The Sweet 16 is set for the 2026 men’s NCAA tournament after an intense opening weekend of action. Favorites largely ruled the day in the opening two rounds, but there were some pretty significant upsets.
In the West region, No. 11 Texas sent No. 3 Gonzaga packing after downing No. 6 BYU in the opening round. Sean Miller’s squad will have a chance at another upset in the Sweet 16 against the No. 2 seed, Purdue.
The biggest shocker of the weekend came in the South region, where No. 9 Iowa took down the defending national champions, No. 1 Florida, in the second round. Iowa’s first-year coach Ben McCollum got his Hawkeyes to top Clemson 67-61 in the opening-round, then they beat the Gators 73-72 thanks to a three-pointer from Alvaro Folgueiras with 4.5 seconds remaining. Iowa will face Big Ten rival No. 4 Nebraska in the Sweet 16. The two split their two meetings this season.
In a final game of note, No. 5 St. John’s beat No. 4 Kansas in the East region. After the game, Jayhawks coach Bill Self was noncommittal about his future. The game set up a chance for Rick Pitino’s Red Storm to face No. 1 overall seed Duke in the Sweet 16.
The full schedule for the Sweet 16 is below, including times and broadcast details.
Thursday, March 26
- No. 11 Texas vs. No. 2 Purdue, 7:10 p.m. ET | CBS (Brian Anderson, Jim Jackson, Allie LaForce) | San Jose
- No. 9 Iowa vs. No. 4 Nebraska, 7:30 p.m. ET | TBS/truTV (Kevin Harlan, Robbie Hummel, Stan Van Gundy, Lauren Shehadi) | Houston
- No. 4 Arkansas vs. No. 1 Arizona, 9:45 p.m. ET | CBS (Anderson, Jackson, LaForce) | San Jose
- No. 3 Illinois vs. No. 2 Houston, 10:05 p.m. ET | TBS/truTV (Harlan, Hummel, Van Gundy, Shehadi) | Houston
Friday, March 27
- No. 5 St. John’s vs. No. 1 Duke, 7:10 p.m. ET | CBS (Ian Eagle, Bill Raftery, Grant Hill, Tracy Wolfson) | Washington, D.C.
- No. 5 Alabama vs. No. 1 Michigan, 7: 35 p.m. ET | TBS/truTV (Andrew Catalon, Steve Lappas, Evan Washburn) | Chicago
- No. 2 UConn vs. No. 3 Michigan State, 9:45 p.m. ET | CBS (Eagle, Raftery, Hill, Wolfson) | Washington, D.C.
- No. 6 Tennessee vs. No. 2 Iowa State, 10:10 p.m. ET | TBS/truTV (Catalon/Lappas/Washburn) | Chicago
More March Madness From Sports Illustrated
- Florida’s Todd Golden Was Confused Why Refs Didn’t Eject Iowa Hero for Throwing Punch
- Inside Florida’s Late-Game Gamble and How It Backfired to End Repeat Title Hopes
- ‘Bells’ at the Buzzer: How Dylan Darling Delivered a March Madness Miracle for St. John’s
- Iowa’s Alvaro Folgueiras Shared Sweet Moment With His Mom After Game-Winning Shot
This article was originally published on www.si.com as March Madness 2026: Game Times, TV Channels for Sweet 16 of the Men’s NCAA Tournament.
