Men's NCAA Tournament winners, losers: Nebraska continues best season ever

It does not get closer than that. 

But at this point, they do not ask you how close it was. They just ask you if you won. Nebraska did. 

Loser: Gonzaga

At this point, what do you even do if you are Mark Few in Gonzaga? You dominate your conference. You win around 30 games every year. You earn a top seed in the tournament. But you just can not break through. The line between good and great is a small one. Gonzaga just can not jump over it. 

Winner: Texas proving it belonged

The other side of Gonzaga's 74-68 loss on Saturday was the Texas Longhorns, going from the first four to the Sweet 16. They are the first team to do that since UCLA in 2021. They backed into the tournament on a three-game losing streak, which is what put them into the play-in games, but they seem to have found their rhythm.

Loser: The traditional Cinderella 

Forget everything you ever knew about Cinderella teams in the NCAA tournament, because they might be done. Not only has this tournament so far mostly followed the chalk, but even the low-seeds that win and advance are not your traditional Cinderella, out-of-nowhere team. The Texas Longhorns are in the Sweet 16 as an 11 seed. But there is no way you can call a team from the SEC, with that athletic budget and that NIL budget, a Cinderella. Money talks. And those are the teams that are going to win and advance. 

Winner: Tom Izzo

There might be coaches in college basketball history with more national titles, but the list of coaches that you should want coaching your team in March should not have many names listed before Michigan State's Tom Izzo. His teams may not have the biggest stars. They may not have the biggest names. But they are never an easy out in March, and seeing him standing on the sidelines of a Sweet 16 game just seems inevitable at this point. 

Winner: Michigan's dominance

The Big Ten is having a fantastic showing at the tournament, and that includes No. 1 seed Michigan, which has put up back-to-back 90-point games in the tournament.