The men’s Sweet 16 begins on Thursday as the first four spots in the Elite Eight will be booked. The winners of Thursday’s NCAA tournament games will play Saturday evening for the chance to go to the Final Four.
Three of the four No. 1 seeds made it through opening weekend. No. 9 Iowa knocked off the other one, Florida, in the biggest upset of the tournament. The Hawkeyes now take on Nebraska, with Illinois and Houston waiting on the other side of the bracket.
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The other unlikely Sweet 16 entrant is No. 11 Texas, which made it through from the First Four and into the second weekend after wins over NC State, BYU and Gonzaga. The Longhorns face No. 2 Purdue while No. 4 Arkansas plays No. 1 Arizona.
Follow all of Thursday’s Sweet 16 action below (all times are Eastern).
March Madness schedule, odds, channel guideLive42 updatesThu, March 26, 2026 at 4:10 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
Thu, March 26, 2026 at 6:05 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
This has been an ugly second half and it just got uglier as Heide has now fouled out of the game with 5 minutes left.
Thu, March 26, 2026 at 6:02 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
Now there are two Longhorns in foul trouble with 6 minutes left, but Sean Miller has decided to bring his big man back into the game.
Purdue’s Oscar Cluff also picked up a fourth foul.
Thu, March 26, 2026 at 6:00 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
We’re just inside the 7-minute mark of a replay-heavy second half and it’s still a nailbiter. Texas has a narrow lead; when will Sean Miller bring Matas Vokietaitis back into the game?
Thu, March 26, 2026 at 5:55 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
After Iowa came back to tie it, Pryce Sandfort (16 points) and the Cornhuskers came right back with a scoring surge. Iowa has still yet to lead this game.
Nebraska leads 58-55 with 11:30 to play.
Thu, March 26, 2026 at 5:50 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
The Boilermakers and Longhorns are still locked in a tight one as the game hits the 10-minute mark.
Texas’ Tramon Mark has 24 points on 9-for-11 shooting.
Thu, March 26, 2026 at 5:48 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
Bennett Stirtz is up to 15 points and the Hawkeyes have knotted it up at 50-50 at the first media timeout of the 2nd half.
Thu, March 26, 2026 at 5:44 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
Just after getting back into the game — and scoring a basket — Texas big man Matas Vokietaitis has foul No. 4.
That’s massive.
Thu, March 26, 2026 at 5:43 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
Thu, March 26, 2026 at 5:41 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
Will we continue to see a ton of scoring in the second half? Stay tuned.
Thu, March 26, 2026 at 5:33 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
The Longhorns are back in front early in the 2nd half but Matas Vokietaitis just picked up his third foul. Purdue’s Oscar Cluff also has 3 fouls and is on the bench.
Thu, March 26, 2026 at 5:29 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
While the usual stars, Iowa’s Bennett Stirtz (10 points) and Nebraska’s Pryce Sandfort (11 points), are getting it done, the benches are stepping up for both squads.
Iowa’s bench is outscoring Nebraska’s 22-13.
Tate Sage is leading that effort with 11 points for the Hawkeyes, while Braden Frager has 9 for the Huskers.
Thu, March 26, 2026 at 5:27 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
Purdue’s Trey Kaufman-Renn and Texas’ Camden Heide got into it early in the second half, falling to the floor awkwardly. They’ve both been given flagrant fouls for the incident.
Thu, March 26, 2026 at 5:24 PM PDT
Ben Fawkes
Despite giving up a 3 at the buzzer, Nebraska heads into halftime with a 46-43 lead and covers the first-half number of Nebraska -0.5.
The game flies over the first-half total of 60.5 and is well ahead of pace to go over the full-game total of 131.5.
Thu, March 26, 2026 at 5:23 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
We are underway in the second half of the Texas-Purdue game and there’s an early stoppage in play as the refs review a foul call.
Thu, March 26, 2026 at 5:19 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
Tate Sage drilled a 3 at the half buzzer to get Iowa within 3. We’ve got a ballgame in Houston!
Thu, March 26, 2026 at 5:12 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
Nebraska has been in control the whole way so far, but Iowa isn’t letting this game get away from it. Bennett Stirtz has 10 points to lead the Hawkeyes, who trail 40-35 late in the 1st half.
Thu, March 26, 2026 at 5:06 PM PDT
Ben Fawkes
Texas trails at the half 39-35, but does at least cover the first-half spread for Texas +4.5 backers. The game goes over the first-half total of 69.5.
Thu, March 26, 2026 at 5:04 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
With both teams shooting in the neighborhood of 60% and plenty of points on the board already, you should be feeling comfortable if you bet over 131.5 for this game.
Nebraska leads 34-24 at the 8-minute mark in the 1st half.
Thu, March 26, 2026 at 5:02 PM PDT
Nick Bromberg
The Boilermakers have a four-point lead at the half because they’re shooting 53% from the field despite being just 3-of-12 from behind the arc. Inside of it, Purdue is 14-of-20. Trey Kaufman-Renn has made all six of his shots.
Thu, March 26, 2026 at 4:59 PM PDT
Yahoo Sports Staff
The Boilermakers have a 4-point lead heading into the break. Purdue’s Fletcher Loyer has 13 points; Trey Kaufman-Renn has 12 (on 6-for-6 shooting) and 5 rebounds. Tramon Mark has 12 for Texas.