Winners and losers from the first weekend of March Madness: The Big Ten is back

68 teams have been reduced to 16 and March Madness has delivered some drama. Even though fans have lamented the lack of massive upsets and a surprising Cinderella drought, there was still a ton of theater over the first week of the 2026 NCAA Tournament.

The drama was a bit late to arrive, but we had some chaos on Sunday, including a frantic finish for Kansas and St. John's while the first true shocker came late as Iowa took down Florida. Let's look back at the weekend that was and highlight the winners and losers of March Madness thus far.

Winner: The Big Ten

The Big Ten hasn't won a national championship since Michigan State cut down the nets in 2000 but they are well-positioned to end their drought this season. Six of the league's nine entrants to the field reached the Sweet 16, the most of any conference, with a good mix of contenders like Michigan, Purdue, Illinois, Nebraska and Michigan State.

Iowa also delivered the tournament's most significant result, getting a go-ahead three from Alvaro Folgueiras with just over four seconds to go to eliminate the defending national champs in the Round of 32. Every Big Ten team still standing played really well in the first weekend, setting themselves up nicely to potentially fill the entire Final Four with Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue and one of its three South Region reps.

Loser: The ACC

This year's tournament was a step in the right direction for the ACC, which got eight teams into the field after sending a combined nine over the previous two tournaments. Only one of those teams is still standing, top overall seed Duke, and the Blue Devils looked very shaky over most of their first two games.

Seeing 30-win Virginia get bounced by Tennessee was unfortunate while North Carolina's absolute collapse against VCU may cost Hubert Davis his job. Two ACC teams fell in First Four games while two others were hampered by injuries, which tell us this league still has a long way to go to get out of the basement among Power 4 basketball conferences.

Winner: Darius Acuff

Future NBA stars littered the bracket this year but few had a better weekend than Arkansas point guard Darius Acuff Jr. The Razorbacks have been on fire thanks to a certified heater from Acuff, who surged to help Arkansas win the SEC Tournament and averaged 30 points per game across their first two NCAA Tournament games.

Acuff was the difference maker against upset-minded High Point on Saturday night, pouring in 36 points and draining big shot after big shot down the stretch. The presumed Top 3 in the NBA Draft has been some combination of A.J. Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson and Cameron Boozer but Acuff's dominant display in Portland may help him bust into that tier.

Loser: Darryn Peterson

NBA scouts may have their minds already made up on Peterson, which would be huge for him after a rough NCAA Tournament run. While the overall numbers (24.5 points per game on 41 percent shooting) look respectable, a deeper dive into Peterson's play showed a player who showcased questionable shot selection, particularly as he tried to play the hero against St. John's on Sunday.

Peterson also didn't much of an impact outside of scoring, recording only five rebounds and one assist in two games, which helps explain why Kansas nearly collapsed against Cal Baptist on Friday before a rough offensive showing against the Red Storm. The end of the Peterson era will go down as a disappointment for Bill Self, whose team seemed to function better throughout the season without the services of a high-end lottery pick.

Winner: Buzzer Beaters

The buzzer beater was noteably absent last March, with Derik Queen's heroics for Maryland being the only true last-second shot in the first weekend of the tournament. We got to see a bunch of clutch shots hit late this weekend, with Otega Oweh creating a classic March moment with his heave to force overtime for Kentucky against Santa Clara on Friday afternoon.

Dylan Darling also became a folk hero for St. John's by laying the ball in at the buzzer to send Rick Pitino's team to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1999. Clutch shots in one-and-done games are a staple of March Madness so it is nice to see them come back into vogue after a quiet run the past few years.

Loser: Florida Gators

The most shocking result of the first weekend saw Florida fall to Iowa, becoming the first No. 1 seed to fail to reach the second weekend in three years. The Gators got caught flat-footed by the Hawkeyes, who built a double-digit lead in the second half and made enough clutch shots down the stretch to hang on for Ben McCollum's signature win.

The flameout was a stunning turn of events for the Gators, who looked like a legitimate threat to repeat as champs before getting blasted by Vanderbilt in the SEC Tournament. Sports Illustrated's Kevin Sweeney noted that this shouldn't be a surprise as the 2024 UCONN Huskies have been the only repeat champ to escape the first weekend since 2016, which could have foretold Florida's demise.

Winner: Mid-Major representation

The plight of mid-majors took center stage in the early stages of the tournament, due in large part to the discourse surrounding Miami of Ohio's inclusion in the field despite a poor strength of schedule. The Redhawks had their moment in the First Four, blasting SMU to earn a spot in the main draw, while fellow mid-majors High Point, VCU, Saint Louis and Utah State made strong impressions in the Round of 64 against power conference foes.

High Point coach Flynn Clayman also took advantage of his platform after a 12-5 upset of Wisconsin to call out power conference teams scared to schedule his Panthers. Clayman did good work for mid-majors by raising public awareness of the difficulty mid-majors face while their performance on the floor made a compelling case for more at-large representation in the future.

Loser: Cinderella

The story surrounding Cinderella's March Madness absence has been well-documented, with only four double-digit seeds reaching the Round of 32, the lowest mark in nearly 20 years. The only one who got to the Sweet 16 is 11-seed Texas, a loaded SEC school that had a middling regular season, so they don't exactly fit the profile of a true bracket buster.

NIL and the unlimited transfer portal has made it harder for true mid-majors to retain talent long enough to become a true giant slayer like 2022 Saint Peter's or 2006 George Mason. There has also been a bit of bad luck for those seeking the glass slipper as several teams made significant upset bids, including 16-seed Siena giving Duke everything they could handle, before falling short at the end.

Winner: The One Shining Moment Video

It certainly feels like this year's edition of March Madness has had its fair share of viral moments. Whether its Miami of Ohio's speedo-clad swim team, Dick Vitale's first NCAA Tournament game, buzzer-beaters and upsets, there is no shortage of moments for the One Shining Moment video to showcase.

Most of the video is edited well in advance of the Final Four, with the games in Indianapolis getting added to the affair as they happen. It will be fun to see which of our favorite moments make the video, which has a chance to be an all-timer if the viral moments keep popping in the Sweet 16.

Loser: Blue Bloods

Being a true blue blood wasn't easy this weekend. We already discussed North Carolina, whose huge collapse could cost Hubert Davis his job, and the seat under Mark Pope figures to get even hotter as Kentucky essentially folded up the tent after they were hit with a gut punch by Iowa State in the second half of their matchup.

Then there is Kansas, which had a mind-bogglingly bad end-game sequence to squander a massive comeback against St. John's. Bill Self's team has not gotten out of the first weekend in the past four tournaments and hasn't won a Big 12 regular season title in three, which is not what diehard Jayhawks fans have gotten used to over the years.

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