{"id":672821,"date":"2026-03-22T15:52:49","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T15:52:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/672821\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T15:52:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T15:52:49","slug":"breaking-down-best-march-madness-2026-games-today-sundays-top-contests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/672821\/","title":{"rendered":"Breaking down best March Madness 2026 games today: Sunday\u2019s top contests"},"content":{"rendered":"

A look at the key March Madness 2026 games to watch Sunday:<\/p>\n

7 Miami (Fla.) vs. 2 Purdue<\/p>\n

12:10 p.m., CBS<\/p>\n

The Boilermakers, who lost in the title game two years ago, have a chance to make a third consecutive Sweet 16 with a win against the Hurricanes. <\/p>\n

\"BradenBraden Smith eff Curry-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

It would only be fitting if that happens for Braden Smith (25 points in the first round) and Purdue, which opened as the preseason No. 1. <\/p>\n

But Miami eliminated Missouri behind 24 points from Malik Reneau \u2014 and has remained one of the best turnaround stories this season.<\/p>\n

7 Kentucky vs. 2 Iowa State<\/p>\n

2:45 p.m., CBS<\/p>\n

Otega Oweh\u2019s buzzer-beating heave to force overtime against Santa Clara will make a cameo in \u201cOne Shining Moment,\u201d but the Wildcats must now avoid a hangover. The status of Joshua Jefferson, the Cyclones star who exited with a sprained left ankle, looms over an Iowa State team capable of making a deep run with him in the lineup.<\/p>\n

6 Tennessee vs. 3 Virginia<\/p>\n

6:10 p.m., TNT<\/p>\n

If the Volunteers reach the Sweet 16, it will mark their fourth consecutive second-weekend appearance under Rick Barnes. Ja\u2019Kobi Gillespie looked like a March Madness star with 29 points as Tennessee knocked out Miami (Ohio) before it could become a true Cinderella. <\/p>\n

The Cavaliers are trying to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time since Tony Bennett\u2019s retirement, and Jacari White\u2019s 26 points off the bench saved them against Wright State.<\/p>\n

\"TennesseeTennessee head coach Rick Barnes Getty Images<\/p>\n

9 Utah State vs. 1 Arizona<\/p>\n

7:50 p.m., truTV<\/p>\n

The vibes were great during Utah State\u2019s tournament-opening win against Villanova \u2014 and if Kevin Willard fires his staff, blame the Aggies. But now comes a daunting task against Arizona, which remains a title contender behind Brayden Burries and Koa Peat. <\/p>\n

What happens when the best offense in the Mountain West collides with the best offense in the Big 12?<\/p>\n

7 UCLA vs. 2 UConn<\/p>\n

8:45 p.m., TNT<\/p>\n

The most entertaining part of this showdown might be monitoring which animated coach \u2014 the Bruins\u2019 Mick Cronin or the Huskies\u2019 Dan Hurley \u2014 gets a technical foul first. Beyond that, UCLA must figure out how to stop center Tarris Reed Jr., who collected 31 points and an astonishing 27 rebounds Friday.<\/p>\n

5 Texas Tech vs. 4 Alabama<\/p>\n

9:45 p.m., TBS<\/p>\n

Alabama survived an upset bid by Hofstra without star Aden Holloway. Can Alabama reach the second weekend without him? <\/p>\n

Without JT Toppin after he tore his ACL, the Red Raiders avoided the 5-12 trap as four starters recorded at least 14 points and Josiah Moseley led everyone with a career-high 26 off the bench.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A look at the key March Madness 2026 games to watch Sunday: 7 Miami (Fla.) vs. 2 Purdue…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":672822,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3723],"tags":[7,217,7456,84489,231,772,1400,1544,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-672821","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-basketball","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-college-basketball","10":"tag-march-madness","11":"tag-march-madness-2026","12":"tag-ncaa","13":"tag-ncaa-basketball","14":"tag-ncaa-tournament","15":"tag-ncaab","16":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116273638491993779","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=672821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672821\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/672822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=672821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=672821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=672821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}