Mar 30, 2026
3 min read
The game was the 21st in the 2026 NCAA Tournament with a win of 20 points or more.
Michigan's Elite Eight game at Tennessee contributed to a men's NCAA Tournament record
If you thought there were a lot of blowouts in the 2026 NCAA Men's Tournament, you're onto something.
Michigan's 95-62 win over Tennessee in the Elite Eight on Sunday was the 21st game by 20 or more points this March Madness.According to CBS Sports, this is the modern tournament record.The previous record was 19 games with 20 points in 1999 before Arizona beat Arkansas by 21 points in Thursday's Sweet 16.
The number of blowouts represents how well the favored team performed throughout the tournament. The betting favorites went 16-0 on the second day of the first round, No. 1 Florida lost in the second round and No. 2 Houston was eliminated in the Sweet 16, but there will be at least two No. 1 seeds in the Final Four and the lowest-seeded team will be the No. 3Illinois.
A big margin doesn't automatically mean it was a bad contest. There were plenty of dramatic moments, like Otega Oweh's half-court shot to force overtime in Kentucky'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 game-winning layup against St. John'sKansas in the second round.
The 1999 tournament was also unforgettable.Gonzaga burst onto the college basketball scene with a second round win over No. 2 Stanford and a dramatic Sweet 16 victory over No. 6 Florida as a No. 10 seed. The Zags' run ended in the Elite Eight, when they fell to No. 1 UConn.The Huskies won the national title with a 77-74 win over Duke despite being outscored by 9.5 points.
