Winners and Losers of the Elite Eight

Who shined the most in this round of March Madness? Who fell short? Let’s dive into a special edition of winners and losers.

Winner: New Bloods

A term you always hear with college hoops is “blue bloods.” This sport reveres the teams that always win—and, for some reason, they all seem to wear shades of blue: Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, and North Carolina on the men’s side, and UConn on the women’s side. They get the best players, play in the biggest games, and draw the highest TV ratings. It’s a reverence that has always felt antithetical to the spirit of the sport that promises madness—don’t we live for upsets and underdogs? Shouldn’t we yearn for someone new to hoist the trophy?

In 2023, the college hoops universe flipped. Only one of the men’s teams in this year’s Final Four has won a championship; the other three had never even made a Final Four. Neither of the first two women’s teams to advance past the Elite Eight, LSU and Iowa, has a title. (Two previous champs, South Carolina and Maryland, face off Monday for a spot in the Final Four. The final spot will go to either Ohio State or Virginia Tech.) None of the five men’s teams with the most championships and none of the four women’s teams with the most championships even made it to the Elite Eight of their respective brackets.

The men’s tournament is unlike any in history: None of the 1-, 2-, and 3-seeds are left standing, the first time that none have reached the Final Four. The last time the Final Four had three first-time participants was 1970, when it was a lot easier to get three first-time participants because they played 51 fewer tournaments. Either San Diego State or Florida Atlantic will play in the national championship game. Either San Diego State or Florida Atlantic will play in the national championship game. Neither of those teams plays in a major conference, neither had reached the Elite Eight before doing so this year, and after their matchup in next Saturday’s national semifinal, one will play for a national championship.

Before this season, Florida Atlantic had never even won an NCAA tournament game; the school has never produced an NBA player. The school was most famous for “not being Florida International” and “employing Lane Kiffin for a few years.” Now they’re in the Final Four! When asked Saturday night whether this was the greatest moment in the history of the university, athletic director Brian White was hesitant to say yes—but only because he isn’t 100 percent sure of what other stuff the university has accomplished. “I don’t understand most of the research that goes on. They may have cured diseases,” White said on the court after FAU reached the Final Four. “I don’t want to stick my foot in my mouth, but, you know, from an athletics perspective, yeah, I don’t see how it gets bigger.”

The lone men’s Final Four team…