Brian Bennett

Louisville

Senior Editor at The Athletic

Senior editor, @TheAthleticNBA.

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Articles

Full March Madness bracket reaction and analysis

Jan 30, 2025 | nytimes.com | Brian Bennett |Justin Williams

Senior guard Tristen Newton leads the Huskies in points per game (15.2) and assists per game (6.0) this season. UConn, the reigning NCAA champion, has 2024 first-round pick Donovan Clingan leading it in rebounds (7.2) and blocks (2.3). The Huskies have a well-rounded offensive approach with five players averaging double-digit points. Zach Edey, the Big Ten Player of the Year, is the head of the snake for the Boilermakers.
UConn adds Saint Mary's guard Aidan Mahaney

Apr 29, 2024 | theathletic.com | Brian Bennett |CJ Moore

Saint Mary's transfer Aidan Mahaney, a two-time first-team All-West Coast Conference performer, has committed to UConn. Mahaney is a 6-foot-3 combo guard who is ranked 40th in The Athletic's best-available transfer list. He averaged 13.9 points per game in each of his two seasons with the Gaels and was known as a tough shot-maker, connecting on 37.5 percent of his 3-pointers in his career.
Not with blue-chip recruits

Apr 5, 2024 | theathletic.com | Brian Bennett

GLENDALE, Ariz. - Roster-building in men's college basketball is an art. Or a nonstop pain in the neck, if you ask coaches. So perhaps it's instructive to take a look at how the teams that are in this year's Final Four were built. Drawing a sweeping conclusion about results from the often random NCAA Tournament is a dicey proposition. But for the second straight year, the Final Four is noticeably light on blue-chip recruits.
March Madness doesn't need stars

Mar 26, 2024 | theathletic.com | Brian Bennett

The NCAA Tournament is not only the greatest sporting event ever created, it's also the most incredible generator of choose-your-own narratives. You can draw all kinds of conclusions from a 68-team scatter plot: The ACC put four teams into the Sweet 16, more than any other conference. This clearly proves that critics who said the league was mediocre and deserved no more than four bids were completely off base. Or ...
Ranking the men's Sweet 16 matchups, led by Iowa State vs. Illinois

Mar 25, 2024 | theathletic.com | Brian Bennett

The Sweet 16 is set. And there are some incredible matchups on tap. We'll be glued to all of them on Thursday and Friday, of course, but some games are more enticing than others. Here's our ranking of all eight games to decide the Elite Eight and how to watch (all times Eastern):East Regional, Thursday, approx. 10:10 p.m., TBS/truTV The sales pitch here is simple. The Illini have the top offense in college basketball, per KenPom, while the Cyclones own the No. 1 defense in the country.
No. 10 Colorado dominates No. 10 Boise State down stretch

Mar 21, 2024 | theathletic.com | Greg Rosenstein |Brian Bennett

No. 10 Colorado defeated fellow No. 10 seed Boise State 60-53 in the NCAA Tourmanent's First Four on Wednesday in Dayton, Ohio. The Buffaloes dominated down the stretch, finishing on a 15-4 run, and were particularly impressive on defense. After the Broncos' Chibuzo Agbo hit a jumper with 4:32 remaining in the game, they would not add another point for more than four minutes. "We finally played with unbelievable toughness," Colorado coach Tad Boyle said.
Duquesne secures first NCAA Tournament spot in 46 years

Mar 17, 2024 | theathletic.com | Brian Bennett

Duquesne defeated VCU 57-51 in the Atlantic 10 championship Sunday, securing an NCAA Tournament bid for the first time in 46 years. Duquesne finished off their conference tournament run thanks to a team-high 10 points from guard Dae Dae Grant, who led the team in scoring with 16.9 points per game this season. While the Dukes struggled offensively - shooting 29.8 percent from the field and 8-of-25 from 3 - they out-rebounded the Rams 42 to 34 and forced 16 turnovers in the title game.
Long Beach State earns bid under fired coach

Mar 17, 2024 | theathletic.com | Brian Bennett

Long Beach State clinched a bid to the NCAA Tournament on Saturday night, while prolonging the tenure of coach Dan Monson, who was fired on Monday. The 49ers beat UC Davis 74-70 in the Big West championship game, less than a week after the school announced a "mutual separation" from Monson, who has led the program since 2007-08.
The top two lines are set

Mar 16, 2024 | theathletic.com | Brian Bennett

(Editor's note: This is part of the Bracket Central Series, an inside look at the run-up to the men's and women's NCAA Tournaments, along with analysis and picks during the tournaments.) It only took until the day before Selection Sunday, but finally we can say for sure who the top eight seeds will be in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. With Tennessee and Arizona losing on Saturday and North Carolina advancing to the ACC tournament, the Tar Heels will join Purdue, Houston and UConn on the top line.
This cut line has sharp edges

Mar 15, 2024 | theathletic.com | Brian Bennett

(Editor's note: This is part of the Bracket Central Series, an inside look at the run-up to the men's and women's NCAA Tournaments, along with analysis and picks during the tournaments.) Usually, right around this time, we find ourselves saying, "Do any of these bubble teams actually want to play in the NCAA Tournament?"Not this season. In six years of doing Bracket Watch, we can't remember a time when the cutline has been this competitive two days before Selection Sunday.