Matt Norlander
@MattNorlander
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Sr. writer/analyst/podcast host for @CBSSports. Guitar player, wannabe drummer, avid skier. More CBB coverage: https://t.co/1K2b954L5Q
Joined March 2009
No better time than March to unveil a story like this. I dove deep over the past 25 years and built the definitive ranking of players who have mattered most this century. Here are the 25 biggest STARS in men's college basketball since 2000. 🏀BIG READ🏀.
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McNeese manager Amir “Aura” Khan now has a customized Under Armour jumpsuit. Company reps flew into Providence last night. I’m told he has 12 NIL deals, all totaling well into the six figures. Buffalo Wild Wings, TickPick and TurboTax are the three biggest. Nothing like March.
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Here’s the best thing you’ll see tonight. Vermont senior Josh Speidel gets the first start of his career and the first points of his career. Speidel was a highly touted UVM recruit before a car accident in high school left him in a coma. Incredible story in Burlington.
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Today in college basketball: The head coach of Illinois is posting AI-rendered images of himself in Balkan Cold War-era aesthetic after he landed a fifth commitment from player whose last name ends in "ic.".
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K just approached Armando Bacot before going to media availability and said, “I hope you’re OK, man. You were my player of the year.”
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Before he headed to the bus, Ja Morant went back out into the arena to give his shoes to a young boy.
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In the Final Four, Duke will face either. A) Saint Peter’s, setting up the greatest symbolic representation of David vs. Goliath in sports history, or. B) North Carolina for the first time in NCAAT history—with K’s retirement in the balance. How is this our universe. Phenomenal.
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Woke up this morning to discover my 9-year-old filled out a bracket without me even asking if he wanted to do it. I’m so proud I might burst.
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Phenomenal: Longtime friends Greg Kampe and Tom Izzo are wearing identical Grinch sweaters for their game against each other tonight. THIS RULES COLLEGE HOOPS IS THE BEST
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Here are the 10 best KenPom teams ever (ratings date back to '96-97). Four of them are playing Saturday in San Antonio. Maybe the most loaded Final Four ever? This is downright ridiculous. A combined 135-16.
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Tony Bennett guarding Nick Nurse — in 1989. Both men coached their teams to championships 30 years later, barely two months apart. The universe can be freaking incredible sometimes.
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Never seen anything like this after a national semifinal
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Getty Images photographer @BrouilletJerome has the assignment of a lifetime: shooting Olympics surfing competition in Tahiti and capturing some of the best sports images you'll see all year. These are incredible.
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HOLY CRAP THIS IS HOW STEPHEN F AUSTIN JUST BEAT DUKE?!?!
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Tennessee's 15 first-half points are the lowest in NCAA Tournament history by a team with a No. 1 or No. 2 seed. Lowest not just in an Elite Eight game — lowest in any round of the tournament. Ever.
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For the first time in NCAAT history, the Sweet 16 will be comprised of only four conferences, the fewest ever. And it's the four biggest leagues: ACC, Big East, Big Ten and SEC. Some incredible matchups await, but we are lacking mid-major/Cinderella flavor, which is a bummer.
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No. 1 Gonzaga: lost. No. 2 Arizona: lost. No. 3 Auburn: lost. No. 4 Purdue: lost. No. 5 Kansas: lost. No. 6 Kentucky: lost. No. 9 Texas Tech: lost. Historic, unprecedented day of destruction in college basketball. I don't care what the calendar says. March is here.
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Golden State takes Patrick Baldwin Jr. Hooooooooo boy. Baldwin, a former No. 1 player in his HS class, could wind up being a top-10 player in this year’s draft class. The Warriors are unfair. Given that front office’s track record, that pick should terrify the rest of the NBA.
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“You’re No. 1 trending in the WORLD right now.”. “That’s the best game I’ve ever had.”
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There’s no chance this crew gets another game in the NCAA Tournament, nor should it.
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Fairleigh Dickinson was a 4-22 team last year that fired its coach and began the season ranked 355th at KenPom. We just witnessed one of the most shocking upsets in sports history. College basketball forever.
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Why are we showing a résumé comparison without win-loss records???
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I've been watching this exact Bears-Packers game for the majority of my adult life.
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You can't have a Big Dance without some epic music. So I'm bringing it back. I asked all 68 coaches in the men's NCAA Tournament to name their favorite band/musical artists. The answers are incredible. Here are their picks, + the stories behind them🎸🎤⤵️
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JUST IN: MEN'S NCAA TOURNAMENT TIP TIMES, SITES, ANNOUNCING TEAMS. Here is the CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV schedule for the First Four, plus all first round games for Thursday and Friday. Colorado State-Michigan is the first game on Thursday. TCU-Seton Hall is last tip Friday.
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How did BYU win this game.
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We are 371 days away from the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
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Literally everyone on this app right now watching Virginia in the 2024 NCAA Tournament
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Samford was robbed of a chance to pull off one of the greatest come-from-behind Cinderella upsets in NCAA history last night because of anticipatory officiating. This is extremely well-handled by Bucky McMillan after the biggest game of his life to date.
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For the real ones out there who like everything in on spot, here is THE bracket. Tip times, sites next to the matchups, the whole deal. It’s just beautiful.
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Dusty May with the FAU radio. FAU radio = one guy. Ken LaVicka. Worked his ass off on this game and lost connection in the closing minutes, only to get back online in the final 30 seconds. Dusty giving him the longest interview of the night, and rightfully so.
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🚨 FIRST FOUR, THURSDAY AND FRIDAY NCAA TOURNAMENT TIP TIMES ARE HERE 🚨
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John Calipari and Arkansas have entered into serious talks about its head coaching position, sources told CBS Sports, and Kentucky has been notified on the talks. Calipari’s contract terms mandate he must inform Kentucky if he engages with another school about a job interview.
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BREAKING: UConn does not have a plane to fly to Arizona at the moment, Dan Hurley tells @CBSSports. Was supposed to take off at 6 ET, logistical/mechanical issues with the plane coming in from Kansas City forced significant delays. NCAA handles all trace for NCAAT. More ….
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High Point coach Alan Huss after losing to Purdue, which wound up being the only power-conf team High Point was able to play this season: "I'll be on the record to every high-major coach out there: We'd like to play you next season. We are open to any and all.".
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Folks: I’m a reasonable man, and I’m afraid Coach K’s seat of choice has caused a bit of a distraction on the broadcast. The Guster sticker is coming off at this next TV timeout.
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Little Sublime, some Incubus, Linkin. Obviously Chili Peppers. But I'd have to say 311 is still my main jam, Michele
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BREAKING: Scott Drew has passed on Kentucky’s offer and will remain at Baylor, source tells @CBSSports.
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This is Nash, the boy who was given Ja Morant’s shoes last night. His mom says he hasn’t taken them off since Ja surprised him with the gift.
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Behold, the most perfect thing in the universe: A clean NCAA bracket with dates, sites, tip times AND channels. It's so beautiful I might cry. PDF/downloadable version here.
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Kansas has been the preseason No. 1 team five times. It has never made the Sweet 16 in those seasons.
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Coach K wanted a word with Joseph Lindsay — the official who called the charge — and Lindsay, from 40 feet away mouthed to K three times, “I’m not talking to you.".
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NEWS: NCAA senior VP of basketball Dan Gavitt tells @CBSSports that despite the fact there will be no March Madness this year, the NCAA has not yet completely killed the idea of building and releasing a 68-team 2020 NCAA Tournament bracket.
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The Big Ten is 8-0 through the first round of the NCAAT. That's the best record for any league in history in the first round. The SEC and Big Ten will comprise 16 of the 32 teams left in the tournament — the highest percentage by two leagues in the second round in history.
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There is a very real chance John Calipari has coached his last game at Kentucky.
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Tennessee's loss today means the Vols are tied with Xavier as the most successful teams in NCAA Tournament history to never make a Final Four.
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An incredible storyline unfolding. Saint Peter’s, one of the lowest-funded Division I programs in the country, has gone from second place into the MAAC and is strutting right into the Sweet 16. College basketball is the ABSOLUTE BEST. No other sport gives you these stories.
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UCF is 25-0 in its last 25 games with two different coaches and two different starting quarterbacks and yet, almost certainly, will still not be allowed to play for a national championship. Fix your system, college football.
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Credit to UAlbany coach Will Brown for allowing Speidel to have this unforgettable moment and night. Speidel also has his coach, John Becker, and so many more inside Patrick Gym, tonight in tears. College sports are the absolute best.
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Los Angeles authorities are confirming a helicopter crash in Calabasas that reportedly had Kobe Bryant and four others on board.
Five people confirmed deceased, no survivors in #Calabasas helicopter crash. #LASD #Malibu deputies remain with #LA County Fire personnel. Investigation ongoing. Avoid the area until further notice.
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It’s now Tuesday on the East Coast and Colorado St—which is scheduled to play the first game of Thursday’s first round—still has not been told by the NCAA when and how it is flying to Indy to play in the NCAA Tournament, Rams coach Niko Medved tells CBS Sports. Not normal. (1/x).
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Saint Peter’s is one of the stories of the year in sports. I can’t believe Shaheen Holloway is bringing this team into the second weekend of the tournament. Players in tears. Holloway pulling it all off with a sheepish grin. Downright magical.
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College football remains the only sport where you can win ALL of your games and not compete to win a national championship.
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Dusty May impulsively signed a contract in 2018 before seeing FAU's facilities. He immediately regretted it all. He was going to quit on Day 1. "I started crying and said, 'I just committed career suicide,'" May reveals to @CBSSports. Now he's in the F4:
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Monday: Virginia, from one-and-done to One Shining Moment. Sunday: Tiger Woods wins his first major in 11 years and his first Masters in 14. There is no storytelling vehicle as captivating and endlessly creative as sports.
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Here's something gross. I just went back and checked. The final two minutes of gameplay between the Clippers and Suns took THIRTY-THREE MINUTES in real time to complete.
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One month from right now, we will be watching the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
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🚨NCAA TOURNAMENT TIP TIMES ARE IN 🚨. First Four and First Round. HERE. YOU. GO.
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Alabama’s practices include highly competitive scrimmages to 8 or 12 points. This is how Oats has broken mid-range shooting habits. The breakdown: . 1 point: mid-range/long 2.2 points: at-the-rim 2.3 points: college 3.4 points: Steph/Dame-land . Here’s what the court looks like.
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The two programs with the worst all-time Sweet 16 records:. Alabama (1-9).Tennessee (1-7).
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The Pistons having Jaden Ivey and Cade Cunningham in the backcourt sounds seriously dangerous in the best way possible. Good god, what a duo they could turn into.
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133 cardinals picked a pope faster than the selection committee voted on NCAA Tournament bubble teams.
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This feels like an Elite Eight matchup.
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Got one more goodie for you tonight. NCAA Tournament bracket with regions, tip times and channels for every first round game. This is the bracket you print out. The one you cherish as you hold it in your hands. So damn beautiful.
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Breaking, sources tell CBS Sports the NCAA Tournament will use these venues to host the 2021 men’s tournament:. Bankers Life Fieldhouse.Hinkle Fieldhouse.Indiana Farmers Coliseum.Mackey Arena.Assembly Hall.Lucas Oil (two courts). Only one game at Lucas Oil at a time.
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St. John's is 20-3 and in command of the Big East (11-1). Its three losses are by a combined five points. The Johnnies' nine-game conf win streak is the longest since the '84-85 team that had six NBA players and featured Chris Mullin, Walter Berry, Mark Jackson. The reason:
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Found this photo in my phone. 1.25.23 | 9:32 pm ET | Storrs, Conn. Jordan Hawkins waits to speak postgame after UConn’s home loss to Xavier—the Huskies’ sixth L in an eight-game span. UConn went 15-2 after this and won the 🏆. And Hawkins turned himself into 1st-round NBA pick.
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Many have a Kobe story; Ryan Badrtalei has hundreds. Most don’t know Kobe's path from All-Star to NBA 🐐 cut through the school in his backyard: UC Irvine. This is how a UCI assistant privately became Kobe’s longtime trainer and confidant—untold until now.
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Saint Peter’s. Unbelievable. One of the greatest and most improbable stories in the history of sports. The NCAA Tournament. NOTHING BETTER.
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Instantly legendary ejection from Chris Collins. This is how they used to do it, kids.
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Source: Gonzaga and Michigan St. have finalized their upcoming game on Veterans Day on the USS Abraham Lincoln, an aircraft carrier in San Diego. Game will be on ESPN and tip late afternoon out West/prime time on East Coast. Will be CBB's first game on a battleship since 2012.
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One nation, under ball, with liberty, justice — and madness — for all. Ladies and gentlemen, the United States of College Basketball. 📓🔗
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There was little doubt as is, but this is final: sources just told @CBSSports there is a “0 percent chance” Dan Hurley will leave UConn for Kentucky. It’s not happening. Hurley staying in Storrs, with a deserved big pay bump coming for him + his staff. UK’s search continues.
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Three GREAT @GettySport shots of Zach Edey's decisive late-game block on Dalton Knecht. Body control is incredible by Edey here. Arguably the defining play of his college career on a day where he scored a career-high 40 points to send Purdue to its first Final Four in 44 years.
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The NCAA Tournament is the greatest invention in the history of mankind.
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Can't comprehend that Grant Wahl is gone. That is not computing. If he'd wanted to, Grant would've been THE preeminent scribe in college basketball. Instead, he changed lanes and forever altered the way American soccer was covered and popularized. Legendary. This is a tragedy.
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Here’s the entire final sequence. It’s legitimately borderline unbelievable that this game ended the way it did — with Stephen F. Austin providing one of the all time buzzer-beaters.
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Aaaaaaand Chicago State just won AT Northwestern. 3-9 Chicago State. 335 at KenPom Chicago State. 5.1 wins on average PER YEAR the past nine years Chicago State. Just won at Northwestern. Northwestern that beat Purdue less than two weeks ago. That just happened.
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Gonzaga is gonna be ranked top-10 at KenPom on Selection Sunday and get a 7/8-seed.
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Good god Va. Tech just went Warriors on Duke. This game is a wrap.
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HOUSTON-GONZAGA IN THE SECOND ROUND WOULD BE A TOP-10 KENPOM GAME.
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BREAKING: Louisville dodges major punishments in IARP case, @CBSSports has learned. No postseason ban, $5,000 fine, small reduction in recruiting days and two years of probation. Rick Pitino, Chris Mack avoid punishment entirely. Decision will be made public later this AM.
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Grambling State goes from making its first NCAA Tournament to winning its first NCAA Tournament game in less than 51 hours. That's a really good story. And because it's a tournament win, the Tigers just brought the SWAC millions of revenue dollars in the years to come.
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Never expand the tournament, never change this format. Ever. This moment right here is why it's the best event in sports. Win or lose, Princeton has the country's attention.
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The Big 12 is 9-1 with 24 teams left in this tournament heading into Sunday and, the shocker of it all, it's the blue blood Kansas Jayhawks that are responsible for the only loss.
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A team that only got into the NCAAs because Merrimack wasn't eligible after winning the NEC tournament just became the second 16 to ever beat a 1. Purdue. NCAA Tournament infamy. FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON. NCAA TOURNAMENT IMMORTALITY. NOTHING BEATS THIS TOURNAMENT.
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Sources: In light of losing its game vs. Louisville, Kentucky and Western Kentucky have agreed to come together to play a game on Wednesday that will also raise money for tornado relief funds throughout the region.
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Creighton's entire athletic department emerging after weeks of trying to conjure up a nickname for Ryan Kalkbrenner
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Dan Hurley on NCAAT expansion: “I think it’s fine the way it is. … I think it’s a privilege to play in this tournament, not a right.”. Says some power-conf teams “game the numbers” and he doesn’t like mid-majors getting squeezed. “I don’t think expanding it is a good idea.”.
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“This is a tournament team. North Carolina’s going to make the NCAA Tournament.”—Bilas. Well . Lost to Purdue by nine. Lost to Tennessee by 17. Lost to Kentucky by 29. Lost to Miami by 28. Lost to Wake Forest by 18. Down at home to Duke by 25+. No Q1 wins. Pretty rough.
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Four years ago, Jon Scheyer was convinced he was going to be the next coach at DePaul or UNLV. Then they turned him down. And now look at Duke: Back in the Final Four, remade in Jon Scheyer's image, and making the near-unthinkable seem way, way too easy.
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Unofficially official: UNC will be the first preseason No. 1 team to fail to make the NCAA Tournament in the 64/65/68-team era.
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