It’s March, which means madness ensues on the college basketball court. 

Sometimes, that madness is due to some brutal blunders that result in agonizing losses.

That’s exactly what occurred in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference men’s basketball tournament final on Saturday, as South Carolina State’s Caleb McCarty appeared to make a game-saving play when he stole an inbounds pass and tied the game at 65 apiece against Norfolk State. 

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However, McCarty’s heroic moment quickly turned sour when he didn’t seem to realize what the score was at the time of the next inbounds play. 

With 10.6 seconds left to play, McCarty chased down Norfolk State’s Christian Ings and intentionally fouled him. McCarty’s teammates were in shock, throwing their arms in the air as Ings got to go to the free-throw line to get two free shots to take the lead once more. 

Ings ended up hitting just one of those two free throws with 8.9 seconds left to play, though South Carolina State had one more chance at a bucket to rectify the mistaken foul. 

But the last shot at the buzzer missed, and Norfolk State celebrated their trip to the NCAA Tournament as the MEAC champions. Meanwhile, South Carolina State couldn’t have been more heartbroken. 

South Carolina State guard Eric Eaves dribbles against the University of Miami Hurricanes on Dec. 6, 2016, at Watsco Center, Coral Gables, Florida. (Richard C. Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

McCarty finished the game with four points and two rebounds, playing 19 minutes off the bench for the Bulldogs. 

The Bulldogs were up 34-25 at halftime as well, but were outscored 41-31 in the second half as the Spartans made a comeback. 

South Carolina State’s Wilson Dubinsky was the leading scorer in this game with 24 points, while tallying two rebounds and three assists as well. 

South Carolina State Bulldogs forward Caleb McCarty dunks the ball against the Xavier Musketeers at Cintas Center. (Aaron Doster-Imagn Images)

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For Norfolk State, Ings led the way with 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

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For the first time in a long time, there are at least a half-dozen teams across the country that could legitimately win the women’s NCAA Tournament.

Defending champion South Carolina leads the way once again in March Madness. Unlike last season, when the Gamecocks finished off an undefeated season with a national title, this group has three losses heading into the NCAAs. One came early in the year to UCLA, which only lost twice this season — both to crosstown rival Southern California and star guard JuJu Watkins in the regular season. UCLA topped the Trojans for the Big Ten title.

Notre Dame, Texas and UConn also have a good shot at winning the national championship. South Carolina is a slight favorite over UConn to repeat, according to BetMGM Sportsbook going into the weekend.

All six teams’ chances could come down to where they fall in the bracket that the NCAA will reveal Sunday night.

The path for all won’t be easy: This year there’s more parity in the sport. This NCAA Tournament will be only the second one in the past 19 years to have no teams entering March Madness with zero or one loss. The other time was in 2022.

Payout time

For the first time in NCAA history, there will be a financial incentive for women’s teams. They will finally paid for playing games in the NCAA Tournament just like the men have for years.

So-called performance units, which represent revenue, will be given to women’s teams for each win they get. A team that reaches the Final Four could bring its conference roughly $1.26 million over the next three years in financial performance rewards.

This comes a year after the women’s championship game that saw South Carolina beat Caitlin Clark and Iowa do better TV ratings then the men’s title game.

Tournament sites

The top 16 seeds in the 68-team field will host first- and second-round games, with the regional rounds being played at two neutral sites for the third straight year. Spokane, Washington, will host half of the Sweet 16 and Birmingham, Alabama, will host the other eight teams.

The Final Four will be played in Tampa, Florida, on April 4, and the championship game is two days later.

Tournament tidbits

One team that wasn’t expected to make the field is Stanford, which would end the Cardinal’s 36-year streak of playing in the NCAA Tournament. It would be the first time since 1987 that Stanford hasn’t played in the NCAAs.

While that streak is likely to end, Tennessee will continue its NCAA Tournament run of appearing every year in the field since the first NCAA Tournament in 1982.

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South Carolina State lost out on the MEAC’s automatic NCAA tournament bid in heartbreaking fashion on Saturday when Caleb McCarty committed a reach-in foul on Norfolk State’s Christian Ings with eight seconds remaining in regulation.

McCarty had just tied the game at 65-65 on a layup, catching a ricochet after Jayden Johnson tipped the ball for a steal.

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Apparently forgetting or not realizing that it was a tied ballgame, McCarty then reached in to foul Ings as he advanced the ball up court, as if South Carolina State had to send Norfolk State to the foul line to stop the clock and hopefully get the ball back for a chance to tie or win.

However, since the score was tied, Ings got two free throws and made one of two for a 66-65 lead. Drayton Jones got the rebound on Ings’ miss, setting up Johnson for a last shot, but he missed at the buzzer. As a result, the Spartans won the MEAC’s automatic bid with the 66-65 win.

Ings led Norfolk St. with 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Brian Moore Jr. followed by 16 points and also grabbed seven boards with two steals. The Spartans finish 24-10 and 11-3 in the MEAC as they wait to see where and who they will play in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2022.

For the Bulldogs, who led 34-25 at halftime, Wilson Dubinsky scored a game-high 24 points, knocking down all five of his 3-point attempts. Omar Croskey was the only other South Carolina State player in double figures, tallying 10 points.

South Carolina State finished with a 20-13 mark, 11-3 in the MEAC. Its 22-year NCAA tournament drought continues.