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How Nebraska’s March Madness Run Ended in Dumbest Way Possible | Deadspin.com

How Nebraska’s March Madness Run Ended in Dumbest Way Possible | Deadspin.com

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Mar 8, 2026; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach Fred Hoiberg walks off the court after defeating the Iowa Hawkeyes at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

All my life, I’ve been an East Coast guy. Never been to Iowa; never been to Nebraska.

If you talk to me about their corn, I’m liable to politely inform you that Jersey corn is superior anyway.

And yet the only game I was interested in among Thursday’s quartet of Sweet 16 contests was Iowa-Nebraska.

Two Big Ten rivals whose football teams regularly put up 13-10 final scores when they play, and who have little to no modern history to speak of in men’s basketball? A 9-versus-4 game in the Sweet 16 with a bunch of Midwesterners and dudes from Turkey and the Netherlands running around?

That’s the sicko stuff. Inject it into my veins.

I wrote about Nebrasketball in this space earlier in the season, and since then the Cornhuskers have polished off their best season in program history by earning a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament and winning their first two tournament games ever. Nebraska was the last power-conference school that had yet to win a game in the tourney.

Which makes the end to their season sort of a butt-fumble. I wonder how many people will remember Nebraska’s 28-7 campaign, versus how many will just remember this ending:

“What happened?!” play-by-play pro Kevin Harlan exclaimed.

What they don’t notice in real time is that Nebraska has only four players on the floor, with Rienk Mast half-jogging to the check-in table in the background, surely realizing he’s too late.

That open dunk for Alvaro Folgueiras and ensuing foul shot came after Tate Sage and Braden Frager (yes, their real names) traded threes for a three-point Iowa lead. The dunk was the killer. Final score: Iowa 77, Nebraska 71. Hawkeyes, see you in the Elite Eight against Illinois, ensuring at least one Big Ten team will make the Final Four.

Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg did the right thing and wouldn’t let Mast wear the four-man defense blunder. When Mast was asked to describe what went on, Hoiberg cut in.

“Put that one on me,” Hoiberg said. “It was a miscommunication and I’m the head coach, so put that one on me.”

It must be infuriating for Nebraska fans, because Hoiberg has a reputation as a very good coach from his Iowa State days, but it took a while for him to get the Cornhuskers out of the mud. Sure, this would be true of any coach at that place, but Huskers fans were ready to have his head three years in before Nebraska’s AD put out a statement backing Hoiberg long-term.

Soon enough, Hoiberg did turn it around, with three straight 20-win seasons, the inaugural College Basketball Crown title and now a Sweet 16. And yet his team’s season ends on a coaching blunder that inexcusable.

The real coaching star from that game is Ben McCollum. Many who are just tuning in don’t realize that the dude has gone 38-8 in NCAA Tournament games: He won four Division II national titles and got Drake to the Round of 32 in his only season there. Then he showed up in Iowa City and took the Hawkeyes somewhere they haven’t been since the 1980s, an Elite Eight. 

He outcoached the national champions to bring down a No. 1 seed the round prior.

And just look at him. The hair. The shirt and tie, in an era where everyone’s wearing the same athletic wear on the sidelines. He exudes college basketball coach.

So one of the best stories of the 2025-26 season comes to an end in a rather blunt way. Iowa has won 10 of the last 11 meetings with Nebraska in football. The Hawkeyes just eliminated the Huskers in hoops. And we can’t forget…

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Deadspin | Marta Kostyuk to put clay-court streak on line against Iga Swiatek in Paris Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk her third round match against Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic at the French Open on May 29, 2026. Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine, who has not lost on the clay courts this season, advanced to the fourth round of the French Open on Friday in Paris — with four-time champion Iga Swiatek her next opponent. The 15th-seeded Kostyuk won titles on the clay courts in Madrid and Rouen leading up to the French Open. She advanced with a 6-4, 6-3 defeat of Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland. Swiatek, the third seed, most recently won the title at Roland Garros in 2024. She defeated Magda Linette 6-4, 6-4 in an all-Polish match on Friday to advance. With the win, she avenged her three-set loss to Linette earlier this year in Miami. Swiatek has yet to win a tournament on clay this season and has a record of 9-3. Her most recent title on any surface came last September in Seoul. Kostyuk had an optimistic tone in her post-match news conference, even though she has lost all three career matchups against Swiatek and hasn’t won a set from her. “I definitely have a different feeling going into this match,” she said. “Because I feel like last time that I played her in Cincinnati, I lost this match way before it even started, and I don’t feel the same this time.” Swiatek also won the tournament in 2020 before three straight victories from 2022-24 and is 43-3 overall at Roland Garros. Only Chris Evert (seven) and Steffi Graf (six) have more singles titles in Paris during the Open Era. Kostyuk knows that history, too. “She’s won this tournament four times. I would love to be the one who is a favorite in this match, but I still don’t think it’s the case, even though I have this really long streak,” the Ukrainian said. “But it’s not going to ruin my day or ruin my game. I still want to go out and try my best and enjoy. Like, I have never taken a set off her. Even if I win one set in the next match, I’m going to be very happy. That’s how I look at it, and I’m excited for this match.” Other winners Friday were eighth-seeded Mirra Andreeva of Russia, who defeated Czech 27th seed Marie Bouzkova 6-4, 6-2. In the fourth round, she will face Jil Teichmann of Switzerland, who upset 10th-seeded Karolina Muchova of Czechia 6-1, 7-5. Sorana Cirstea of Romania, the 18th seed, shut out Solana Sierra of Argentina 6-0, 6-0 to set up a fourth-round meeting with Xiyu Wang of China, who produced a 6-3, 7-5 win over Ukraine’s Yuliia Starodubtseva. Seventh-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine ousted Tamara Korpatsch of Germany 6-2, 6-3. She will play 11th-seeded Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, who sailed 6-3, 6-3 past Peyton Stearns. –Field Level Media #Deadspin #Marta #Kostyuk #put #claycourt #streak #line #Iga #Swiatek #ParisUkraine’s Marta Kostyuk her third round match against Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic at the French Open on May 29, 2026.

Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine, who has not lost on the clay courts this season, advanced to the fourth round of the French Open on Friday in Paris — with four-time champion Iga Swiatek her next opponent.

The 15th-seeded Kostyuk won titles on the clay courts in Madrid and Rouen leading up to the French Open. She advanced with a 6-4, 6-3 defeat of Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland.

Swiatek, the third seed, most recently won the title at Roland Garros in 2024. She defeated Magda Linette 6-4, 6-4 in an all-Polish match on Friday to advance. With the win, she avenged her three-set loss to Linette earlier this year in Miami.

Swiatek has yet to win a tournament on clay this season and has a record of 9-3. Her most recent title on any surface came last September in Seoul.

Kostyuk had an optimistic tone in her post-match news conference, even though she has lost all three career matchups against Swiatek and hasn’t won a set from her.

“I definitely have a different feeling going into this match,” she said. “Because I feel like last time that I played her in Cincinnati, I lost this match way before it even started, and I don’t feel the same this time.”


Swiatek also won the tournament in 2020 before three straight victories from 2022-24 and is 43-3 overall at Roland Garros. Only Chris Evert (seven) and Steffi Graf (six) have more singles titles in Paris during the Open Era.

Kostyuk knows that history, too.

“She’s won this tournament four times. I would love to be the one who is a favorite in this match, but I still don’t think it’s the case, even though I have this really long streak,” the Ukrainian said. “But it’s not going to ruin my day or ruin my game. I still want to go out and try my best and enjoy. Like, I have never taken a set off her. Even if I win one set in the next match, I’m going to be very happy. That’s how I look at it, and I’m excited for this match.”

Other winners Friday were eighth-seeded Mirra Andreeva of Russia, who defeated Czech 27th seed Marie Bouzkova 6-4, 6-2. In the fourth round, she will face Jil Teichmann of Switzerland, who upset 10th-seeded Karolina Muchova of Czechia 6-1, 7-5.

Sorana Cirstea of Romania, the 18th seed, shut out Solana Sierra of Argentina 6-0, 6-0 to set up a fourth-round meeting with Xiyu Wang of China, who produced a 6-3, 7-5 win over Ukraine’s Yuliia Starodubtseva.

Seventh-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine ousted Tamara Korpatsch of Germany 6-2, 6-3. She will play 11th-seeded Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, who sailed 6-3, 6-3 past Peyton Stearns.

–Field Level Media

#Deadspin #Marta #Kostyuk #put #claycourt #streak #line #Iga #Swiatek #Paris">Deadspin | Marta Kostyuk to put clay-court streak on line against Iga Swiatek in Paris Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk her third round match against Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic at the French Open on May 29, 2026. Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine, who has not lost on the clay courts this season, advanced to the fourth round of the French Open on Friday in Paris — with four-time champion Iga Swiatek her next opponent. The 15th-seeded Kostyuk won titles on the clay courts in Madrid and Rouen leading up to the French Open. She advanced with a 6-4, 6-3 defeat of Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland. Swiatek, the third seed, most recently won the title at Roland Garros in 2024. She defeated Magda Linette 6-4, 6-4 in an all-Polish match on Friday to advance. With the win, she avenged her three-set loss to Linette earlier this year in Miami. Swiatek has yet to win a tournament on clay this season and has a record of 9-3. Her most recent title on any surface came last September in Seoul. Kostyuk had an optimistic tone in her post-match news conference, even though she has lost all three career matchups against Swiatek and hasn’t won a set from her. “I definitely have a different feeling going into this match,” she said. “Because I feel like last time that I played her in Cincinnati, I lost this match way before it even started, and I don’t feel the same this time.” Swiatek also won the tournament in 2020 before three straight victories from 2022-24 and is 43-3 overall at Roland Garros. Only Chris Evert (seven) and Steffi Graf (six) have more singles titles in Paris during the Open Era. Kostyuk knows that history, too. “She’s won this tournament four times. I would love to be the one who is a favorite in this match, but I still don’t think it’s the case, even though I have this really long streak,” the Ukrainian said. “But it’s not going to ruin my day or ruin my game. I still want to go out and try my best and enjoy. Like, I have never taken a set off her. Even if I win one set in the next match, I’m going to be very happy. That’s how I look at it, and I’m excited for this match.” Other winners Friday were eighth-seeded Mirra Andreeva of Russia, who defeated Czech 27th seed Marie Bouzkova 6-4, 6-2. In the fourth round, she will face Jil Teichmann of Switzerland, who upset 10th-seeded Karolina Muchova of Czechia 6-1, 7-5. Sorana Cirstea of Romania, the 18th seed, shut out Solana Sierra of Argentina 6-0, 6-0 to set up a fourth-round meeting with Xiyu Wang of China, who produced a 6-3, 7-5 win over Ukraine’s Yuliia Starodubtseva. Seventh-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine ousted Tamara Korpatsch of Germany 6-2, 6-3. She will play 11th-seeded Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, who sailed 6-3, 6-3 past Peyton Stearns. –Field Level Media #Deadspin #Marta #Kostyuk #put #claycourt #streak #line #Iga #Swiatek #Paris

On Selection Monday, the Auburn Tigers were slotted in as the fourth overall team in the NCAA baseball field, thanks to a 38-19 overall record against the toughest schedule in all of college baseball. Their reward? A spot as a regional host, and a first-game date with Milwaukee out of the Horizon League, a 25-31 team that secured a spot in the field after winning the conference tournament.

Even better, Auburn would be sending left-hander Jake Marciano to the mound, he of the 2.65 ERA and 0.97 WHIP.

To say things were set up well for the Tigers would be putting it mildly. But by the top of the first inning the Panthers had put six runs on the board, Marciano was already in the showers, and Milwaukee was on its way to a stunning 13-8 win, putting Auburn on the brink of elimination.

The Panthers hung four runs on the board in the top of the first. A single from designated hitter Dom Kibler brought two runs home, staking Milwaukee to the early lead. That brought left fielder Bradyn Horn to the dish with a pair of runners aboard.

In the blink of an eye, it was 4-0 Panthers:

It was the fifth home run of the year for Horn, and an unexpected start to the contest. And after keeping the Tigers scoreless in the bottom of the first, Milwaukee chased Marciano in the top of the second with two more runs.

Milwaukee held a 6-0 lead in the top of the fourth, when they broke into double digits. Third baseman Grant Ross singled to bring home Connor Bozak, bringing Charlie Marion to the plate with a pair of Panthers aboard.

That’s when Marion blasted his 13th home run of the season:

Auburn would start chipping away at Milwaukee’s lead, and a blast from Eric Guevara in the bottom of the seventh cut the Panthers’ advantage to 12-7. And the Tigers got out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth, when Jett Johnston struck out Horn to keep Auburn within five.

But the Tigers could not complete the comeback.

Riley Peterson held Auburn scoreless in the eighth, retiring the side in order with a strikeout and a pair of groundouts. Milwaukee pushed another run across in the ninth, when Marion walked with the bases loaded, the fourth walk given up by Auburn pitchers in the frame.

The Tigers loaded the bases in the ninth and got a sacrifice fly from Guevara to cut the score to 13-8, but Peterson got catcher Chase Fralick to line out to center for the final out.

The celebration was on in the Panthers’ dugout.

For Milwaukee, it was just the second NCAA tournament win in program history, the first coming back in 1999 when the Panthers knocked off Rice. Milwaukee finished the afternoon having gone 8-for-16 with runners in scoring position, and the 13 runs were the most scored by the team in their NCAA tournament history.

As for the Tigers, they became just the sixth top four national seed in NCAA tournament history to lose a regional opener, joining Alabama (No. 3, 2002), Georgia Tech (No. 3, 2003), Florida State (No. 4, 2008), Baylor (No. 4, 2012), Florida (No. 2, 2014), and North Carolina (No. 2, 2017).

The Tigers will hope to join an even smaller list with Florida State and Baylor, as those two teams still went on to win their regional.

Milwaukee will take on the winner of No. 3 NC State and No. 2 UCF, while Auburn will face the loser of that contest in an elimination game.

#NCAA #baseball #tournament #Milwaukee #stuns #Auburn">NCAA baseball tournament 2026: Milwaukee stuns Auburn On Selection Monday, the Auburn Tigers were slotted in as the fourth overall team in the NCAA baseball field, thanks to a 38-19 overall record against the toughest schedule in all of college baseball. Their reward? A spot as a regional host, and a first-game date with Milwaukee out of the Horizon League, a 25-31 team that secured a spot in the field after winning the conference tournament.Even better, Auburn would be sending left-hander Jake Marciano to the mound, he of the 2.65 ERA and 0.97 WHIP.To say things were set up well for the Tigers would be putting it mildly. But by the top of the first inning the Panthers had put six runs on the board, Marciano was already in the showers, and Milwaukee was on its way to a stunning 13-8 win, putting Auburn on the brink of elimination.The Panthers hung four runs on the board in the top of the first. A single from designated hitter Dom Kibler brought two runs home, staking Milwaukee to the early lead. That brought left fielder Bradyn Horn to the dish with a pair of runners aboard.In the blink of an eye, it was 4-0 Panthers:It was the fifth home run of the year for Horn, and an unexpected start to the contest. And after keeping the Tigers scoreless in the bottom of the first, Milwaukee chased Marciano in the top of the second with two more runs.Milwaukee held a 6-0 lead in the top of the fourth, when they broke into double digits. Third baseman Grant Ross singled to bring home Connor Bozak, bringing Charlie Marion to the plate with a pair of Panthers aboard.That’s when Marion blasted his 13th home run of the season:Auburn would start chipping away at Milwaukee’s lead, and a blast from Eric Guevara in the bottom of the seventh cut the Panthers’ advantage to 12-7. And the Tigers got out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth, when Jett Johnston struck out Horn to keep Auburn within five.But the Tigers could not complete the comeback.Riley Peterson held Auburn scoreless in the eighth, retiring the side in order with a strikeout and a pair of groundouts. Milwaukee pushed another run across in the ninth, when Marion walked with the bases loaded, the fourth walk given up by Auburn pitchers in the frame.The Tigers loaded the bases in the ninth and got a sacrifice fly from Guevara to cut the score to 13-8, but Peterson got catcher Chase Fralick to line out to center for the final out.The celebration was on in the Panthers’ dugout.For Milwaukee, it was just the second NCAA tournament win in program history, the first coming back in 1999 when the Panthers knocked off Rice. Milwaukee finished the afternoon having gone 8-for-16 with runners in scoring position, and the 13 runs were the most scored by the team in their NCAA tournament history.As for the Tigers, they became just the sixth top four national seed in NCAA tournament history to lose a regional opener, joining Alabama (No. 3, 2002), Georgia Tech (No. 3, 2003), Florida State (No. 4, 2008), Baylor (No. 4, 2012), Florida (No. 2, 2014), and North Carolina (No. 2, 2017).The Tigers will hope to join an even smaller list with Florida State and Baylor, as those two teams still went on to win their regional.Milwaukee will take on the winner of No. 3 NC State and No. 2 UCF, while Auburn will face the loser of that contest in an elimination game. #NCAA #baseball #tournament #Milwaukee #stuns #Auburn

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