 |  |  |  |
The 2026 NCAA Tournament ended nearly a week ago, with all eyes turning to the Portal Kombat of the college basketball transfer portal. Still, this year's tournament offers a few key takeaways worth sharing for college basketball in general and future tourneys. Make the jump to read my five key takeaways from the 2026 NCAA Tournament.
1. Michigan's Starting Lineup of Transfers Is No Anomaly!
In winning its first National Championship since 1989, Michigan started five players who began their careers at other schools. Most Outstanding Player (MOP) Eliot Cadeau played two seasons at North Carolina prior to transferring to Michigan last offseason. Yaxel Lendeborg began his career in junior college and at Alabama-Birmingham before bypassing last year's NBA Draft to play for Michigan. After two seasons tethered to the bench at UCLA, Aday Mara found a new lease on his basketball life with the Wolverines. Following a promising freshman season that was derailed by a hand injury at the University of Illinois, power forward Morez Johnson took the money to go to Ann Arbor. While spending the last three seasons at Michigan, Nimari Burnett previously played at Alabama and Texas Tech.
The Wolverines became the first team to win a national championship with a starting lineup of five transfers, which is a reflection of the transfer portal's impact on college basketball. With high school recruiting not as important, rosters are being built on the fly through the portal, meaning that programs can bounce back quickly from bad seasons. With players being compensated with NIL and able to leave at will through the portal, Michigan's all-starting five of transfers is historic now but it won't be a big deal in a few years. Expect two or three of the next five national champions to start all transfers.
The Wolverines became the first team to win a national championship with a starting lineup of five transfers, which is a reflection of the transfer portal's impact on college basketball. With high school recruiting not as important, rosters are being built on the fly through the portal, meaning that programs can bounce back quickly from bad seasons. With players being compensated with NIL and able to leave at will through the portal, Michigan's all-starting five of transfers is historic now but it won't be a big deal in a few years. Expect two or three of the next five national champions to start all transfers.
2. Dusty May Provided the Blueprint for Portal Building
While money is no issue for Michigan, Head Coach Dusty May showed that getting transfer players is more than just accumulating talent. That talent has to fit together and be coached up. May did an incredible job last portal season building a massive frontline of Lendeborg, Johnson and Mara that provided so many matchup problems for teams. Michigan looked like the most dangerous team at the end of November, and the Wolverines fulfilled their promise because May fostered a team that sacrificed individual stats for chemistry and winning. As more and more programs rebuild through the portal, and throw larger sums of money at players, a program has to be about more than just talent acquisition. The basic fundamentals, having very good players who are developed, put in correct roles and coached well, are still essential to win it all in college basketball.
3. Retention of Previous Transfer Players Is Paramount!
As rosters change over at dramatic rates, the next coaches who are ahead of the curve will make retention of players who previously transferred in paramount. Long gone are the days of college teams developing through three to four years together. Winning is happening on the fly, and the best approach is to try to retain transfers for a second season. Of course, Michigan's entire frontcourt is likely NBA bound this draft, though the Wolverines will retain Cadeau. Having two or three impactful transfers stay with a program for more than one year will go a long way for programs maintaining winning cultures. Of course, retention is much easier said than done because any player who experiences some sort of success or displays just a little potential is there for the taking in the portal. Even if the player hasn't entered the portal, tampering is surely taking place.
4. College Basketball Is The Haves Versus the Have Nots!
While being a blue-blood program does not have as much weight as it used to in college basketball, being in a power conference with a healthy NIL budget is a huge advantage and absolute necessity. Look at this year's Elite Eight, where half of the schools were from the Big Ten Conference, which is a super conference with 18 schools now. Having money dictates college basketball, making things near impossible for the mid-majors. It is no surprise that the past few tournaments haven't had major Cinderellas advance to the Sweet Sixteen, though High Point was close this season. It is a sad time to be a mid major as under-the-radar players who were recruited and developed are now being plucked away by power conferences that can throw absurd amounts of money at these kids. See Furman freshman guard Alex Wilkins, who had a great game against UCONN and is in the portal. Every player in college basketball is a free agent after each season, meaning money will continue to drive mid-major players to higher programs. Even a non-football conference like the Big East is in trouble as UCONN is eventually going to have to leave to another conference to keep up with the Joneses. Sadly, this was inevitable as the NCAA did not adopt any rules or regulations with NIL and transfers. There is no turning back from the Wild, Wild West. And sadly, there is no incentive for power programs to play dangerous mid-majors during the season, making it even more difficult and frustrating to build a case for an at-large bid. See Miami (Ohio), which went undefeated in the MAC and still had to settle for a First Four bid.
5. Tourney Expansion Is Coming
The NCAA Tournament is perfectly fine with 68 teams, though greed will be the driving force to expand. I wouldn't be surprised if all 6/11 and 1/16 games will eventually feature a play-in winner, with the eleventh and sixteenth seeds having to win a play-in game in Dayton, Ohio. Expect the First Four to eventually become a full-day affair on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, with four games being played each day. It just seems inevitable, especially with power conferences like the Big Ten and SEC lobbying for more teams after playing a gauntlet of conference games.
A Few Other Thoughts on the 2026 NCAA Tournament
- Michigan may be the national champions, but UCONN is and will continue to be the gold standard in college basketball with Dan Hurley as Head Coach. It feels like winning a national championship will have to go through UCONN at some point, though May is building Michigan into a dangerous juggernaut that will be winning titles more often than once every 26 years (1989). Of course, the Wolverines were close in 1993 and 2013. It's safe to say Michigan will be a frequent guest at the Final Four for years to come under May.
- It has to be a hard time to be an Indiana basketball fan as the Hoosiers waited one year too long to move on from Mike Woodson, letting the IU grad May leave Florida Atlantic for Michigan of all places. At least the Hoosiers have Curt Cignetti. Second-year Hoosiers Head Coach Darian Devries has to be feeling the pressure, especially after not making the tournament this season with his son Tucker. Devries was a good hire and is a solid basketball coach; he is just not Dusty May. Hopefully, IU's football success will buy Devries a little grace, though he is going to need to get to the tournament next year.
- Iowa's Ben McCollum is the star of this tournament as what he did during his first season in Iowa City with a team full of Drake players should put the rest of the Big Ten on notice. McCollum seems like a guy who will be at Iowa for a long time, though Kansas should have him as its top replacement for when Bill Self retires as early as after next season. It will be interesting to see how Iowa fares without Bennett Stirtz next year as the senior point guard was an extension of McCollum on the floor at Northwest Missouri State, Drake and Iowa.
- It was a bit surprising to hear some reporters at the Final Four push back on whether or not international players should be allowed to play college basketball. Illinois is the one Final Four team that relied heavily on international players. With NIL, the door for the market has not been opened but busted down. Expect more and more teams to load up on international players with club experience. These players are getting developed as well or even better than American players.
- I no longer watch "One Shining Moment," which used to be so good back in the day but has become quite schmaltzy. Still, as I haven't posted a video in this post, here is this year's version of what is surely an overproduced "One Shining Moment." :-)
RSS Feed