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March Madness 2026: Game Times, TV Channels for Sweet 16 of the Men’s NCAA Tournament

The Sweet 16 is set, as the madness will continue on Thursday.
Cameron Boozer and the Duke Blue Devils will face the St. John’s Red Storm in the Sweet 16.
Cameron Boozer and the Duke Blue Devils will face the St. John’s Red Storm in the Sweet 16. | Ken Ruinard / USA Today Network South Carolina / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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


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Ryan Phillips
RYAN PHILLIPS

Ryan Phillips is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in digital media since 2009, spending eight years at The Big Lead before joining SI in 2024. Phillips also co-hosts The Assembly Call Podcast about Indiana Hoosiers basketball and previously worked at Bleacher Report. He is a proud San Diego native and a graduate of Indiana University’s journalism program.

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