Forty names, games, teams and minutiae making news in men’s college basketball, where Jahmai Mashack ushered in March with the proper dramatics in Knoxville, Tenn., on Saturday.
The third month—the best month—is upon us. In an American sports ecosystem dominated by football, this is the month when college basketball takes over. It will be a blast, as always. But there are some things to do that will improve the March Experience for all involved. A brief Minutes March manifesto:
In a sport where games are designed to be played in two hours, this is excessive. But it wasn’t a complete outlier in the SEC on Saturday, with the Oklahoma Sooners–Ole Miss Rebels game taking 2:28 to complete and the Alabama Crimson Tide–Tennessee Volunteers contest going 2:26. The Missouri Tigers–Vanderbilt Commodores game went 2:30 with an overtime factored in. A Vandy–Texas A&M Aggies game in February went 2:41, which is cruel and unusual.
At least those were close games. Part of the dawdling pace of Auburn-Kentucky was four replay reviews (2), three in the first half. Replay review is (probably) worth having, but it has become a time-consuming crutch for officials who are less willing to trust their judgment in the moment. We need fewer reviews.
Coaches want the refs to get the calls right, and they don’t care how long it takes—that’s understandable. But the drama and adrenaline of exciting games drains away with every trip to the monitor, referee confab after looking at the monitor, jog over to the TV crew to impart the decision and inevitable talking down of whichever coach disagrees with the ruling. (If reviews were predicated on a coach’s challenge, and they had only one per game until the final two minutes, at which point only officials could initiate reviews, that would help.)
Part of the reason for excessive reviews is the crackdown on flying elbows and blows to the head—a well-intentioned effort at ensuring player safety, but something that has become excessively officiated. Not to mention creating fake drama, with players flopping like soccer stars and acting like they’ve been maimed. Not every rebound tussle is a hook-and-hold, and not every toss of the head on a drive is indicative of excessive contact.
(And while we’re at it, three-point shooters splaying their legs in search of contact are not being called often enough for flops. Quite the opposite, they’re being rewarded.)
With TV windows stacked on top of each other, missing the first 30 minutes of, say, an NCAA tournament game in Providence because the previous contest in Lexington dragged on for 2 1/2 hours is no way to go through March Madness. Rule changes that can improve pace of play will have to wait until 2025–26 (at least), so for now it will be up to the officials and game administrators to tighten up operations as best they can.
The Tigers are an absolute wagon who should, with continued good health, roll into Selection Sunday as the favorite to win the national championship. They have powered through a historically powerful SEC with just one loss to date, to Florida, and went 12–1 in a loaded nonconference schedule that included games against at least five NCAA tourney locks.
Duke is the logical No. 2 overall seed at this point, with a résumé that includes a victory (at home) over Auburn. If the ACC weren’t such a mess, the Blue Devils would have a stronger case to be the overall No. 1. As it is, they should get the second-best bracket setup.
Florida has risen to the top of the non-Auburn SEC, pending a swing game at Alabama on Wednesday. The winner of that one could lock down a No. 1 seed, with Tennessee also in the mix. But Houston should not be knocked off the top-seed line by a third SEC team. The Cougars are 17–1 in a very good Big 12, with the only loss by a point in overtime against Texas Tech. In fact, three of Houston’s four losses have come in OT.
When a power-conference team shows they don’t belong in the Big Dance, believe them. Virginia was that team last year, being blown out repeatedly in the final month, and yet the selection committee gave them a bid. The Cavaliers rewarded that blind faith with one final blowout loss, to Colorado State by 25 in the First Four.
This year, the group signaling that it wants no part of this thing is the Texas Longhorns (5). They’re 16–13, 5–11 in the SEC, and have lost six of their last seven. That includes embarrassing blowouts against the last-place South Carolina Gamecocks and at home to the bubble-dwelling Georgia Bulldogs.
Speaking of blowout losses to South Carolina: The Arkansas Razorbacks scored seven points in the first 15 minutes and were down 30 for much of the second half Saturday against the Gamecocks. Do we really need the Hogs (17–12, 6–10) in the big bracket on Selection Sunday?
A 27–3 Drake, a 24–5 VCU and a two-bid Big West (UC San Diego is 26–4, UC Irvine is 25–5) would be preferable to some of the power-conference also-rans. If those kind of teams can’t get in, the mid-majors are being held to an impossible standard.
As Illinois State coach Ryan Pedon said on the Missouri Valley Conference call Monday morning: “If Drake does not get in the NCAA tournament, it would be a complete travesty. A complete joke.”
The Heels bring eyeballs and interest, but they’ve done little so far to merit at-large inclusion. With exactly one win over a likely NCAA tournament team—beating UCLA by two points in December, after trailing almost all game—the rematch with Duke looms extremely large Saturday. It’s a familiar scenario for Hubert Davis & Co.
Three years ago, Carolina was a probable—but not certain—NCAA team when it faced Duke in what was Mike Krzyzewski’s final home game. The Heels won a shocker that day to lock up a bid, kickstarting a run that took them to a third meeting with the Blue Devils in the Final Four and another epic victory. That run from March 5 to April 2 was as good as anything Carolina has ever had that didn’t include winning a national championship.
Carolina needs a Duke win even more this time around. It at least has the game on its home court. If they don’t cash in here, they might have to win the ACC tournament in Charlotte.
The biggest reason not to expand the NCAA tournament is because it’s already an all-comers event—every team that gets to play in its conference tourney can dream of making the field of 68 and winning games there. Heck, they can dream of winning it all. Which is why the Little Dance that precedes the Big Dance is truly the start of the best sporting event we have. Bring on the games all day, the single-bid tourney tension, the hopes achieved and dreams dashed.
The conference tournaments actually began Sunday night with the Atlantic Sun. Many of the mid-major and low-major tourneys will play out this week before giving way to the higher-profile events next week and Selection Sunday on March 16. Here’s a Minutes overview of the first 15 tournaments:
Ohio Valley Conference (7), March 5–8 in Evansville, Ind.
Conference KenPom rank: 28th out of 31.
Top seed: Southeast Missouri RedHawks. They won the league by two games and have their first 20-win season since 2000. They’ve won 10 of their last 11 games.
Dark horse: The third-seeded Tennessee State Tigers have won 10 of their last 13, improving their KenPom ranking 64 spots since Jan. 4.
Hot coach: SIU-Edwardsville’s Brian Barone took over a program in 2019 that had never had a Division I winning season. The son of longtime coach Tony Barone has now put together three straight winning records, highlighted by this year’s 20–11 mark.
Hot-seat coach: Tennessee Tech’s John Pelphrey brings a 15–16 team to Evansville as he tries to avoid a sixth straight losing season.
Player to watch: SIU-Edwardsville guard Ray’Sean Taylor is a four-year Cougar who is averaging 19.2 points, 3.8 assists and 2.0 steals per game.
Minutes pick: Southeast Missouri (8).
Big South (9), March 5–9, in Johnson City, Tenn.
Conference KenPom rank: 17th out of 31.
Top seed: The High Point Panthers won the league by three games and take an 11-game winning streak into this tourney. Their only two conference losses were in January, by a combined six points.
Dark horse: The third-seeded Winthrop Eagles finished the season winning eight of their last nine, including a closing romp over No. 2 seed UNC-Asheville.
Hot coach: High Point’s Alan Huss, a former Greg McDermott assistant, has a 53–14 record in two seasons as a college head coach. Now he needs to avoid repeating last year’s semifinal upset loss.
Hot-seat coach: Presbyterian Blue Hose coach Quinton Ferrell has yet to produce a winning season in six years on the job.
Player to watch: UNC-Asheville guard Jordan Marsh is a 5′ 10″ stick of dynamite, averaging 19.2 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.0 steals per game. He’s averaging 25.7 points over his last three games.
Minutes pick: High Point (10). It’s high time for High Point to make its first Division I Big Dance appearance.
Missouri Valley (11), March 6–9, in St. Louis.
Conference KenPom rank: 11th out of 31.
Top seed: The Drake Bulldogs won just their third outright conference title in school history by two games over the Bradley Braves. Drake has lost just once in the last two months, by two points, and owns wins over teams from the SEC, ACC and Big 12. But the Bulldogs were taken to the wire in both of their last two games by league dregs Missouri State and Evansville.
Dark horse: The third-seeded Northern Iowa Panthers should get a rubber game with second seed Bradley in the semifinals.
Hot coach: Drake’s Ben McCollum went 27–3 in his first D-I season. He was born in Iowa City. If the Iowa Hawkeyes have an opening, would he get a call?
Hot-seat coach: Steve Prohm 2.0 hasn’t worked very well for the Murray State Racers, who are accustomed to basketball success. After going 104–29 in his first stint at the school, he’s 47–51 this time around.
Player to watch: Drake’s Bennett Stirtz leads the nation in minutes per game, sitting out a total of four minutes over his last 12 games. He’s a smooth, unhurried point guard who can score, distribute and defend.
Minutes pick: Drake (12). The Bulldogs will win Arch Madness for the second straight season, with almost completely different casts.
ASUN (13), March 2–9, at campus sites.
Conference KenPom rank: 24th out of 31.
Top seed: The Lipscomb Bison tied for first with the North Alabama Lions but won the tiebreaker. The Bison probably just need to avoid the fifth-seeded Eastern Kentucky Colonels in the semifinals, after losing to them twice.
Dark horse: Eastern Kentucky has won nine of its last 11, but lost high-scoring guard George Kimble III to a knee injury in February.
Hot coach: A former Mike White assistant at Florida, Jordan Mincy of the Jacksonville Dolphins took over a program in 2021 that hadn’t had a winning season since ’17 and has gone 68–55, including a 4–2 record in the ASUN tourney.
Hot-seat coach: Matthew Driscoll has had some notable success in a long stint with the North Florida Ospreys, but he’s 21 games below .500 over the past five seasons, including losing a first-round game Sunday night to Austin Peay.
Player to watch: Lipscomb big man Jacob Ognacevic has scored 20 or more points in his last six games and eight of his last nine. He’s averaging 20.3 points and 8.0 rebounds per game.
Minutes pick: North Alabama (14). The Lions are ready to make their first NCAA appearance.
Summit League (15), March 5–9, Sioux Falls, S.D.
Conference KenPom rank: 16th out of 31.
Top seed: The Omaha Mavericks won their first regular-season conference title at the D-I level, riding a sizzling 40.2% accuracy rate from three-point range in league games. UNO has won 15 of its last 18 games.
Dark horse: The South Dakota State Jackrabbits, seeded third, won this tourney last year and returned a couple of key players from that run. Coach Eric Henderson then added a stellar freshman class and a key transfer to keep the Jacks in the mix again this season.
Hot coach: Henderson succeeded T.J. Otzelberger and has never had a losing season in six years at SDSU. He’s earned a pair of NCAA bids in the process.
Hot-seat coach: Marvin Menzies was an NCAA tournament regular in the 2010s while coaching at New Mexico State, but it’s been a struggle at Kansas City. He’s 17 games below .500 in three seasons leading the Kansas City Roos.
Player to watch: That key transfer SDSU landed was Washington State big man Oscar Cluff, who leads the Jacks in scoring (17.8), rebounding (12.2), assists (2.9) and blocks (0.8). He’s making 63.6% of his field goal attempts.
Minutes pick: South Dakota State (16).
Southern Conference (17), March 7–10, in Asheville, N.C.
Conference KenPom rank: 13th out of 31.
Top seed: The Chattanooga Mocs (23–8, 15–3) won the SoCon by two games and carry an 11-game winning streak into the tourney. They’re the league’s best offensive team, but not as good at the other end of the floor.
Dark horse: The fourth-seeded Samford Bulldogs haven’t been great down the stretch, losing four of their last seven, but they have a core of players who won this tourney last year. Samford is also the last team to have beaten Chattanooga, and did so on the road.
Hot coach: Samford’s Bucky McMillan has won 93 games the past four seasons, including 29 last year. He’ll likely be in the mix for power-conference jobs.
Hot-seat coach: Like Prohm at Murray State, Ed Conroy’s second act with the Citadel Bulldogs has been pretty rough. Conroy is 41 games below .500 in three seasons; his current team is 5–24 and has lost 21 in a row.
Player to watch: East Tennessee State Buccaneers guard Quimari Peterson is a 43% three-point shooter who is averaging 19.5 points, 3.7 assists and 2.0 steals per game. He led ETSU into the SoCon title game last year.
Minutes pick: Samford (18).
Sun Belt (19), March 4–10, in Pensacola, Fla.
Conference KenPom rank: 19th out of 31.
Top seed: The South Alabama Jaguars emerged from a four-way tie for the regular-season title with the No. 1 seed in the Sun Belt’s quirky, flying wedge bracket. The Minutes likes the fact that all 14 teams get to play, and everyone comes to a central location. Giving the top seeds a five-round bye is pretty wild, but it does reward those who excelled in the regular season—except the Sun Belt was a total mosh pit this year. Fittingly for a league with no clear favorite, five of South Alabama’s 18 league games went into overtime.
Dark horse: The fourth-seeded Arkansas State Red Wolves have the best overall record in the league (22–9) and the highest KenPom rating (No. 87). But they’ve lost their last five games decided by five points or fewer.
Hot coach: Former Nate Oats assistant Bryan Hodgson, age 37, has won 42 games (and counting, perhaps) in two seasons as head coach at Arkansas State. That includes a win over Memphis this year, Louisville last year and consecutive wins over UAB.
Hot-seat coach: Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles coach Jay Ladner sounded last week like a guy who knows he’s getting fired. With one winning season out of six, a change seems inevitable in Hattiesburg, Miss.
Player to watch: He might not be the best player in the league, but he qualifies as the hottest. South Alabama guard Barry Dunning Jr. averaged 24.6 points over his last five games, including a 46-point eruption against Texas State on Feb. 22. Dunning made 19 out of 33 threes in that stretch.
Minutes pick: Arkansas State (20).
Horizon League (21), March 4–11, campus sites, then Indianapolis.
Conference KenPom rank: 20th out of 31.
Top seed: The Robert Morris Colonials struggled for four years making the transition from the Northeast Conference to the Horizon, but the breakthrough is at hand. The Colonials (23–8, 15–5) have won 13 of their last 14 games, losing only to the Wright State Raiders on Feb. 2 by two points. They are the league’s top defensive team.
Dark horse: The seventh-seeded Northern Kentucky Norse closed on a four-game winning streak, and have won seven of their last nine. Crazy things tend to happen in this tournament, so take seeding with a grain of salt.
Hot coach: Daniyal Robinson of the Cleveland State Vikings has three 20-win seasons in three years on the job. He took over for Dennis Gates and has kept the program operating at a high level.
Hot-seat coach: Jon Coffman probably isn’t really on the hot seat at Purdue Fort Wayne. But he’s never been to the NCAA tournament in 10 previous seasons at the school, despite having some good teams.
Player to watch: The well-traveled Kam Woods is on his fourth team, bouncing from Troy to North Carolina A&T to North Carolina State and now to Robert Morris. He’s stuffing the stat sheet for the Colonials, averaging 14.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.8 steals. And he’s played 39 or more minutes in six of the last eight games.
Minutes pick: Robert Morris (22).
Northeast Conference (23), March 5–11, campus sites.
Conference KenPom rank: 31st out of 31.
Top seed: The Central Connecticut Blue Devils (23–6, 14–2) have the most overall wins by a NEC team in the last seven years. They bring the nation’s longest winning streak (12 games) into the NEC quarterfinals, and will play every round on their home court if they keep winning.
Dark horse: If a No. 2 seed can be a dark horse, then the LIU Sharks are it. With Arizona State Sun Devils transfer Malachi Davis leading the way, LIU closed the season on a six-game winning streak and is the last team to beat Central Connecticut.
Hot coach: Patrick Sellers took over a CCSU program coming off 10 straight losing seasons. After two years of his own struggle, the one-time Jim Calhoun assistant has now broken through to win 43 games the past two seasons.
Hot-seat coach: This is Rob Krimmel’s 13th season leading the Saint Francis Red Flash, but the previous four ended with losing records and this one is headed that way as well at 13–17.
Player to watch: Fairleigh Dickinson Knights guard Terrence Brown found his way to Teaneck, N.J., from Minneapolis and has been a volume scorer, averaging 20.6 points while launching 488 shots on the season, tied for the eighth most in the country.
Minutes pick: Central Connecticut (24).
Coastal Athletic Association (25), March 7–11, Washington, D.C.
Conference KenPom rank: 18th out of 31.
Top seed: The Towson Tigers (21–10, 16–2) won the league by two games and have lost just once since Jan. 4. This is their fourth straight 20-win season; are they finally ready to win their first league tournament title since 1992?
Dark horse: The third-seeded Charleston Cougars have championship experience. They have a coach (Chris Mack) who has been to an NCAA Elite Eight and a star player (Ante Brzovic) who started on CAA championship teams the previous two years.
Hot coach: Just 38 years old, UNC Wilmington’s Takayo Siddle has won 96 games the past four seasons. All he’s missing from the résumé is an NCAA tourney berth.
Hot-seat coach: This is only Monté Ross’s second season with the North Carolina A&T Aggies, but he’s 14–49 and had to suspend his top two players for reasons that have not been explained beyond a violation of team rules. The Aggies are part of the federal and NCAA investigations of potential game-fixing at the NBA and college levels.
Player to watch: The 6′ 10″ Brzovic, a product of Croatia, is averaging 18.5 points and 8.2 rebounds per game for the Cougars.
Minutes pick: UNC Wilmington (26). The second-seeded Seahawks have won 12 of their last 14 games and are the top offensive team in the league.
West Coast Conference (27), March 6–11, Las Vegas.
Conference KenPom rank: seventh out of 31.
Top seed: The Saint Mary’s Gaels (27–4, 17–1) dominated the league in a manner normally reserved for the Gonzaga Bulldogs. They lost a single WCC game by a single point, to the San Francisco Dons, plowing through the competition one deliberate possession at a time. The Gaels are among the nation’s best defensive teams.
Dark horse: It is altogether strange to refer to the second-seeded Zags as a dark horse, but they were swept by Saint Mary’s and have lost three straight (and four out of five) to the Gaels dating to last year. But Gonzaga comes in having won nine straight against the rest of the league.
Hot coach: With 66 wins in three seasons at San Francisco, Chris Gerlufsen could be the latest coach of the Dons to move on to a bigger job.
Hot-seat coach: Steve Lavin, formerly of the UCLA Bruins, St. John’s Red Storm and broadcast TV fame, is 5–26 in his third season with the San Diego Toreros. But they did snap a 16-game losing streak on Saturday.
Player to watch: Gonzaga center Graham Ike has been a load for the Bulldogs, and for two years before that at Wyoming. A potential finals matchup with Saint Mary’s big man Mitchell Saxen would be their sixth in two seasons, and it would be appointment viewing.
Minutes pick: Saint Mary’s (28). Gonzaga hasn’t gone consecutive seasons without winning the WCC tourney since 1997–98. The Gaels are trying to repeat for the first time in school history.
Southland Conference (29), March 9–12, Lake Charles, La.
Conference KenPom rank: 21st out of 31.
Top seed: The McNeese State Cowboys (24–6, 18–1) lead the league by a whopping five games going into the final matchups of the regular season Monday. They are the best team in the Southland both offensively and defensively, and if they don’t repeat as champions it will be a massive shock.
Dark horse: The Nicholls Colonels and Lamar Cardinals play Monday to decide the second and third seeds, but the only potential threat to McNeese comes from Nicholls. The Colonels upset the Cowboys on Feb. 1 by outscoring them 33–0 from the three-point line.
Hot coach: Some athletic director in a power conference is working up the nerve to tell his president he wants to hire Will Wade away from McNeese.
Hot-seat coach: It wouldn’t make sense for the New Orleans Privateers to fire Stacy Hollowell after one season, but yikes it’s been ugly. New Orleans is 4–26 and has become ensnared in the federal and NCAA gambling investigations.
Player to watch: McNeese has more good players than anyone, but Texas A&M-Corpus Christi has a good one in forward Garry Clark (14.8 points, 7.7 rebounds). His numbers would be even better if he shot better than 57% from the foul line on 107 attempts.
Minutes pick: McNeese State (30).
Patriot League (31), March 4–12, campus sites.
Conference KenPom rank: 27th out of 31.
Top seed: The Bucknell Bison won the tiebreaker over the American Eagles for the top seed, closing with six straight wins to finish 13–5 in the league. Bucknell is the most efficient offensive team in the Patriot, ranking first in effective field goal percentage, free throw rate and three-point accuracy.
Dark horse: The Colgate Raiders have dominated the league for years before taking a step back this season, finishing 13–18 and 10–8 and in a four-way tie for second. But count out the No. 3 seed at your own risk as they shoot for a fifth straight NCAA bid.
Hot coach: In his second season at American, Duane Simpkins has won the most games at the school (19) since 2014.
Hot-seat coach: Brett Reed has been an institution at Lehigh, but it’s been a struggle the last several years. Reed is 32 games under .500 over the last six seasons, including an 11–18 record this year.
Player to watch: Bucknell 7-footer Noah Williamson is a towering presence with legitimate three-point range. The 250-pounder is also tough to officiate; his 211 free throw attempts ranks 11th nationally.
Minutes pick: Colgate (32)
Big Sky (33), March 8–12, Boise, Idaho.
Conference KenPom rank: 22nd out of 31.
Top seed: The battle for the top seed in what the league is billing as “Starch Madness”—being played in potato-intensive Idaho—will be settled Monday night. Currently, the Northern Colorado Bears and Montana Grizzlies are tied for first.
Dark horse: The Idaho State Bengals ended the season on a four-game winning streak to finish 15–13 and 10–7 in the Big Sky. That’s their best conference record since 2017.
Hot coach: Travis DeCuire of the Montana Grizzlies is hardly a revelation. But it’s high time to appreciate a guy who has never had a losing season in 11 years on the job.
Hot-seat coach: Eric Duft is in his third year leading the Weber State Wildcats. He won 18 and 20 games his first two years, but fortunes have turned sharply. Weber’s five Big Sky victories are its fewest since 2006.
Player to watch: Idaho State guard Dylan Darling transferred in from Washington State and became an immediate star, averaging 19.4 points, 5.8 assists and 1.8 steals. Over the last 10 games his scoring average is 24.6.
Minutes pick: Idaho State (34). The Bengals’ last NCAA appearance was 1987, when current coach Ryan Looney was 11 years old.
America East (35), March 8–15, campus sites.
Conference KenPom rank: 26th out of 31.
Top seed: At the moment, the Bryant Bulldogs (19–11, 13–2) hold a one-game lead over the Vermont Catamounts with the regular season wrapping up Tuesday. Bryant and Vermont split their two meetings, each winning on their home court.
Dark horse: The Albany Great Danes (16–14) have won four of their last five heading into a game at Vermont on Monday.
Hot coach: Phil Martelli Jr., son of the famed former Saint Joseph’s coach, has gotten his head coaching career off to a nice start. He’s won 39 games (so far) in two seasons at Bryant.
Hot-seat coach: Nathan Davis started his tenure at Bucknell with four straight winning seasons, then ended it with four straight losing seasons. He somehow parlayed that into the New Hampshire Wildcats job, where he was 16–15 last season. This season, New Hampshire is 8–22, its most losses in six years.
Player to watch: Earl Timberlake is a do-everything senior for Bryant, cranking out 15.4 points, 8.6 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.8 blocks per game. He played previously for the Miami Hurricanes and Memphis Tigers.
Minutes pick: Bryant (36).
Tre Holloman (37), Michigan State Spartans. He’d been bumped out of the starting lineup by the ascending freshman Jase Richardson earlier in February, but Holloman was on the floor at the end of a rock fight against Maryland last Wednesday. The score was tied at 55 when the Terrapins launched a three for the win—with a little too much time left.
The shot was short. Spartans big man Jaxon Kohler rebounded it and smartly passed to the nearest guard, who happened to be Holloman. He took one dribble and fired from well beyond half court—clean swish for the win, stunning the Maryland home crowd. Michigan State’s winning streak now stands at five, with a Big Ten title within reach this week.
As nothing-but-net as it comes 🎯
Check out all the replays of Tre Holloman’s crazy @MSU_Basketball buzzer-beater 👇#B1GMBBall pic.twitter.com/ui7F5nxxJa
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) February 27, 2025
Mark Byington (38), Vanderbilt Commodores. They’re on a three-game winning streak that should lock up Vandy’s first NCAA bid in eight years. Every win has been close—by a total of 11 points, including one in overtime—but they’re all against NCAA tournament teams. Byington has proven to be the stealth home-run hire of the 2024 coaching carousel, coming to Nashville after a strong run with the James Madison Dukes.
Kevin Keatts (39), North Carolina State Wolfpack. One year after improbably winning the ACC tournament and launching a Final Four run, the Pack probably won’t even get to defend that title. They need to win twice this week (against Pittsburgh and Miami) and have the Notre Dame Fighting Irish lose twice (to Stanford and California at home) to squeak into the 15th and final spot for the ACC tourney. As magical as last year’s ride was, the 11–18 follow-up has been a dismal dud.
When thirsty in Louisville, The Minutes recommends a visit to Rose Hill Lagerhaus (40) in the Highlands neighborhood. It’s a newly opened bar from the Monnik Brewing Beer Co., a nice space in a convenient location. Drop by for a European-style lager and thank The Minutes later—presumably they’ll have the TVs working in time for tournament viewing.
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