{"id":674088,"date":"2026-03-23T07:05:26","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T07:05:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/674088\/"},"modified":"2026-03-23T07:05:26","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T07:05:26","slug":"winners-and-losers-from-first-weekend-of-the-ncaa-tournament-feature-john-calipari-darryn-peterson-big-ten-and-blue-bloods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/674088\/","title":{"rendered":"Winners and losers from first weekend of the NCAA tournament feature John Calipari, Darryn Peterson, Big Ten and blue bloods"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first weekend of the NCAA tournament<\/a> is in the books, and there are, of course, distinct winners and losers.<\/p>\n

Among the big winners are the Big Ten and John Calipari, who has guided Arkansas to its second Sweet 16<\/a> in his second season as head coach. Kentucky, meanwhile, is headed home.<\/p>\n

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As for future lottery pick Darryn Peterson, he didn\u2019t exactly make the final impression at Kansas that NBA executives were hoping to see. Let\u2019s take a look at the biggest winners and losers from the first two rounds of tournament play:<\/p>\n

Winner: John Calipari<\/p>\n

John Calipari\u2019s exit from Kentucky marked a seismic shift in the college basketball landscape.<\/p>\n

The game\u2019s winningest program parted with one of the most successful coaches of his his era, who\u2019d opened up a pipeline of elite talent to Lexington and led the Wildcats to a national championship.<\/p>\n

But a prolonged lack of tournament success that included a nine-year Final Four drought made the relationship untenable. And the two parted ways after a first-round exit in the 2024 NCAA tournament.<\/p>\n

\"With<\/p>\n

With Darius Acuff Jr., John Calipari and the Razorbacks are a threat in the Sweet 16.<\/p>\n

(Wesley Hitt via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Fast-forward two years, and Calipari\u2019s winning the breakup. Calipari took some of his talent with him to his new job with SEC rival Arkansas and led the Razorbacks to the Sweet 16 in Year 1. Now he\u2019s got Arkansas back in the Sweet 16 with a star point guard in Darius Acuff Jr. leading the way as arguably the best player in the tournament through two games.<\/p>\n

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A future NBA lottery pick with top-five upside who was named first-team All-America as a freshman, Acuff is going scorched earth in tournament play. In wins over Hawaii and High Point, Acuff\u2019s averaged 30 points, 6.5 assists and 1 steal per game. He\u2019s shooting 49% from the floor and 5 of 11 (45.5%) from 3. He\u2019s the kind of talent Kentucky came to take for granted during Calipari\u2019s reign.<\/p>\n

Now he\u2019s at Arkansas in the tournament\u2019s second weekend. And Kentucky is headed home after a listless second-round loss<\/a> to Iowa State that will have head coach Mark Pope on the hot seat<\/a> entering his third season coaching his alma mater.<\/p>\n

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-Jason Owens<\/p>\n

Loser: Darryn Peterson<\/p>\n

Presumptive lottery pick Darryn Peterson entered the tournament with a chance to cement his spot atop NBA Draft boards and answer the questions that have dogged him throughout his freshman campaign at Kansas.<\/p>\n

With Kansas\u2019 underwhelming loss to St. John\u2019s in the second round, the questions surrounding Peterson remain intact, and his spot at the top of the draft is anything but certain.<\/p>\n

Peterson\u2019s tournament was a microcosm of his turbulent regular season at Kansas. In the first round, he reeled off 10 straight points and flashed his prowess as an elite three-level scorer as Kansas opened a 26-point lead against Cal Baptist.<\/p>\n

\"Darryn<\/p>\n

Darryn Peterson’s time at Kansas is almost certainly done. Will he be the No. 1 pick in June’s NBA Draft?<\/p>\n

(The San Diego Union-Tribune via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

But as Cal Bapist cut that lead to 6 points late in the second half, Peterson disappeared down the stretch. He hit a floater with 5:43 remaining for his 28th point and didn\u2019t score again. In fact, he was barely involved in KU\u2019s offense and didn\u2019t touch the ball on repeated trips down the floor as Cal Baptist cut its 66-52 deficit to 66-60 in the final minutes.<\/p>\n

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Kansas survived the upset bid, setting up Sunday\u2019s game against St. John\u2019s. Peterson once again led the JayHawks with 21 points. But there were times in the game where he wasn\u2019t involved in KU\u2019s offense. And then came the final play, where Peterson, a strong defender, didn\u2019t help as Dylan Darling knifed through the Kansas defense virtually unchallenged for a game-winning layup at the buzzer.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s likely the final image of Peterson\u2019s college career. And it\u2019s not a flattering look.<\/p>\n

-Jason Owens<\/p>\n

Winner: Betting favorites<\/p>\n

A lack of upsets in the NCAA tournament has been very good business for people betting the favorites.<\/p>\n

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Favorites went 16-0 in the first round on Friday, and that luck continued into the second round. Yes, No. 11 Texas beat No. 3 Gonzaga to give us a true upset, but even some games that looked like upsets really weren\u2019t.<\/p>\n

No. 6 Tennessee closed as a slight favorite over No. 3 Virginia. The same can be said for No. 5 St. John\u2019s, which was a 3.5-point favorite over No. 4 Kansas.<\/p>\n

There are myriad theories for why favorites have done so well this year \u2014 with NIL budgets being a leading thought. Will that run continue in the Sweet 16 and the Elite Eight? We\u2019re not so sure. The gaps between teams in the next rounds will be significantly smaller.<\/p>\n

-Nick Bromberg<\/p>\n

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Loser: West Coast Conference<\/p>\n

The days of the West Coast Conference getting three NCAA tournament bids are probably over. And they\u2019re disappearing with none of the three WCC teams in the tournament making it past the second round. Gonzaga, Saint Mary\u2019s and Santa Clara all made the 2026 men\u2019s tournament.<\/p>\n

But the Gaels lost to No. 10 Texas A&M in the first round, and No. 10 Santa Clara was beaten in overtime by No. 7 Kentucky on Friday after Otega Oweh\u2019s incredible buzzer-beater<\/a> to send the game to overtime. The No. 3 Zags scuffled a bit against No. 14 Kennesaw State, but that\u2019s the only win the WCC got.<\/p>\n

\"Gonzaga<\/p>\n

Gonzaga coach Mark Few’s last NCAA tournament representing the WCC ended in an upset second-round loss.<\/p>\n

(Soobum Im via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Saturday night, Gonzaga was upset by a No. 11 Texas team that started its NCAA tournament in the First Four. That was the final game that Gonzaga will play as a West Coast Conference team.<\/p>\n

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The Bulldogs are off to join the remodeled Pac-12 in 2026-27. And much of the WCC\u2019s luster will go with them. Gonzaga being one of college basketball\u2019s preeminent powers has done a ton for the conference over the last two decades. 2026 was just the fourth time ever that the league got three NCAA tournament teams. And all four of those instances came in the 2000s.<\/p>\n

-Nick Bromberg<\/p>\n

Winner: Big Ten<\/p>\n

The Big Ten entered Sunday with the state of its NCAA tournament already assured, having secured four of the bids available in the Sweet 16.<\/p>\n

Then it added two more, including one with the biggest upset of the tournament. Purdue secured the conference\u2019s fifth Sweet 16 berth with a 79-69 win over Miami early Sunday. And 9 seed Iowa roared into the tournament\u2019s second weekend with a stunning upset of 1 seed and reigning champion Florida<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Alvaro Folgueiras\u2019 3 with 4.2 seconds remaining secured the upset win.<\/p>\n

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UCLA couldn\u2019t make it 7 for 7 for the Big Ten on Sunday night as UConn delivered the conference its only second-round defeat.<\/p>\n

But Iowa and Purdue will join Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska and Illinois in a Big Ten party in the Sweet 16.<\/p>\n

-Jason Owens<\/p>\n

Loser: Blue Bloods<\/p>\n

North Carolina, Kansas and Kentucky, specifically.<\/p>\n

None of the lauded programs survived the first weekend as North Carolina blew a 19-point<\/a> lead against VCU in the first round, Kentucky collapsed in the second round against Iowa State and Kansas looked listless before St. John\u2019s thwarted a second-half rally<\/a> with a buzzer-beater at the rim against a less-than-inspired Jayhawks defense.<\/p>\n

\"Hubert<\/p>\n

Hubert Davis’ days as North Carolina’s head coach may be numbered.<\/p>\n

(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect \/ REUTERS)<\/p>\n

Not only will none of the three programs add to their combined tally of 18 NCAA championships. But they\u2019ll each leave the tournament with some level of uncertainty around their head coaches.<\/p>\n

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There\u2019s chatter that North Carolina could part with Hubert Davis<\/a> as soon as this week. Mark Pope\u2019s seat in Kentucky isn\u2019t nearly as hot, but he\u2019ll enter his third season coaching his alma mater under intense pressure<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And Hall of Fame Kansas coach Bill Self said after Sunday\u2019s loss<\/a> that \u201cI haven\u2019t decided\u201d if he\u2019ll return to coach the Jayhawks for a 24th season. His legacy that features two NCAA titles is secure, and Self \u2014 63 and battling ongoing health concerns \u2014 wants to consult with his family before deciding his basketball future.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a critical juncture for all three programs and one where the decisions of the coming days and season will dictate their futures.<\/p>\n

-Jason Owens<\/p>\n

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Winner: Texas<\/p>\n

By most accounts, the Longhorns weren\u2019t supposed to still be here.<\/p>\n

Texas snuck into the NCAA tournament as an 11 seed and was relegated to the First Four as one of the last four at-large teams selected for the tournament field. Three wins in five days later, and Texas has crashed the Sweet 16 as the only double-digit seed remaining in the field.<\/p>\n

A power program with plenty of backing, it\u2019s a stretch to call Texas a Cinderella. But it\u2019s certainly an unexpected arrival to the tournament\u2019s second weekend.<\/p>\n

No. 2 seed Purdue would be wise to not take the Longhorns lightly next weekend. Gonzaga, a 3 seed, found out the hard way<\/a> that Texas is hitting its stride at the right time.<\/p>\n

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-Jason Owens<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The first weekend of the NCAA tournament is in the books, and there are, of course, distinct winners…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":674089,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3723],"tags":[598,7,217,41665,17641,599,2469,234,231,772,1544,3272,25637,424,68173],"class_list":{"0":"post-674088","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-basketball","8":"tag-arkansas-razorbacks","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-college-basketball","11":"tag-darius-acuff-jr","12":"tag-darryn-peterson","13":"tag-john-calipari","14":"tag-kansas","15":"tag-kentucky","16":"tag-ncaa","17":"tag-ncaa-basketball","18":"tag-ncaab","19":"tag-otega-oweh","20":"tag-sweet-16","21":"tag-tournament","22":"tag-winners-and-losers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116277224101301478","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674088","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=674088"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674088\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/674089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=674088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=674088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=674088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}