The mantra of March Madness is “survive and advance,” but the Kansas Jayhawks did more than that in their 32-point win over Purdue last night. Here in Lawrence, we’re waiting for tomorrow night’s Elite Eight showdown with Oregon. And since waiting is always better with some good reading material, it’s time for the SmallGovCon Week In Review.

In this week’s edition, a look at how President Trump’s proposed military budget will impact customers, a contractor agrees to a whopping $45 million payout to settle allegations of overcharging the government, the Army contends that protests are “nearly automatic,” and much more.

• President Trump is requesting a big boost to military spending in the FY 2018 budget request blueprint, but not all contractors will win. [Bloomberg Government]
• After a long-lasting legal dispute between an IT contractor and the federal government, the contractor has agreed to pay $45 million to settle allegations that it overcharged and provided false pricing information to the government. [Nextgov]
• The National Park Service concessions program is making changes based on recommendations from the GAO, but challenges remain. [U.S. Government Accountability Office]
• Federal contractors are driving a trend of specialization to reposition themselves in the market so they can compete less on price and more on the value of particular skills and knowledge. [National Defense]
• High-ranking U.S. Army officials contend that protests are “nearly automatic” and are asking industry to reconsider its approach. (My take: with only 2,789 GAO bid protests filed in FY 2016–across all procurements by all federal agencies–I’m sensing a wee bit of exaggeration on the part of the Army). [DefenseNews]
• A possible bright spot for contractors asking how to maintain market share could be GWACs and IDIQs. [Washington Technology]
• According to government contracting guru Larry Allen, contractors should look forward to more activity in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year. [Federal News Radio]