How to Watch Houston vs. Illinois in Sweet 16
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The stage is officially set for No. 2 seed Houston men's basketball's seventh straight trip to the Sweet 16, and it comes in facing No. 3 Illinois just two miles away from the UH campus at Toyota Center on Thursday, March 26 at approximately 9:05 p.m.
While the matchup is right in the Cougars' backyard, with home crowd support being considered, the matchup will be their first against a single-digit seed, and with the implications for advancement, potentially the first of two matchups in the region's host site all against Big Ten conference opponents.
The matchup will also bring entertrainment value from its freshman point guard matchup, considering Kingston Flemings, with Houston, and Keaton Wagler, with Illinois, were all part of a historic day in college basketball that featured three 40-point freshman performances, with BYU forward AJ Dybantsa included.
With the No. 1 Florida's Second Round 73-72 loss to No. 9 Iowa on March 22, the possibility of Houston's national championship game rematch may be wiped away, but the path, though not easy, to reaching a second consecutive Final Four for the first time since 1984 becomes slightly more favorable.
With the next step around the corner for the Cougars to accomplish that feat, here's additional information on how to watch their anticipated Sweet 16 matchup with the Fighting Illini on Thursday:
How to Watch
Who: No. 3 Illinois Fighting Illini (26-8) vs. No. 2 Houston Cougars (30-6)
What: 2026 NCAA Tournament South Region Sweet 16 matchup
When: Thursday, March 26 at 9:05 p.m.
Where: Toyota Center in Houston
TV/Streaming: TBS, truTV, March Madness Live app, HBO Max
TV Announcers: Kevin Harlan (Play-by-Play), Stan Van Gundy (Analyst)
Radio: KPRC 950 AM, The Varsity Network
Radio Announcer: Jeremy Branham (Play-by-Play)
Previous Matchup: The previous meeting, also in the NCAA Tournament, saw the largest margin of victory in the all-time series for either programs. As a No. 5 seed in the South Region, Houston listed three double-figure scorers, including graduate guard Taze Moore's 21 points, to take down No. 4 Illinois 68-53 in the 2022 Second Round on March 20 at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.
The matchup also ended the season of consensus first-team All-American junior center Kofi Cockburn for Illinois, whose 19-point, eight-rebound performance could not outlast the Cougars by contest's end.
Series History: In six all-time meetings dating back to Houston's 54-46 win over Illinois on Dec. 9, 1967, both programs are deadlocked in the series at 3-3. The scoring average between both programs in the series sit slightly above 73 points per game.
Michael Carrara is a staff writer for Houston Cougars on SI. He attends the University of Houston, where he is a journalism major and a marketing minor. He is also a sports writer and reporter for the Daily Cougar, having covered baseball as an NCBWA member. You can find Michael on all major social media channels, including X on @michaelcoalec.