Bracket Reset: NCAA Tournament down to a Sweet 16 of high-majors

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Bracket Reset: NCAA Tournament down to a Sweet 16 of high-majors

2026-03-24 00:47 Last Updated At：00:50

Cinderella has been kicked out of the dance early for the second straight season.

Following a madness-promising first day of upsets, the NCAA Tournament has turned into a high-major affair.

The Sweet 16 invite is for power-conference programs only.

Advocates for fewer automatic qualifiers and bracket expansion will have a field day with this one.

“I think parity is great for the game, but things change,” said Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd, who spent 21 seasons as an assistant at Gonzaga.

The Big Ten is the big conference on the block, pushing through a league-record six teams into the Sweet 16 — three in the same region.

The SEC has four Sweet 16 teams, the Big 12 three, the Big East two, the ACC one.

Mid-majors: zero for the second straight season.

The top three seeds made it through the East.

St. John's is the Darling.

The fifth-seeded Red Storm (30-6) blew a 12-point lead against Kansas, but Dylan Darling, who hadn't hit a shot all day, scored at the buzzer for a 67-65 win that sends St. John's to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1999.

Next up for the Johnnies is a date with Duke on Friday in Washington.

The Blue Devils (34-2) and star freshman Cameron Boozer had an opening 1-vs.-16 scare against Siena but took it out on TCU with an 81-58 win to reach the Sweet 16 for the third straight season.

The second regional semifinal likely will leave both teams bruised and battered.

UConn (31-5) lost in the second round last season following consecutive national championships but clamped down on UCLA to earn a Sweet 16 return.

Michigan State (27-7) is in the Sweet 16 for the 17th time under coach Tom Izzo, led by the dynamic duo of Jeremy Fears Jr. and Coen Carr.

No. 2 seed Houston avoided having to play reigning national champion Florida — Iowa made sure of that — and will be playing at home for the South Region.

The Cougars (30-6) will be surrounded by Big Ten teams, starting with a 2-mile trip from campus against Illinois on Thursday.

The Illini (26-8) are big — bigger than any team in the country.

They used that size to their advantage, clobbering Penn and VCU to reach the Sweet 16 for the second time in three seasons under coach Brad Underwood.

The second East semifinal will be the battle of the corn.

No. 4 seed Nebraska (28-6) is the closest thing the Sweet 16 has to an underdog — only because it had never won an NCAA Tournament game prior to this season.

No. 9 seed Iowa (23-12) finished 10-10 in the Big Ten but has bullied its way through the bracket so far, reaching the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1999 by ending Florida's repeat bid.

Michigan has looked every bit a top seed, winning its first two games by an average of 22 points.

Next up is a showdown with No. 4 seed Alabama on Friday in Chicago.

The Crimson Tide (25-9) washed away Texas Tech by raining down 19 3-pointers in a 90-65 thrashing to reach the Sweet 16 for the fourth straight season.

No. 2 seed Iowa State took a big hit when All-America forward Joshua Jefferson sprained his ankle in the Cyclones' opener and didn't play against Kentucky.

It did little to slow them down; the Cyclones (29-7) spun away from Kentucky 82-63 to reach the Sweet 16 for the third time under coach T.J. Otzelberger.

Iowa State hopes to have Jefferson back for Friday's game and will likely need him against Tennessee.

The No. 6 Vols (24-11) have been Sweet 16 regulars under coach Rick Barnes and made it four straight by outlasting Virginia 79-72.

The West has an SEC team disguised as Cinderella.

Texas has a world of resources and plays in the SEC yet found itself in Dayton, Ohio, as a No. 11 seed.

The Longhorns (21-14) pulled it together at just the right time in their first season under coach Sean Miller, knocking off No. 3 seed Gonzaga to become the sixth First Four team to reach the Sweet 16.

That earns them a spot in the West semifinals against No. 2 Purdue on Thursday in San Jose, California.

Coach Matt Painter has molded the Boilermakers (29-8) into a model of consistency, reaching the Sweet 16 seven times the last nine seasons — including the 2024 title game — with their 79-69 win over Miami.

The showdown between No. 1 Arizona and No. 4 Alabama will be an NBA scout's delight.

The Wildcats (34-2) go eight deep in potential future pros and guard Jaden Bradley has a knack for making the biggest plays at the biggest moments.

John Calipari set the standard for recruiting NBA lottery picks at Kentucky, and it's been no different in his second season in Fayetteville. Fabulous freshman Darius Acuff Jr. was the star in Arkansas' 94-88 win over High Point, scoring 36 points as the Razorbacks secured their second straight Sweet 16 berth.

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

NATO allies bewildered by Trump's about-face on US troop moves in Europe

HELSINGBORG, Sweden (AP) — NATO allies and defense officials expressed bewilderment Friday at U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement that he would send 5,000 U.S. troops to Poland just weeks after ordering the same number of forces pulled out of Europe.

The apparent change of mind came after weeks of statements from Trump and his administration about reducing — not increasing — the U.S. military footprint in Europe. Trump's initial order set off a flurry of action among military commanders and left allies already doubtful about America's commitment to Europe's security to ponder what forces they might have to backfill on NATO's eastern flank with Russia and Ukraine.

Earlier this month, the Trump administration said it was reducing levels in Europe by about 5,000 troops, and U.S. officials confirmed about 4,000 service members were no longer rotating into Poland from Germany. The dispatch to Germany of U.S. personnel trained to fire long-range missiles was also halted.

But in a post on Truth Social on Thursday, Trump said he would now send "an additional 5,000 Troops to Poland,” citing his strong ties with Polish President Karol Nawrocki, whom Trump endorsed in elections last year.

“It is confusing indeed, and not always easy to navigate,” Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard told reporters Friday at a meeting she was hosting of her NATO counterparts, including U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Ministers from the Netherlands and Norway were sanguine about Trump’s latest move, as was Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže, who said allies knew the U.S. troop “posture was being reconsidered, and now there is no change of posture. For now.”

U.S. defense officials also expressed confusion. “We just spent the better part of two weeks reacting to the first announcement. We don’t know what this means either,” said one of two officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters.

But Rubio said Washington’s allies understand that changes in the U.S. troop presence in Europe will come as the Trump administration reevaluates its force needs. “I think there’s a broad recognition that there are going to be eventually less U.S. troops in Europe than there has historically been for a variety of reasons,” he said.

The latest surprise came despite a U.S. pledge to coordinate troop deployments, including one from NATO’s top military officer, U.S. Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich, on Wednesday.

Trump's initial announcement that he would withdraw troops came as he fumed over remarks by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who said that the U.S. was being “humiliated” by the Iranian leadership and criticized what he called a lack of strategy in that war.

Trump told reporters that the U.S. would be cutting even more than 5,000 and also announced new tariffs on European cars. Germany is the continent’s biggest auto producer.

Rubio insisted that Trump’s decision “is not a punitive thing. It’s just something that’s ongoing.”

About 80,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Europe. The Pentagon is required to keep at least 76,000 troops and major equipment on the continent unless NATO allies are consulted and there is a determination that such a withdrawal is in U.S. interests.

The withdrawal of 5,000 troops might drop numbers below that limit.

But Trump's latest post suggests that troop numbers in Europe would not change. Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski welcomed the decision to send more forces to his country, saying it ensures that “the presence of American troops in Poland will be maintained more or less at previous levels.”

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte also welcomed the move. On Thursday, before Trump took to Truth Social again, Rutte had underlined that it was important for Europe to take care of its own security. “We have a process in place. This is normal business,” he told reporters.

At NATO headquarters in Brussels, meanwhile, U.S. officials briefed the allies on the Pentagon's aims for its commitments to the NATO Force Model, which involves contingency planning for Europe’s defense in the event of serious security concerns. It was widely expected that a further reduction of U.S. forces would be coming.

Asked whether any cuts were announced, Rutte said: “I’m afraid it’s much more complicated than that.” He said the procedure “is highly classified” and declined to give details.

Rubio played down concerns about a shift in U.S. force levels in Europe, saying: "Every country has to constantly reevaluate what their needs are, what their commitments are around the world, and how to properly structure that.”

Cook reported from Brussels. Associated Press writer Emma Burrows in London contributed.