AMHERST – The Chieftans utilized a big Friday night win by 6-Tennessee to open a 2-point lead in the 2026 edition of the William A. Karin Memorial Calcutta over their nearest competitor.
The top three teams could lay claim to the
title, with the Amigos and Catholic Boyz nipping at the Chief and crew’s heels.
First three out in the Sweet Sixteen were the
Elders, Commish and Slayers….see ya next year!
The Counselors and Win-Docs can only hope to
run the table with their lone teams and potentially grab a slice of the show
spot.
Let’s take a team-by-team
capsule look into the weekend festivities:
Chieftans advance two to
Elite Eight, Calcutta is in their hands.
A repeat of last year’s Elite Eight headline for the Chieftans who could win a record ninth Calcutta and back-to-back titles. Went 0-and-2 on Thursday only to sweep Friday’s affairs with 1-Duke surviving a scare from the relentless 5-Johnnies. Huge Michigan-Tennessee tilt with the second-place Amigos on Sunday could say a lot on who will advance. They’re the ones to beat.
Amigos defy odds, riding
Michigan and Iowa
coattails
I have to admit on draft night I was skeptical
of the Amigos draft, when focusing a little closer while setting the morning
line, I started to warm up to their bracket positioning and made them the third
choice. They gathered the necessary first round wins, advanced two to both the
Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight and can ride 1-Michigan as long as they can.
Cinderella 9-Iowa has done yeoman work to get this far and a big matchup loom
with the Boyz tonight in Houston.
Catholic Boyz poised to strike
They sit one behind the Amigos and three behind the leaders, with two strong B1G squads remaining. 2-Purdue and 3-Illinois have monstrous Elite Eight matchups and we’ll know their potential fate much better after this evening. Illinois beat Iowa by six in Iowa City in early January, which would indicate this could be an all-out brawl in H-town. Purdue faces a strong Wildcat team, but you have to beat the best to be the best. The Boyz will be putting on their finest whites for a big Saturday night. Oddsmakers would give them a much better shot if they were playing after mass on Sunday, however.
Sayonara Commish, Elders, Slayers
I swear the Commish would have 6-7 wins coming
out of the first round. Au Revoir Le Commish.
The Elders started with three in the Sweet Sixteen
and end with a Code Blue. Mid-pack finish for the old guys.
The Slayers likely finish in last, worthy of
their 20-1 longshot casting by the ML maker.
Peace out.
Win-Docs survive, need Wildcats to run the table
The Win-Docs will look to break a tie with the Slayers for most national champions selected should 1-Arizona win out. They’ll have a rough road to hoe with a potential Purdue, Michigan and likely Duke path to the natty. We shall see.
Counselors
ride the back of Dan Hurley the rest of the way
The solicitors and Dan Hurley are a match made
in heaven. Tough, carefree and a mouth as dirty as a kid after spaghetti night.
They can play a huge spoiler with a 2-UConn upset of Duke tomorrow. Court will
be open on Sunday.
The results will be posted over the next few
days in the google sheet link in the top right corner as usual. Final Four report
- Monday morning with all possible outcomes.
Good luck everyone!
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