2026 NCAA Tournament (Sweet 16)

Games I watched (some of): 

(11) Texas 77-79 (2) Purdue

I thought Texas was the better team for most of the game, but Purdue got late buckets and UT faltered, so the Boilermakers are moving on. Too bad for the Longhorns, this was a winnable game for them. Purdue is a nice team but I suspect this is as far as they go. 

(9) Iowa 77-71 (4) Nebraska

Nebraska got off to a hot start--and if they could've kept it going, they would've won easily. But as the game wore on, their shooting completely fell off. Iowa is gonna be a tough out: they play as a unit, they don't really rely on anyone to do anything, they're all in lockstep and as Nebraska peaked and faded, Iowa just steadily played their game and got the W.

(3) Illinois 65-55 (2) Houston

This Houston team didn't have the depth that they've had in recent years. Illinois was able to control possessions and had more offense all the way through. 

(5) St. John's 75-80 (1) Duke

The two teams were pretty even but in the final minutes, Duke had the star power and St. John's didn't. Sound simplistic but Duke made the plays in the final handful of possessions and St. John's just couldn't keep up. The first 39 minutes, though, were pretty even--maybe St. John's was even a little better. 

(4) Alabama 77-90 (1) Michigan

Back and forth all through the 1st half, even at the break. I felt like Michigan's ability to keep the scoring going would be better than Alabama's, and I was right. The Wolverines are good at every position and the depth just won out over the Tide.

(6) Tennessee 76-62 (2) Iowa State

I thought UT was just flat out better than Iowa State. Iowa State just suffered a major injury, but even still I was surprised how easy it looked for the Vols to control the match. 

The ones I missed: 

(4) Arkansas 88-109 (1) Arizona

I missed this one though it felt like the marquee match of the round. Arizona held the lead pretty much throughout and steadily piled on after halftime. This Arkansas team was nice, felt like they had everything they needed but never really took command in any way. Arizona is one of those casually good teams that might be staggeringly better than everyone else or they may get stomped in the next match--hard to tell.

(3) Michigan State 63-67 (2) Connecticut

UConn jumped out to an early lead, seemed like the whole rest of the game was Michigan State chipping away. chipping away, but then coming up just short. The Spartans are a nice defensive squad, but their offense was always kinda suspect and when they got behind early, it didn't feel like they would make up the gap. I don't get this UConn squad, I can't tell if they're any good or not.