March Madness 2023: Biggest winners and losers from opening weekend

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GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA – MARCH 19: Jacob Toppin #0 of the Kentucky Wildcats walks to the bench after fouling out of the game during the second half against the Kansas State Wildcats in the second round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at The Fieldhouse at Greensboro Coliseum on March 19, 2023 in Greensboro, North Carolina. (Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images) /

March Madness: Biggest winners and losers of the 2023 NCAA Tournament

College basketball blue-bloods: Losers

Kentucky, Kansas, and Duke were all bounced in the second-round of the NCAA Tournament. When it comes to the Top 10 winningest programs in college basketball history, only UCLA is left standing in the Sweet 16.

Let’s start with Kentucky. The Wildcats had their shot and let it slip out of the fingers in the waning minutes of Sunday’s loss to Kansas State. Big Blue Nation is not going to be happy with an early-exit. John Calipari’s seat is going to be quite warm when his No.1 recruiting class takes the court next fall.

You can say all you want about Bill Self’s absence affecting the Kansas Jayhawks, and there’s certainly merit to that. We all wish Coach Self the best in his recovery, but KU was outworked by Arkansas on Saturday and we had to watch a shirtless Eric Musselman celebrate his Razorbacks taking down the defending National Champions.

Finally, the Duke Blue Devils were no match for the Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday. Jon Scheyer’s crew got punched in the mouth (literally) and Duke is going to be watching the rest of March Madness from their dorms in Durham.

Indiana lost to Miami as well. With North Carolina, Temple, St. John’s, Syracuse, and Notre Dame all missing the NCAA Tournament, Mick Cronin’s Bruins are the last hope the blue-bloods have of cutting down the nets.

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