The 2026 NCAA March Madness Basketball Tournament was filled with high-stakes moments, buzzer-beaters and upsets. The Michigan men’s basketball team brought home the NCAA title on April 6 and the UCLA women’s basketball team won the finals by 28 points on April 5, with both teams creating historic moments. The women’s NCAA tournament had all four No. 1 seeds in the Final Four: South Carolina, Texas, UCLA and UConn.
On April 3, South Carolina won 62-48 against UConn, who had a 54 game win streak before the loss. UConn’s star favorites Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd only scored a combined total of 20 points. Ta’Niya Latson, a senior from South Carolina, scored 16 points and had 11 rebounds.
“When [the players] are able to execute, you can see it as a coach,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said after the game.
UConn coach Geno Auriemma commented on how he and the team “just weren’t good enough” and that “it has nothing to do with going through adversity or no adversity [earlier in the season].”
After the game, Auriemma and Staley were in a verbal altercation. Auriemma believed that Staley did not participate in pregame handshakes, but it was clear he was also upset about the loss. Staley released a statement “asking everyone to turn the page” and to “refocus on what matters most.”
In the finals, UCLA dominated South Carolina 79-51, with seniors Lauren Betts and Gabriela Jaquez powering double-doubles. The Gamecocks have made it to three finals in three years, but have only won one after losing to UConn in 2025. Bruins coach Cori Close said how the title is “immeasurably more than I could ask or imagine. It’s beyond my wildest dreams.”
Sidwell alum Kiki Rice ’22 helped lead UCLA to its first championship game in program history. Rice said how she knew it was going to be UCLA’s day “as we came out for warmups.”
The UCLA senior guard contributed 10 points, 5 assists, and six rebounds in the finals. She averaged 14.9 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 4.3 assists in the 2025-2026 season.
Earlier in the year, Rice won the Most Outstanding Player in the Big 10 Tournament as well as Third Team AP All-American. After her career-best year, Rice was selected number six overall by the Toronto Tempos in the 2026 WNBA Draft.
During the men’s side of the NCAA tournament, the No. 1 seeds were Arizona, Duke, Florida, Duke and Michigan. Only two out of the four top seeds made it to the Final Four.
The Gators lost 72-73 to No. 9 Iowa, an early upset in the tournament. Iowa’s Alvaro Folgueiras shot a three-pointer with 4.5 seconds left in the game to move on to the Sweet 16.
“We have to get 50-50 balls, we have to make sure that we increase our possessions, we do have to be physical and we just have to fight,” Ben McCollum, the Hawkeyes’ head coach, said after the close win.
UConn, ranking as seed No. 2 in the east, upset No. 1 Duke which was leading 44-29 at the half. UConn freshman Braylon Mullins intercepted an attempted pass by Duke freshman Cayden Boozer. Mullins drilled the ball from 35 feet and scored the game-winner for the Huskies to lead 73-72 in the last few seconds of the game.
I wish I could’ve gave more for those guys,” Duke freshman and Cayden Boozer’s twin brother, Cameron Boozer, said after the loss. Cameron led the team with 27 points and 8 rebounds. Cayden Boozer added how he “should’ve been strong with the ball” and “cost [the] team [the] season.”
Earlier in the tournament, Sidwell alum Acaden Lewis ’24 participated in the NCAA tournament with Villanova. The team came up short against Utah State 86-76, with Lewis having 7 points and 8 assists. Lewis entered the 2026 NBA draft but ultimately decided to transfer to UMiami for the next season.
The third seed, Illinois, had a historic tournament run and reached the Final Four for the first time since 2001. Illinois won against Iowa 71-59, but fell short to UConn 71-62.
The men’s national championship game averaged 18.3 million viewers, which was the most-watched NCAA final since 2019. Michigan, the 2026 National Champion, celebrated a notable victory over UConn, winning 69-63.
The Wolverines won their first championship since 1989 with five starters coming in from the transfer portal at the start of the season: Nimrani Burnett, Elliot Cadeau, Morez Johnson Jr., Yaxel Lendeborg and Aday Mara. Cadeau led both teams in scoring with 19 points and earned Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four.
In 2024, Michigan was 8-24 for the season. After two years of rebuilding, the team won an NCAA championship and finished 37-3. “They might still be calling us mercenaries, but we’re the hardest-playing team in national basketball. We’re the best team in college basketball,” said Lendeborg in a post-game interview.
Lendeborg hurt his knee and ankle in the Final Four semifinal game against Arizona. Though he felt “awful” and “super weak” in a halftime interview, he pulled through to make it on the court to play 36 minutes of the game.
“It’s definitely frustrating not being on the court for that long, and it hurts my team at the moment,” UConn guard Solo Ball said. “But this has been the most fun year of my life with this group of guys, and I just cherish this team.”
Ball scored 11 points in the championship while also battling an ankle injury.
“It’s hard to be upset with your team. We lost the game because we missed. We missed — we didn’t make enough shots,” Hurley added.
