Let the madness continue!
March Madness restarts this week when the NCAA Tournament switches to regional sites for the Sweet 16 and the Elite Eight.
Four lower seeds made it to the round of 16, one in each region: 11th-seeded Texas in the West, No. 9 seed Iowa in the South, sixth-seeded Tennessee in the Midwest and No. 5 seed St. John's in the East.
Three of the No. 1 seeds — Duke, Michigan and Arizona — advanced. Iowa upset defending national champion
and fellow No. 1 seed Florida in Tampa, Florida.
The tournament never disappoints, and the Hawkeyes were just one of several teams with dramatic wins in the first two rounds. St. John's over Kansas, Kentucky over Santa Clara and Nebraska over Vanderbilt are sure to resonate for days, weeks, maybe even years.
If you like the tourney at 68 teams, enjoy the moment! Discussions continue on whether to expand the field by at least four teams and possibly more. And keep an eye out for the NCAA punishing teams that fail to provide player availability reports. Fines begin at $10,000.
According to BetMGM Sportsbook, Michigan (plus-300) is now a slight favorite to win the national championship over Arizona (plus-325) and Duke (plus-425).
Last year's national runner-up, Houston, is plus-700. UConn, which won back-to-back national titles in 2023 and 2024, is plus-2,500.
Food for thought: Michigan State in 2000 was the last Big Ten team to win the national championship, which was played that year in Indianapolis, the site of this year’s Final Four. But remember: Three of Duke’s five national championships (1991, 2010 and 2015) were won in Indianapolis while Arizona captured its only national title in Indy in 1997.
No. 4 seed Nebraska vs. No. 9 seed Iowa on Thursday in the South Region. The Cornhuskers and the Hawkeyes were on the winning side of nail-biters against Southeastern Conference teams in the second round, with Nebraska surviving Vanderbilt and Iowa stunning Florida. They tip before last year's runner-up, No. 2 seed Houston, essentially gets a home game against No. 3 seed Illinois.
No. 1 seed Arizona and No. 4 seed Arkansas on Thursday in the West Region features two of the nation's top freshmen — forward Koa Peat for the Wildcats and point guard Darius Acuff Jr. for the Razorbacks. Acuff has 60 points and 13 assists in two NCAA tourney games. Arizona has won 11 in a row, with Peat totaling 29 points and 17 rebounds in the tournament. The other game pits No. 2 Purdue and all-everything point guard Braden Smith against No. 11 Texas and fabulous freshman Dailyn Swain.
Top-seeded Duke vs. No. 5 seed St. John's on Friday in the East Region will get a ton of attention, with the Boozer twins on one bench and Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino on the other. The late game features No. 2 seed UConn and third-seeded Michigan State.
No. 2 seed Iowa State vs. sixth-seeded Tennessee on Friday in the Midwest Region could be a physical affair. The Cyclones pummeled Kentucky, forcing 20 turnovers, and now face another SEC team, Tennessee, that ranks second in the nation in rebounding margin. The other game in the Midwest pits No. 1 seed Michigan against No. 4 seed Alabama.
Every game of the men’s tournament will be aired and here is the schedule. Games will be telecast either on CBS, TBS, TNT or TruTV and their digital platforms, including Paramount+. TBS will broadcast the Final Four and national title game this year. The NCAA also will stream games via its March Madness Live option.
The 31 conference tourney winners received automatic bids into the field. Twelve selection committee members chose the remaining 37 at-large teams, leaving some of the missing teams miffed as usual.
First- and second-round games were played in Buffalo, New York; Greenville, South Carolina; Portland, Oregon; Oklahoma City; Philadelphia; San Diego; St. Louis; and Tampa, Florida. Sweet 16 games will be played in Houston (South), Washington (East), Chicago (Midwest) and San Jose, California (West).
The Final Four is Saturday, April 4, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, with the title game the night of Monday, April 6, at 8:30 p.m. Eastern.
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AP March Madness: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
