Sweet 16 set
The NCAA tournament’s Sweet 16 field is locked in after a weekend of buzzer-beaters and upsets — the regional round tips off Thursday, March 26. Six Big Ten teams made the cut and experts are already re-ranking the remaining contenders for championship potential. (jsonline.com) (ncaa.com)
Thursday’s Sweet 16 slate opens with (2) Purdue vs. (11) Texas at 7:10 p.m. ET on CBS, followed by (4) Nebraska vs. (9) Iowa at 7:30 p.m. ET on TBS, then (1) Arizona vs. (4) Arkansas at 9:45 p.m. ET on CBS and (2) Houston vs. (3) Illinois at 10:05 p.m. ET on TBS. (ncaa.com) Friday’s pairings send (1) Duke into a 7:10 p.m. ET CBS tip against (5) St. John’s, (1) Michigan meets (4) Alabama at 7:35 p.m. ET on TBS, (2) UConn faces (3) Michigan State at 9:45 p.m. ET on CBS, and (2) Iowa State plays (6) Tennessee at 10:10 p.m. ET on TBS. (ncaa.com) The Big Ten advanced a conference-record six teams — Michigan (No. 1), Purdue (No. 2), Illinois (No. 3), Michigan State (No. 3), Nebraska (No. 4) and Iowa (No. 9) — to the Sweet 16, the most the league has ever sent to the third weekend. (bigten.org) No. 9 Iowa eliminated defending champion and No. 1 seed Florida 73-72 on a 22-foot go-ahead 3 by Alvaro Folgueiras with 4.5 seconds left. (espn.com) No. 11 Texas became the lowest seed left after beating No. 3 Gonzaga 74-68 — a win that capped a First Four-to-Sweet-16 run when Camden Heide hit the late dagger 3. (espn.com) ESPN’s post–Round of 32 re-ranking puts Arizona and Michigan at the top of its Sweet 16 list while noting Texas as the tournament’s closest thing to a Cinderella; the ESPN piece breaks down why those teams are ranked where they are. (espn.com) Betting markets shifted after the weekend, with Michigan and Duke listed among the favorites and DraftKings/Covers showing Michigan near the top of title odds entering the second weekend. (covers.com)
