It began with Winthrop over Queens 81-74 on a morning in early November. That was the first Division I game of the 2025-26 regular season. It ended Sunday with Nebraska beating Iowa 84-75. That was the last, and the game went overtime. It was as if the regular season didn’t want it to be over.
In between, five different teams took a turn at No. 1, and an unsung team from the rolling hills of southwestern Ohio absolutely refused to lose.
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Stats don’t tell the whole story, and sometimes they even lie. But they can be a start in explaining what has gone on out there. Among those from the 2025-26 regular season:
First, the Duke section, since the Blue Devils are No. 1.
11-2. Duke’s regular season record against Associated Press top-25 opponents. That’s the most ranked wins in one regular season in the history of the ACC.
20.5. The No. 1 Blue Devils’ average winning margin, widest in the nation. They have played two games decided by single digits since Jan. 10. They’ve won 35 games by at least 20 points over the past two seasons.
39-2. Duke’s record over its past 41 games against ACC teams.
It’s been ALL Blue Devils to open up the rematch 💪
(via @espn)pic.twitter.com/O4HGCqC6CB
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 8, 2026
21. The combined total losing margin in points for Duke the past two seasons. The Blue Devils are 64-6 with the defeats to Kentucky, Kansas, North Carolina, Texas Tech, Clemson and Houston — the last one in the Final Four. Their biggest loss has been by six points to Clemson.
9. Past seasons Duke went the NCAA tournament as the No. 1 team.
2. Teams of those nine that ended up champions.
Now the floor is open to everyone.
11-0. Michigan’s record in true road games. No Big Ten team had gone unbeaten on the road since the famously perfect Indiana Hoosiers of 1976.
101-61. Michigan’s rout of Gonzaga in November, arguably the most astonishing score of the season. That was a Zags team headed for a 28-3 record the Wolverines dismantled in Las Vegas. Michigan’s early-season rampage included winning nine of 10 games by at least 25 points.
10-2. Arizona’s record against ranked opponents, just behind Duke. Five of the Wildcats’ wins came in their first nine games.
14. Arizona’s national ranking in scoring, to go with first in the Big 12.
336. Arizona’s national ranking in 3-pointers per game, to go with last in the Big 12.
29-5. The combined record of Duke, Arizona and Michigan against ranked opponents.
5-4. Florida’s record on Dec. 9, including 0-3 vs. ranked opponents.
20-2. Florida’s record since then, including 6-0 vs. ranked teams, three of those wins by 23, 24 and 34 points. Also two victories over Kentucky where the Gators led for all but 38 seconds.
The Gators are getting busy in Lexington 😤
(via @espn)pic.twitter.com/JRBSxc6tfV
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 7, 2026
9. Games that Miami (Ohio) won by one possession or in overtime during the RedHawks’ arduous road to 31-0. In other words, 29 percent of Miami’s victories had to be yanked out of the fire. The last three wins to make the unbeaten regular season official were by a combined six points.
55. Miami’s ranking in the NCAA’s NET ratings at the end of the regular season, even with a spotless 31-0 record.
17-14. The record of Oklahoma, one spot above Miami in the NET.
24.7. AJ Dybantsa’s scoring average for BYU that led the nation during the regular season. If he’s still there in four weeks, he will be only the third freshman scoring champion since the NCAA started keeping official records in 1936.
AJ Dybantsa in a win against No. 10 Texas Tech:
21 PTS | 6 REB | 4 AST pic.twitter.com/lmEJuYCCKl
— B/R Hoops (@brhoops) March 8, 2026
9. Number of freshmen who scored at least 40 points in a game this season.
21. Teams in last week’s Associated Press top-25 that started at least one international player this season. Illinois and Saint Mary’s each started four. Arizona has nine countries represented on its roster. Outside the rankings, UT Martin had players from 12 countries; Cal Poly had players from six continents.
20. Times that Alabama hit 90 points in a game this season, on its way to leading the nation in scoring with a 92.1 average. The Tide reached 100 in eight games. They started 13 different lineups and they all, apparently, could score. Alabama would have been 56th in the nation in scoring just with the 82-point average in its eight defeats.
6. SEC teams in the top 13 nationally in scoring, so the league was often one long fireworks show. Auburn was 33rd in the nation in scoring but only eighth in the SEC.
14. The nation’s longest winning streak for everyone not named Miami (Ohio). That’s High Point.
6. Games that Navy finished ahead of everyone else in the Patriot League, the biggest winning margin for league season champion in the country. The Midshipmen were then knocked out of the league tournament by Boston University’s 40-foot shot at the buzzer.
OMG BOSTON U AT THE BUZZER 😱
ARE YOU KIDDING!!!
(via @CBSSportsCBB)pic.twitter.com/pSJO8yqGlj
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 8, 2026
24. Air Force’s losing streak, the nation’s longest.
18. Games in which Virginia scored 80 points this season.
9. Games in which Virginia scored 80 points in 2018-19, its national championship year.
39.47. Average minutes per game by Delaware’s Christian Bliss to lead the country. He played every minute of 19 games, including five that went to overtime. Saturday’s 81-38 loss to Louisiana Tech was the first time he had come off the court since Feb. 4. The Blue Hens had three of the top nine players in average minutes per game. Not so coincidentally, they were last in the nation in bench scoring, 6.2 points a game.
53. Points by Radford’s Dennis Parker Jr. in a 107-77 win over Coppin State on Dec. 14. That stood up as the highest scoring game for an individual this season. Parker took 24 shots and missed five. He scored as many or more points by himself as eight teams did that day.
17-1. UCLA’s record in Pauley Pavilion.
4-9. UCLA’s record everywhere else.
21. Free throws taken by Oral Roberts’ Ty Harper against Denver. He made them all, the best day from the line of anyone this season.
1. Fewest turnovers committed by a team in a game, accomplished three times. Two of the teams, Northwestern and Florida Gulf Coast, did it against the same opponent — Illinois. The Illini managed to go 24-7 while being last in the nation in turnovers forced at 7.84 a game.
30. Richmond led Duquesne 40-10 with six minutes left in the first half last weekend. Now fast forward to the end. That was Dave Dixon tipping in a missed 3-pointer to win it for Duquesne 79-77 and make the Dukes only the fourth Division I team to ever rally from 30 points down and win. Duquesne managed to win a game without ever leading with time on the clock.
25. Until the Duquesne win, Belmont shared the biggest comeback of the season, rallying from 25 points behind to stun Drake 78-76, But Drake got its revenge. The Bulldogs blew league champion Belmont out of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament by 21 points.
19,731. Kentucky’s average home attendance to lead the nation. They certainly weren’t happy all the time, given that the Wildcats lost four games in Rupp Arena.
7-24, 3-17. Overall and ACC record for the Miami Hurricanes last season.
24-7, 13-5. Overall and ACC record for the Hurricanes this season, the biggest turnaround in the country.
19-0. Saint Louis’ record in Chaifetz Arena, the best home record in the nation.
0-3. Saint Louis’ record on the road since Feb. 17.
29-6. Memphis’ record last season.
13-18. Memphis’ record this season. The Tigers were the preseason picks to repeat as American Conference season champions. They finished tied for eighth instead.
134-0. Purdue’s record going back to 1987 in games when the Boilermakers scored 90 points. Now make that 134-1. The 97-93 loss to Wisconsin Saturday not only broke the streak but highlighted a growing defensive issue for the team that began the season ranked No. 1. Purdue went 2-4 its last six games and gave up 52.6 percent shooting overall by its opponents and 41.8 percent from 3-point range. The Boilermakers went 6-4 at home in Big Ten games, as many Mackey Arena conference losses as the past three seasons combined.
301. Overtime games during the regular season. Two of them were Butler over Providence 113-110 in two overtimes in December and then Providence over Butler 97-87 in February.
4 p.m. Tipoff time Wednesday in the Big East tournament for…Butler vs. Providence. The regular season is over. March will take it from here.
