left wins it 105-102. That after 27 lead changes.<\/p>\n Monday, the RedHawks are included in the Associated Press Top 25 rankings for the first time in 27 years. They\u2019ve only been ranked eight weeks in the history of the poll back to 1948.<\/p>\n Tuesday, Luke Skaljac\u2019s layup with 6 seconds left at Kent State rescues the night and sets up another overtime. Miami wins 107-101. The RedHawks score 107 points, shoot 54 percent and commit only six turnovers.<\/p>\n Add that up and you get two games where Miami allowed 203 points, trailed for all but 42 seconds in the last five minutes of regulation in both games and still won twice to go 20-0 \u2014 the best start in the history of the Mid-American Conference. They shot 67 percent in both overtimes. There\u2019s a team hard to kill. The RedHawks had not scored 100 points against a MAC opponent in 24 years, and now they\u2019ve done it three times in eight days. They had not won a game when giving up 100 points in nearly four decades. They just did it two games in a row.<\/p>\n (They also missed 22 free throws in those two games, which is asking for trouble).<\/p>\n Something special is afoot, but the nagging question \u2014 especially given these narrow escapes lately \u2014 is what happens if Miami runs up a glittering record but then gets picked off in the conference tournament? Could this all be for nothing on Selection Sunday? The MAC hasn\u2019t been granted a second team in the bracket with an at-large berth this century. The last time was 1999. The team that benefitted? The Miami RedHawks.<\/p>\n