5 storylines to watch in the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament this year

March Madness is about to invade the popular conversation for the next two-plus weeks. Here’s how to make the games even more interesting.

Freshman guard and AP All-American Keaton Wagler of the Illinois Fighting Illini at an NCAA exhibition game in October 2025 [Photo: Getty Images]

Whether you’re a devoted college basketball junkie or you just pay attention for a few weeks each spring, you’ll get a lot more out of the Division I men’s tournament if you know the storylines behind the matchups.

Here are some of the biggest narratives to follow from work, home, and wherever you watch the games. 

The year of the freshmen

From February 2021 until the start of the 2025-26 college basketball season, there were exactly three 40-point games by freshmen. On January 24, 2026, three freshmen achieved that milestone on a single day. Two of them were playing against then-top-12-ranked teams, on the road.

Kingston Flemings of Houston scored 42 points against Texas Tech, Keaton Wagler of Illinois scored 46 points against Purdue, and AJ Dybantsa of BYU scored 43 points against archrival Utah. All three players were selected as Associated Press All-Americans, and play for teams seeded No. 2, 3, and 6, respectively, in this year’s NCAA Tournament.

Meanwhile, the national player of the year favorite, Cameron Boozer, is a freshman playing for Duke, the overall top-seeded team. Arkansas, which is a No. 4 seed after winning the SEC Tournament, is led by Darius Acuff Jr., a freshman point guard who averages 23 points per game. Kansas guard Darryn Peterson has been in and out of the lineup with injuries throughout the year, but has looked every bit the part of a potential superstar in the NBA, and will play for the No. 4-seeded Jayhawks in the tourney.

Arizona, another No. 1 seed, starts three freshmen: Koa Peat, Brayden Burries, and Ivan Kharchenkov. Mikel Brown Jr. (Louisville), Nate Ament (Tennessee), Braylon Mullins (UConn), Killyan Toure (Iowa State), and Trey McKenney (Michigan) are all key players on teams with a chance to make a run.

Even some of the mid-majors in the NCAA Tournament have star freshmen on their rosters. Santa Clara’s Allen Graves is getting NBA draft buzz. Hofstra’s Preston Edmead won CAA Tournament MVP thanks to a buzzer-beater and a heroic performance. Alex Wilkins of Furman also won his conference tournament MVP after making the All-Conference second team.

University of Nebraska

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