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March Madness 2026: The Madness of the Beautiful Sport

Alonzo Willie, Reporter

April 22, 2026

Congratulations to the Michigan Wolverines for winning the NCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship. This meant that they won their first National Championship in 37 years. On April 6, 2026, they played UConn and won 63-69. On the other hand, in the women National Championship, the UCLA Bruins made history for themself as they beat South Carolina to win their first national title since 1978.

March Madness is a crazy time for the college basketball fans and the players. The 2026 March Madness ended in Indianapolis at The Lacus Oil Studium. And Coach Dusty May finished the season by beating the defending champions, UConn. Coach Dusty was so happy about his team, he said, ” This team just found a way all season. They have love, trust, and respect amongst themselves.” This win was so historic because it break there champion drought since 1989 and also being a chip home to the Big Ten Conference.

On the women’s side, the championship game ended in Phoenix, Arizona. The UCLA Bruins were unstoppable; they had the best defense in women’s basketball, only holding South Carolina, one of the best offensive teams in women’s basketball, to 51 points that whole game. UCLA’s defense was so good in the March Madness that, on average, its opponents only scored 53.3 points per game. The average points score in a womens march madness game is 68 points, so that is such a huge gap from 53 to 68. There is definitely a monster Kiki Rice made all-time defence, averaging 14.9 points a game with 5.9 rebounds and 4.3 assists, also with an amazing 49.9% shooting, which is almost all her shots go in, and her 38.5 from the three point range is also average as the average NBA player is 36-37% percent.

Well, it wouldn’t be March Madness without the “Madness” part. TCU v Ohio St was a first-round classic and probably one of the most interesting games to be aired. In the last minute of the game, the score was 61-61, and Mical Robinson scored a clutch 3-pointer to make the score 64-61. At the 35.1-second mark of game #2, Bruce Thornton scored a beautiful contested 3-pointer to equalize the game. But TCU wasn’t finished. At the 9.3-second mark of the game, #24 Xavior Edmonds scored the game-winner and sent Ohio State packing home. Making the final score of the game 66-64, and a wonderful first round march madness.

The Women’s March Madness is even better than the men’s side. Colorado v Michigan was a classic and one for the books. In the last second of the game #2, Brooke Carlson scored a glorious 3-pointer to end the night with 26 points, but with all her attempts to save Colorado, they came up short against a strong defense, with Kennedy Blair with 3 blocks in that game. But it wasn’t such an easy game as Michigan Superstar Grace VanSlooten told her interviewers, ” I think Colorado was a very good team, as they came out and punched us first“.

About the Contributor

Alonzo Willie

Alonzo Willie is an African American Freshman at Sahuaro High School and a proud student who lives in Tucson. This is his first year in The Paper Cut; he is joining halfway through the 2025-2026 school year as a reporter. Alonzo has quickly made an impact on the soccer field as a freshman; this year, his biggest accomplishments were that he made the varsity team and scored his first goal against Casa Grande High School. Alonzo started playing soccer when he was 7 years old and hasn’t looked back. Some of his accomplishments include winning a trophy for his middle school, Booth Fickett, last year. It is amazing how he dominates the soccer field and the classroom; with a high GPA, Alonzo is one of the top students in his class. Alonzo lives with his 2 parents and his 2 sisters. His favorite fast food place is Panda Express, which consists of fried rice, orange chicken, and teriyaki chicken. He claims that it reminds him of home, adding a nostalgic feeling whenever he eats there. His favorite movies are Forest Gump, Happy Gilmore, and 500 Days of Summer. Alonzo recalls watching Happy Gilmore with his dad, and now it’s been one of his all-time favorites. Alonzo also enjoyed watching 500 Days of Summer since his favorite artist named an album after the movie. While listening to the album, he stumbled upon the movie, which he enjoyed, and never looked back. He’s really excited to join the paper cut and most people don’t know that he actually wants to become a news reporter. He claims “I used to want to become a new reporter but I just lost the passion for it at the age of 10 and now I’m happy that there is a newspaper class because I meant get my courage back to become a news reporter.”