Jerome Tan resigned from Kansas State basketball after loss at Cincinnati
Jerome Tan resigned from the team following Kansas State’s 91-62 loss to Cincinnati on Wednesday, February 11, 2026, at Bramlage Coliseum.
With less than four weeks to go until Sunday’s selection, some teams thought wearing the Rock in the March Madness preseason would gather dust on their dancing shoes.
There have been surprises for teams like Miami (Ohio), St. Louis, Clemson and Virginia, but many men’s basketball teams have been in big trouble this season.
Here are 10 schools that disappointed this year, including schools that are already looking for new coaches and a few blue bloods that have fans worried.
Oregon
The Ducks, who were ranked just outside the preseason coaches poll (receiving the second-most votes outside of the top 25), have been a disaster this season. Losing All-Big Ten guard Jackson Kjerstad to a season-ending injury didn’t help, but Oregon was already just 6-6 by the time he went down.
The Ducks (9-16, 2-12) finally ended their losing streak at 10 by defeating last-place Penn State on February 14th.
“The players felt it,” coach Dana Altman said. “It’s certainly been a long six weeks for them, if not longer than for our staff.”
Altman had won at least 20 games in each of his past 15 seasons in Eugene, but the Ducks are coming off their worst season since going 8-23 in coach Ernie Kent’s penultimate season in 2008-09.
baylor
I don’t think many people will shed tears for the Bears. Baylor shocked the nation by starting the season 10-2 and then adding a former NBA draft pick to its roster.
Since the addition of 2023 draft pick James Nagy, Baylor is 3-9 and sits at the bottom of the Big 12 standings.
The Bears received 13 votes in the preseason Top 25, but are 13-12, suffering their first losing season since 2006-07.
Baylor has won at least one game in each of the past six NCAA tournaments. This March, they will be lucky to play in the NIT or Crown.
For comparison, Nnaji is averaging 1.7 points and 2.8 rebounds per game.
clayton
The Blue Jays were ranked 23rd in the USA TODAY Coaches preseason poll and were picked to finish third in the Big East. That won’t happen. Unless Creighton (13-13, 7-8) wins the Big East Tournament, it will miss the NCAA Tournament for the first time in six seasons.
Creighton is in danger of having its first losing season since going 14-19 in 2014-15, its second season in the Big East. The Blue Jays have lost five of their past six games, and will next take on No. 5 University College and No. 17 St. John’s.
Kansas
Kansas State was selected with the No. 9 pick in the Big 12 and was voted inside the preseason top 25. So expectations weren’t necessarily skyrocketing going into the season, but nothing else. this.
Fans wear brown paper bags over their heads during games, and coach Jerome Tan said they will do the same. After losing their third straight home game on Feb. 11 by at least 24 points, Tan dismissed his team, saying, “They don’t deserve to be here.”
“These players don’t deserve to wear this uniform, and very few will wear this uniform next year. It’s embarrassing for the university, it’s embarrassing for the fans, it’s embarrassing for the student body. It’s just ridiculous.”
The Wildcats (10-15, 1-11) are in the midst of consecutive losing seasons, and the school balked at Tan’s $18.6 million buyout and waived him on Sunday, Feb. 15.
University of California Los Angeles
UCLA, ranked 12th in the preseason coaches poll, became a dark horse team in the Final Four with the addition of 20-point scorer Donovan Dent from New Mexico State. But Dent did about what the reigning Mountain West Player of the Year did at the rim, shooting just 18.6 percent from behind the arc.
The Bruins’ record looks good (17-8, 9-5 in the Big Ten), but only one win really stands out (a 69-67 win over Purdue on Jan. 21). All of UCLA’s other conference wins have come against lower-ranked teams in the Big Ten, and the Bruins are 2-6 in Quad 1 play.
The most interesting part of UCLA’s season was veteran coach Mick Cronin’s postgame rants as he didn’t seem to like his team very much. It didn’t help that they were down by 30 points to Michigan in their last game.
kentucky
The Wildcats started the season ninth in the coaches’ poll and currently sit outside the top 25 in the rankings.
A 5-7 record against Quad 1 teams will do that.
Mark Pope had a pretty heated start to the season, suffering a big non-conference loss. They lost to in-state rival Louisville by 28 points, Michigan State by 17 points, and Gonzaga by 35 points.
Things have improved since then, but a $22 million roster should yield bigger results, as Florida coach Todd Golden scolded after the Gators’ win over the Wildcats on Feb. 14.
Kentucky (17-8, 8-4) has a favorable final stretch with two games remaining against ranked teams at Rupp Arena. But if we lose them, the Big Blue Nation is waiting for no one. Not even an alum.
virgin
The seat is warmed up under Micah Shrewsbury, and the Irish will head into a third consecutive losing season with him on the bench.
The Fighting Irish (12-14, 3-10), who were picked eighth in the ACC poll, were expected to compete for a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
Instead, Notre Dame ranks 15th in the 18-team league with just two wins since the calendar changed to 2026, with a combined 3-12 record in games one and two.
Notre Dame’s only relevant moment this season came after a loss to the University of California on Jan. 2, when Shrewsbury nearly assaulted a referee.
Mike Brey built an underrated and consistent program in South Bend that made it to the NCAA Tournament 12 times in 23 years. If the Irish finish this season with a loss, it will be the first time in more than 100 years that Notre Dame has lost four consecutive seasons (the last six consecutive losing seasons were from 1917-23).
providence
Kim English’s tenure in Providence could be on borrowed time. The Flyers (11-15, 4-11), picked to finish fourth in the Big East, sit at the bottom of the conference along with Marquette. Providence had to replace five of last season’s six leading scorers, including Brycen Hopkins, who transferred to St. John’s. If you’re looking for a bright spot, Providence’s four losses came in overtime, but that’s just grasping at straws.
The low point came on February 14 against St. John’s when Duncan Powell played dirty with a hard foul on Hopkins, resulting in a brawl and six ejections. What’s worse is Mr. Powell’s haircut. IYKYK.
market
How about more Big East waste?
Marquette has appeared in the NCAA Tournament in each of Shaka Smart’s four seasons in Milwaukee. This year is different.
You knew this was going to be a tough year when a rebuilt Indiana team defeated Marquette by 23 points in the third game of the season. The Golden Eagles (9-17, 4-11) suffered nonconference losses to fellow strugglers Maryland (10-14) and Oklahoma State (13-12).
Marquette, picked fifth in the Big East, is at the bottom of the league standings and is 0-9 against Quad 1 teams, the most losses in program history (21 losses in 1963-64, the season before Al McGuire arrived).
Ole Miss
Ole Miss, which just appeared in the Sweet 16 last season, was expected to be a bubble team at worst this year.
The Rebels (11-14, 3-9) have lost seven straight, most recently losing by double digits at home to in-state rival Mississippi State.
Ole Miss is 1-10 against Quad 1 teams and is dealing with a major setback in Chris Beard’s third season.
Others under consideration: Alabama, Boise State, Princeton, Tennessee
