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The top-seeded teams dominated the second round of theNCAA Tournament,with the lone double-digit seed advancing to the Sweet 16 being Texas, one of the most iconic brands in college sports.

Texasbeing a"Cinderella" in 2025-26is fitting for where men's college basketball is as a sport amid the name, image and likeness era. The lone double digit seed to reach the Sweet 16 last season was Arkansas, which is led by one of the greatest coaches ever in John Calipari and was riddled with talent.

REQUIRED READING:March Madness? More like March Blandness in as NCAA Tournament has too much chalk

No. 12 seed High Point gave its best shot at breaking that mold on Saturday, March 21, before ultimately falling to No. 4 Arkansas 94-88 in a highly competitive game. No. 11 VCU also had a chance to be the latest mid-major to reach the Sweet 16, but was dominated by No. 3 Illinois 76-55.

Only 16 teams remain, with just one weekend before the Final Four returns to Indianapolis. Here's a look at our five worst moments of the NCAA Tournament's second round in 2026:

5 worst moments of NCAA Tournament second round

Tyler Tanner misses game-winning halfcourt shot

Vanderbilt star Tyler Tannernearly made an all-time shotfor the win against No. 4 Nebraska in the second round, but the ball rimmed out after multiple bounces off the backboard and rim.

Tanner was already having a career performance, as he finished with 27 points and four assists with four steals. With 2.2 seconds he caught the inbounds pass on the opposite side of the court beforeheaving it from behind halfcourt,which barely missed and resulted in Vanderbilt's entire bench falling to their knees in disappointment.

Nebraska's Braden Frager hit a game-winning driving layup to hand his school its second-ever NCAA Tournament win and first Sweet 16 appearance. Unfortunately, one of Vanderbilt or Nebraska was headed home after one of the best second-round games in recent memory.

"We were in an inch away from being in the Sweet 16," Vandy coach Mark Byington said. "It's going to take a while for us to get over."

Florida goes home early

Florida was shocked by No. 9 seed Iowain the second round, falling 73-72 after Alvaro Folgueiras hit a game-winning 3-pointer with less than five seconds remaining. It's a brutal finish to the season for the Gators, who played their way back onto the 1-seed line after winning 16 of their last 17 regular-season games.

Florida looked like a top national championship contender, especially with its impressive frontcourt of Alex Condon, Thomas Haugh and Rueben Chinyelu. But sometimes March Madness strikes, and unfortunately it did for Florida before the first weekend came to a close.

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Iowa ended the game on a 7-3 run, which was ultimately the difference in the back-and-forth, highly competitive game.

Kentucky makes the bad kind of history

While Kentucky survived a scare against Santa Clara in the first round, it took a wild shot from Otega Oweh at the buzzer to force overtime. The Wildcats kept within distance of Iowa State in the first half of their game on March 22, before the Cyclones pulled away for a dominant 82-63 win.

Kentucky played sloppy basketballagainst Iowa State, setting a program record for most turnovers (20) in an NCAA Tournament game. The 19-point loss was also Kentucky's largest loss in a March Madness game since 1972.

Second-year coach Mark Pope is facing a pivotal offseason, especially with Oweh exhausting his eligibility.

David Punch's nose

TCU star David Punch took ashot to the face from Duke's Cameron Boozerlate in the second half of a close game on Saturday, March 21, and wasn't the same after returning to the game. Boozer was called for a Flagrant 1 on the play, although Punch was unable to shoot the free-throws as he returned to the bench with blood flowing down his face.

Punch Jr. briefly went to the locker room, missing the remainder of the first half before returning in the final 20 minutes of the game.

TCU trailed 38-34 at halftime, before falling apart and losing 81-58 to Duke to end its season. And despite coming off a 16-point, 13-rebound performance against Ohio State in the first round, he was held to four points on 1-of-10 shooting against the Blue Devils.

High Point's season comes to an end

High Point's program-best season came to an end against No. 4 Arkansas, as it fell 94-88 after winning its first-ever NCAA Tournament game in the first round. The Panthers dominated the regular season, finishing the regular season 30-4 with a Big South Conference Tournament win.

Chase Johnston became the latest March Madness legend after helping High Point to a win over Wisconsin, and Rob Martin channeled his inner-Kemba Walker with 30 points and five assists in High Point's loss to Arkansas.

High Point was putting on for mid-major programs in the NCAA Tournament and hopes to continue its momentum fresh off a respect-earning trip.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:March Madness worst moments of NCAA Round 2, including Tyler Tanner

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — President Donald Trump extended his deadline for Iran to reopen the crucial Strait of Hormuz to international shipping, saying Monday that the U.S. would hold off on threatened strikesagainst Iranian power plantsfor five days.

Iran Israel War

In his announcement on Truth Social, Trump also held out the possibility of a resolution to the war — though Iranian officials denied there were negotiations. Trump's turnaround appeared to offer something of a reprieve after rhetoric reached a fever pitch when the U.S. and Iran traded threats with potentially catastrophic repercussions for civilians across the region.

Shortly after Trump's announcement —hours before the deadline was set to expire— Iranian state television declared that the American leader had backed down "following Iran's firm warning."

The war,now in its fourth week, has already seen several dramatic turning points — the killing of Iran's supreme leader, the bombing of a key Iranian gas field, and strikes targeting oil and gas facilities and other civilian infrastructure in Gulf Arab nations. The conflict has killed more than 2,000 people,shaken the global economy, sent oil prices surging, and endangered some of the world's busiest air corridors.

The latest threatened attacks could have cut electricity to wide swaths of people in Iran and around the Gulf and knocked out desalination plants that provide many desert nations with drinking water. There are also increasing concerns about the consequences of any strikes on nuclear facilities.

Trump issued a deadline and then extended it

Trump said over the weekend that the U.S. would"obliterate" Iran's power plantsunless the country releases its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours — a deadline that would have expired late Monday Washington time.

But on Monday morning, Trump wrote on his Truth Social site that the U.S. and Iran have had "very good and productive conversations" that could yield "a complete and total resolution" in the war.

Trump added that the suspension of his threat to attack power plants was "subject to the success of the ongoing meetings and discussions."

Trump did not elaborate on the negotiations that had taken place, and the state-owned IRAN newspaper reported that Iran's Foreign Ministry denied that there have been any.

"Remarks by the U.S. president are part of efforts to reduce energy prices and buy time to implement his military plans" the newspaper said.

Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he spoke by phone with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan. Turkey has been an intermediary before in negotiations between Tehran and Washington.

President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi also said Monday that Egypt has delivered "clear messages" to Iran focusing on de-escalating the conflict, according to his office.

Iran threatened retaliation

Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard promised retaliation if Trump made good on his threat, saying Iran would hit power plants in all areas that supply electricity to American bases, "as well as the economic, industrial and energy infrastructures in which Americans have shares."

Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said Iran would consider vital infrastructure across the region to be legitimate targets, including energy anddesalination facilitiescritical for drinking water in Gulf nations.

Iran's semiofficial Fars news agency, which is close to the Revolutionary Guard, published a list of such facilities, including the United Arab Emirates' nuclear power plant. Over the weekend, Iran launched missiles targeting Dimona in Israel, near a facility key to itslong-suspected atomic weapons program. The Israeli facility wasn't damaged.

In the wake of Trump's turnaround, Fars and the Tasnim news agencies portrayed the American president as backing down.

"Since the start of the war, messages have been sent to Tehran by some mediators, but Iran's clear response has been that it will continue its defense until the required level of deterrence is achieved," Tasnim's report said. "With this kind of psychological warfare, neither the Strait of Hormuz will return to pre-war conditions nor will calm return to energy markets."

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With the U.S. deploying more amphibious assault ships andadditional Marines to the Middle East, Iran also warned against any ground attack.

"Any attempt by the enemy to target Iran's coasts or islands will, naturally and in accordance with established military practice, lead to the mining of all access routes ... in the Persian Gulf and along the coasts," Iran's Defense Council warned.

Trump has said he has no plans to send ground forces into Iran but also has said he retains all options. Israel has suggested its ground forces could take part in the war.

Oil prices have soared but dropped after Trump announcement

Iran's chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz has wreaked havoc on energy markets, pushed up prices of food and other goods well beyond the Middle East and sent shock waves throughout the global economy.

"No country will be immune to the effects of this crisis if it continues to go in this direction," said Fatih Birol, the head of the Paris-based International Energy Agency.

Oil prices were stubbornly high in early trading Monday, but plunged after Trump's announcement.

Jorge Moreira da Silva, a senior United Nations official, said the world has already seen a ripple effect, including "exponential price hikes in oil, fuel and gas" that have had a far-reaching impact on millions, primarily in Asian and African developing countries.

"There is no military solution," he said.

Israel strikes Tehran and Lebanon

Israel launched new attacks Monday on the Iranian capital, saying it had "begun a wide-scale wave of strikes" on infrastructure targets in Tehran without immediately elaborating. Explosions were heard in multiple locations in the afternoon. It wasn't immediately clear what had been hit.

The United Arab Emirates reported its air defense were attempting to intercept new incoming Iranian fire Monday afternoon.

Israel has also targeted the Iran-linked Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, while the group has fired hundreds of rockets into Israel.

In recent days, Israel has hit many apartment buildings in Beirut and bombed bridges over the Litani River in the Lebanon's south.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called the targeting of bridges "a prelude to a ground invasion," while Egypt denounced the strikes as the "collective punishment" of civilians for the actions of Hezbollah.

Authorities say Israeli strikes have killed more than 1,000 people in Lebanon and displaced more than 1 million.

Iran's death toll has surpassed 1,500, its Health Ministry has said. In Israel, 15 people have been killed by Iranian strikes. At least 13 U.S. military members have been killed, along with more than a dozen civilians in the occupied West Bank and Gulf Arab states.

Rising reported from Bangkok and Magdy from Cairo. AP writers Charlotte Graham-McLay in Wellington, New Zealand, Sally Abou AlJoud and Bassem Mroue in Beirut, and Tong-hyung Kim in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report.

LARISSA, Greece (AP) — A criminal trial opened in Greece Monday over a train collision that killed 57 people, many of them students, in a disaster that horrified the country and revealed long-neglected safety failures.

Greece Rail Disaster Trial

The February 2023 crash triggered a fireball on impact and left passengers trapped in mangled rail cars.

Most of the 36 defendants — all rail and transport officials — face serious charges linked to endangering public transport.

The crash occurred at Tempe in northern Greece after a passenger train was placed on the wrong track, into the path of an oncoming freight train — an astonishing lapse on a rudimentary rail network.

Investigators say the error was compounded by non-functioning signal systems along with failures in staffing, oversight and maintenance during years of delays in safety upgrades.

A converted campus is being used to house the trial to accommodate the scale of the proceedings that involve hundreds of witnesses. It is expected to last two years.

Riot police formed a cordon around the court as several hundred demonstrators gathered outside and victims' relatives, many dressed in black, arrived to attend the hearings.

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"Real justice would be to get our kids back. But what we are asking for now is the exemplary punishment of those responsible," said Pavlos Aslanidis, whose 27-year-old son Dimitris was killed in the crash. "It is very sad that three years later, no one has gone to jail.

The defendants include station masters on duty that night, their supervisor, former rail officials, senior transport ministry staff and former executives from the Italian-owned operator Hellenic Train.

Victims' families, many of whom have campaigned for accountability, are expected to attend throughout.

The disaster has remained a deeply emotive and politically charged issue, sparking multiple public protests and strikes, with critics accusing the conservative government of shifting all responsibility onto rail officials.

At a makeshift memorial outside parliament in Athens, the victims' names are written in red paint and surrounded by candles and flowers.

Several separate legal cases linked to the disaster are in progress, including a parliament-sanctioned probe into political accountability.

Kantouris reported from Tempe, Greece

JERUSALEM, March 23 (Reuters) - Israel said on Monday its own forces had misfired artillery that killed an Israeli farmer near the ‌Lebanese frontier, the first Israeli civilian killed in a border ‌conflict being waged in parallel with the war in Iran.

Ofer Moskovitz, 60, an avocado ​farmer in the town of Misgav Am, had spoken with Reuters just last week and said he was worried about the fighting at the border.

In a statement, Major General Rafi Milo, who heads the military's northern command, ‌said: "Moskovitz was killed by ⁠our own forces' fire during an operation whose entire purpose was to protect them."

The military had initially blamed cross-border ⁠fire from Lebanon when it first reported the incident on Sunday.

Israel has launched a major ground assault and air campaign into Lebanon to root out ​Hezbollah, a ​powerful Iran-backed militia, which fired into ​Israel in support of Tehran ‌two days after the start of the Israeli-U.S. air attacks on Iran.

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Lebanese authorities say more than a thousand people have been killed and more than a million driven from their homes in Lebanon. The death of Moskovitz was the first reported in Israel. The military says two ‌Israeli soldiers have been killed in combat.

"Every ​five minutes you can hear the bombs," ​Moskovitz told Reuters last week.

The ​military's statement said troops had opened fire to support ‌soldiers operating in southern Lebanon, but "severe ​issues and operational ​errors" had taken place.

"The artillery fire was carried out at an incorrect angle and did not follow required protocols," it said. "As a ​result, five artillery shells ‌were fired at the Misgav Am ridge instead of toward ​the enemy target."

(Reporting by Steven Scheer and Rami Ayyub; Editing ​by Toby Chopra and Peter Graff)

The Lady in Black is one of the toughest tracks to tame on the Cup Series calendar.

Looks like someone forgot to tell Tyler Reddick.

The 23XI Racing driver overcame multiple issues during the middle of the Goodyear 400 to earn his fourth win in the first six races of the 2026NASCAR Cup Seriesseason, this one by five seconds.

"Ever since I made my first lap here in an O'Reilly Auto Parts car, there's just something about this racetrack that's so special, just so challenging," Reddick said. "It's been really fun for my evolution as a driver over the years."

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Reddick started from pole position but struggled with alternator issues during the first half of the race. The No. 45 crew had to change his battery during Stage 2 to keep him going.

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If that wasn't enough, Reddick had issues with his cool suit shortly after due to the battery change. He had to get the water out of his suit during a caution period as it was too hot to serve its original purpose. He had to improvise with a bag of ice.

"All day long not running fans, sweating my tail off inside the race car and we knew it was going to be physical," Reddick said. "Really wore out but I guess I don't need as much of that cooling stuff as I normally have."

Reddick becomes just the third driver in Cup Series history to win four of the first six races of a season, joining NASCAR Hall of Fame drivers Dale Earnhardt and Bill Elliott.

"I know never to give up," he said. "I think it's very fitting that when we finally get our first win in Darlington that the Lady in Black would test us like that."

Here's an extended look at how Reddick won – and the final results from the Goodyear 400:

See victory lane celebrations with 2026 NASCAR race winners

NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington highlights

NASCAR Cup race at Darlington: Full results

Here's how the field finished the Goodyear 400:

1. (45) Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing Toyota

2. (6) Brad Keselowski, RFK Racing Ford

3. (12) Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford

4. (77) Carson Hocevar, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

5. (2) Austin Cindric, Team Penske Ford

6. (54) Ty Gibbs, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

7. (7) Daniel Suarez, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

8. (24) William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

9. (17) Chris Buescher, RFK Racing Ford

10. (43) Erik Jones, Legacy Motor Club Toyota

11. (11) Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

12. (19) Chase Briscoe, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

13. (60) Ryan Preece, RFK Racing Ford

14. (97) Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

15. (9) Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

16. (1) Ross Chastain, Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

17. (21) Josh Berry, Wood Brothers Racing Ford

18. (88) Connor Zilisch, Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

19. (20) Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

20. (71) Michael McDowell, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

21. (8) Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

22. (38) Zane Smith, Front Row Motorsports Ford

23. (34) Todd Gilliland, Front Row Motorsports Ford

24. (48) Justin Allgaier, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

25. (3) Austin Dillon, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

26. (4) Noah Gragson, Front Row Motorsports Ford

27. (42) John Hunter Nemechek, Legacy Motor Club Toyota

28. (41) Cole Custer, Haas Factory Team Chevrolet

29. (47) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., HYAK Motorsports Chevrolet

30. (16) AJ Allmendinger, Kaulig Racing Chevrolet

31. (10) Ty Dillon, Kaulig Racing Chevrolet

32. (5) Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

33. (22) Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford

34. (23) Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota

35. (35) Riley Herbst, 23XI Racing Toyota

36. (51) Cody Ware, Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet

37. (66) Timmy Hill, Garage 66 Ford

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Tyler Reddick conquers Darlington in Goodyear 400: 'So special'