The NCAA Division I basketball season has reached its pinnacle weekend - Men's and Women's Final Four. Here are six players and coaches - men and women - with ties to Washington state who are part of the festivities (men are in San Antonio,

Dramatic, last-second losses by 10-seed Arkansas and 6-seed Ole Miss were the closest we got to having “surprise” entries into the Elite Eight. In fact, 3-seed Texas Tech – which needed a 16-point second-half comeback to get past the Razorbacks – is somehow the only team seeded No. 3 or lower still in the field.

Cougars championship history after their 2025 Elite Eight victory. The men's basketball team, the Houston Cougars, represents the University of Houston in Texas, in NCAA Division I men's basketball. The Cougars compete as members of the Big 12 Conference.

Arkansas head coach John Calipari reacts, Thursday, March 27, 2025, during overtime of the Razorbacks' 85-83 loss to the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament West Regional Semifinals at Chase Center in San Francisco. (Hank Layton/WholeHogSports)

The Tar Heels lost to No. 1 Duke in the ACC Tournament semifinals, but have won eight of their past 10 games and are playing their best basketball of the season.

In his bio on the team website, under ‘The Coyle File,’ Siena men’s basketball junior forward Brendan Coyle said he first chose to become a Saint because,

UCSD became the first school to have both its men's and women's basketball team in the Division I NCAA Tournament in its first year of postseason eligibility.

There has been a lot of talk about this year’s men’s NCAA Tournament being chalky. Whether it is because of NIL and the transfer portal, as some have suggested, or it’s a random occurrence, there haven’t been as many upsets and Cinderella runs this year.

While all eyes generally fall on the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament this time of year, a number of other NCAA championships are being contested during the months of March and April. Some collegiate sports,