Michigan's Elite Eight rout of Tennessee added to a men's NCAA tournament record number of blowouts
The game was the 21st of the 2026 NCAA tournament with a winning margin of 20 points or more.
If you thought there had been a lot of blowouts in the 2026 men’s NCAA tournament , you’re onto something. Michigan’s 95-62 win over Tennessee in the Elite Eight on Sunday was the 21st game with a margin of 20 points or more this March Madness. That’s a modern tournament record, according to CBS Sports.
The previous record had been 19 20-point games in 1999 before Arizona beat Arkansas by 21 points in the Sweet 16 on Thursday. The number of blowouts jives with how well favorites have done throughout the tournament. Betting favorites went 16-0 in the second day of the first round, and though No.
1 Florida lost in the second round and No. 2 Houston fell in Houston in the Sweet 16, the Final Four will feature at least two No. 1 seeds and the lowest-seeded team is No.
3 Illinois. The big margins don’t automatically mean it’s been a bad tournament, either. There have been plenty of dramatic moments, like Otega Oweh’s near-halfcourt shot to force overtime in Kentuck’s win over Santa Clara, Trey Kaufman-Renn’s tip-in with less than a second left in Purdue’s Sweet 16 win over Texas, and Dylan Darling’s buzzer-beating layup in St.