The first weekend of the 2026 NCAA Tournament is in the books, and the field has shrunk from 68 to 16. The SEC led all leagues in bids with ten, and four of them are still around, making up a quarter of the Sweet 16.
Alabama pulled away from Hofstra before cruising past Texas Tech, and Arkansas rolled Hawaii before winning an epic shootout with High Point. Tennessee ran past Miami Ohio to avoid a First Four upset before knocking off a 3-seed in a 40-minute battle with Virginia.
The big surprise, however,
is the Texas Longhorns, who won 68-66 on Tuesday, 79-71 on Thursday, and 74-68 on Saturday to defeat three increasingly better-seeded opponents in close games to reach the Sweet 16 after being one of the very last at-large teams put in the field.
How much further will these four go? Will an SEC team make the Final Four? We’ll find out when the action resumes this weekend. Let’s take a look at the SEC in the Sweet 16:
The SEC in the Sweet 16:
Notes:
- Texas is the 28th 11-seed to ever make the Sweet 16. About 17% of 11’s have made it to the second weekend historically, and the Longhorns are the first to do so since NC State in 2024. Coincidentally, they defeated the Wolfpack en route to reaching this point.
- Tennessee took out another three seed with its seven-point win over Virginia. This puts them in the Sweet 16 for the fourth season in a row. Alabama also holds a four-season streak, and besides two schools, the only team with four or more Sweet 16s in a row right now is Houston, which is making its seventh straight trip.
- Darius Acuff Jr. had 24 points and 7 assists in the opening round against Hawaii, and then in the shootout with High Point, went off for 36 points and 6 more assists. The biggest shot of the night was a dagger three late in the game that put the Hogs up seven, shot with a quick release and no fear.
- The last team to reach the Sweet 16 from the First Four before Texas was UCLA in 2021, who went from the First Four to the Final Four and almost beat a 29-0 Gonzaga team to reach the title game.
- To reach the Elite Eight, Arkansas and Alabama have to go through 1-seeds Arizona and Michigan. Tennessee and Texas “only” have to go through 2-seeds Iowa State and Purdue. The entire league might be out of this tournament by Friday night, but of all those draws, Texas might honestly have the best one.
