The 2026 NCAA Basketball Tournament resumes this Friday, March 27 with the Sweet 16, and for many, this is when the competition really gets good. Aside from a couple of lower-seeded teams that may still be dancing, the Sweet 16 typically pits higher seeds against one another, meaning there will be no shortage of must-see matchups.<\/p>\n
In anticipation of the action, let\u2019s run through a few of those matchups, highlighting players to watch, team strengths and weaknesses, and other storylines to follow.<\/p>\n
Will Mikayla Blakes or Hannah Hidalgo lead her team to Sweet 16 victory?<\/p>\n
Vanderbilt\u2019s Mikayla Blakes has racked up 1,661 points during her collegiate career\u2014the fourth-most all-time by any Division I player during their first two seasons\u2014and she\u2019s hungry for more. Blakes, who led the country in scoring this season at 27 points per game, has demolished her NCAA Tournament competition thus far, dropping a total of 55 points against High Point and Illinois.<\/p>\n
On Friday, Blakes will face her toughest assignment yet in Hannah Hidalgo.<\/p>\n
Hidalgo powered the No. 6-seed Notre Dame Fighting Irish over the No. 3-seed Ohio State Buckeyes with a hefty stat line\u201423 points, 13 rebounds and eight steals\u2014and the Irish will once again be depending on her against the higher-seeded Commodores. Hidalgo is perhaps the nation\u2019s peskiest perimeter defender, and she\u2019s undoubtedly its most prolific thief: She leads Division I in steals per game by a country mile at 5.6, and she plays a huge role in igniting Notre Dame\u2019s transition offense with her defensive playmaking.<\/p>\n
Needless to say, both Blakes and Hidalgo are incredibly important to their respective teams, and much of Friday\u2019s game between Vanderbilt and Notre Dame will be decided by which star guard wins the individual matchup.<\/p>\n
Who will have the upper hand: Blakes or Hidalgo? Or, will someone from the Commodore or Irish supporting cast step up on the Sweet 16 stage?<\/p>\n
Can Duke\u2019s defense slow down LSU\u2019s offense?<\/p>\n
Not many teams in the NCAA Tournament are defending better than the Duke Blue Devils. The No. 3-seed in the Sacramento 2 Region is coming off an impressive second-round win over No. 6-seed Baylor in which they held the Bears to a season-low 46 points and just 30 percent shooting from the field.<\/p>\n
The No. 2-seed LSU Tigers, however, are several cuts above the teams Duke has played thus far, especially offensively.<\/p>\n
LSU has scored over 100 points in each of its first two NCAA Tournament games, blowing out No. 15-seed Jacksonville and No. 7-seed Texas Tech. With an explosive trio of scoring guards that includes Flau\u2019Jae Johnson, Mikaylah Williams and MiLaysia Fulwiley, the Tigers have plenty of scoring options, and when all three of them are locked in at the same time, it\u2019s a scary sight for opponents.<\/p>\n
While Duke is perfectly capable of putting up points themselves, they probably don\u2019t want to get into an up-and-down type of game against LSU.<\/p>\n
According to Her Hoop Stats<\/a>, the Tigers rank No. 6 in the country in pace, averaging 78.7 possessions per 40 minutes. They\u2019re also leading Division I in offensive rebounding rate at 47.1 percent, so Duke\u2019s All-American forward Toby Fournier and the rest of the Blue Devils frontcourt will have their hands full.<\/p>\n Can Duke find a way to neutralize LSU\u2019s firepower, or will the Tigers romp to yet another Elite Eight?<\/p>\n Which No. 1 seed will look the strongest: UConn or UCLA?<\/p>\n