Zach Spiker appreciated how many friends and former co-workers wanted to text him as late Monday night seeped into Tuesday morning. But with the biggest game of his career awaiting in mere hours, Spiker shut off his cell phone.

When Mike Schrage came to Elon in 2019, he brought a philosophy cultivated in tenures coaching alongside Chris Holtmann and Brad Stevens that each individual team should craft its own identity unique to the personalities, talents of and circumstances facing it. 

HARRISONBURG, Va., Sixth-seeded Drexel captured its first Hercules Tires CAA Men’s Basketball Championship and earned a trip to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1996 after a 63-56 win over eighth-seeded Elon on Tuesday night at the Atlantic Union Bank Center in Harrisonburg, Va.

Twenty-five years ago this month, Bill Herrion quipped that “people don’t know who Drexel is."

Years from now, no one will remember three of the four 2021 CAA Tournament quarterfinal games turned out as projected as fourth-seeded Hofstra and second-seeded Northeastern beat Delaware and William & Mary while sixth-seeded Drexel, favored by the computer models, beat third-seeded Charleston.

March basketball’s thrills and excitement would not be as meaningful without the inherent heartache of single-elimination competition. 

Several conference tournaments turned into chaotic free-for-alls Saturday — the equivalent of a road race being overtaken by the casual runners who sprint at the sound of the shooter’s gun and run as hard as they can for as long as they can.

Seton Hall’s NCAA Tournament hopes were dealt a pair of swift blows over the past several days. 

As the adage goes, there are no moral victories. It’s applicable in most areas of high-level sports—nobody has won a moral victory trophy and a win-loss record doesn’t quantify the grey area of playing really well but falling to a superior opponent. 

Eleven days after they were upset by Arkansas, Connecticut is poised to once again claim the #1 ranking in the country. 

No Grant Riller, who graduated last spring.

After opening the season a perfect 10-0, [team:Connecticut] was upset by #19 Arkansas, 90-87 last week. UConn trailed by 10 entering the fourth quarter, but pulled ahead on an Evian Westbrook three-pointer with 5:30 remaining. 

As pleased as Mark Byington is with James Madison becoming accustomed to winning games on short notice, he’d surely prefer if it ceased to be a thing no later than the end of this season.

Picking a potential league Cinderella is challenging enough even prior to seasons that aren’t played against the backdrop of a global pandemic. 

Each week, the Big East’s representation in the AP Top 25 has remained mostly static. Yes, [team:Connecticut] and [team:DePaul] have moved up and down a spot here or there, but there has been no major movement from either team and no signals that another conference team can break into the poll.