The second round of the 2026 men’s basketball tournament kicked off on Saturday, sending its first eight teams to the Sweet 16. It was another day where it mostly followed the chalk and produced quite a few lopsided results.
But it also still provided some of the drama and close calls that basketball fans want from March Madness.
Winner: The best Nebraska basketball season ever
No matter what they do the rest of this tournament, this is already the best basketball season in the history of the Nebraska program. And it keeps getting better. After winning their first NCAA tournament game on Thursday, the Cornhuskers won their second tournament game ever on Saturday in what might have been the game of the tournament so far.
Their 74-72 win over Vanderbilt was a chaotic, back-and-forth saga that featured the Cornhuskers taking the lead with 2.2 seconds to play, and then watching as a desperation half-court heave from Vanderbilt was in the basket… only to rim out.
