Eight more teams will punch tickets to the Sweet 16 of the 2023 NCAA Tournament on Sunday — among them either Florida Atlantic or Fairleigh Dickinson. That fact should serve as a reminder that most of the talk on Selection Sunday about easy paths and difficult paths to the second weekend is often a waste of time because, in truth, we don’t know anybody’s actual path when the bracket is released.
For instance, on Selection Sunday, it looked like FAU would need to beat a No. 8 seed (Memphis) and a No. 1 seed (Purdue) to make the Sweet 16. That’s a difficult path. In reality, though, after beating Memphis late Friday, all FAU now has to do to make the Sweet 16 is beat a No. 16 seed (FDU) on Sunday in a game scheduled to tip at 7:45 p.m ET. That’s obviously a much easier path, at least on paper, evidence being that the Owls are listed as 15-point favorites over Tobin Anderson’s Knights.
Sunday’s first game is a Round of 32 matchup between Xavier and Pitt that’s scheduled to tip at 12:10 p.m. ET and ripe with storylines — most notably that Xavier’s Sean Miller will be coaching against his alma mater. If the Musketeers win, Miller will be back in the Sweet 16 for the first time since guiding Arizona to the second weekend of the 2017 NCAA Tournament.
Miller, of course, is still in pursuit of his first Final Four appearance, but six of the 16 men coaching Sunday — specifically Kentucky’s John Calipari, Michigan State’s Tom Izzo, Marquette’s Shaka Smart, Baylor’s Scott Drew, Miami’s Jim Larranaga and Gonzaga’s Mark Few — have already been to the Final Four at least once. Four of those six — Calipari, Smart, Drew and Few — will be coaching as favorites on Sunday, meaning the Sweet 16 could ultimately be filled with men who have previously coached on college basketball’s biggest stage and thus theoretically understand what it takes to get there.
Second round
Saturday, March 18
Sunday, March 19
| 12:10 p.m. | (11) Pitt vs. (3) Xavier Greensboro Coliseum — Greensboro |
CBS (watch live) |
| 2:40 p.m. | (6) Kentucky vs. (3) Kansas St. Greensboro Coliseum — Greensboro |
CBS (watch live) |
| 5:15 p.m. | (7) Michigan St. vs. (2) Marquette Nationwide Arena — Columbus |
CBS (watch live) |
| 6:10 p.m. | (5) Saint Mary’s vs. (4) UConn MVP Arena — Albany |
TNT (watch live) |
| 7:10 p.m. | (6) Creighton vs. (3) Baylor Ball Arena — Denver |
TBS (watch live) |
| 7:45 p.m. | (16) Fairleigh Dickinson vs. (9) FAU Andrew Catalon / Steve Lappas // Jamie Erdahl |
truTV (watch live) |
| 8:40 p.m. | (5) Miami vs. (4) Indiana MVP Arena — Albany |
TNT (watch live) |
| 9:40 p.m. | (6) TCU vs. (3) Gonzaga Ball Arena — Denver |
TBS (watch live) |
Sweet 16
Thursday, March 23 — 6:30 p.m. start (CBS, TBS)
Madison Square Garden — New York | T-Mobile Arena — Las Vegas
Friday, March 24 — 6:30 p.m. start (CBS, TBS)
T-Mobile Center — Kansas City | KFC Yum! Center — Louisville
Sweet 16
Thursday, March 23 — 6:30 p.m. start (CBS, TBS)
Madison Square Garden — New York | T-Mobile Arena — Las Vegas
Friday, March 24 — 6:30 p.m. start (CBS, TBS)
T-Mobile Center — Kansas City | KFC Yum! Center — Louisville
Elite Eight
Saturday, March 25 — 6:09 p.m. start (CBS, TBS)
Madison Square Garden — New York | T-Mobile Arena — Las Vegas
Tuesday, March 26 — 2:20 p.m. start (CBS, TBS)
T-Mobile Center — Kansas City | KFC Yum! Center — Louisville
Final Four
Saturday, April 1 — 6:09 p.m. start (CBS)
NRG Stadium — Houston
National Championship
Monday, April 3 — 9:20 p.m. (CBS)
NRG Stadium — Houston
NCAA Tournament scores, results
First Four
Tuesday, March 14
| 6:40 p.m. | (16) Texas A&M-CC 75, (16) SE Missouri St. 71 UD Arena — Dayton |
Recap |
| 9:10 p.m. | (11) Pitt 60, (11) Mississippi State 59 UD Arena — Dayton |
Recap |
Wednesday, March 15
| 6:40 p.m. | (16) Fairleigh Dickinson 84, (16) Texas Southern 61 UD Arena — Dayton |
Recap |
| 9:10 p.m. | (11) Arizona St. 98, (11) Nevada 73 UD Arena — Dayton |
Recap |
First round
Thursday, March 16
| 12:15 p.m. | (9) Maryland 67, (8) West Virginia 65 — Recap Legacy Arena — Birmingham |
CBS (Condensed game | Highlights) |
| 12:40 p.m. | (13) Furman 68, (4) Virginia 67 — Upset Breakdown Amway Center — Orlando |
truTV (Condensed game | Highlights) |
| 1:40 p.m. | (7) Missouri 76, (10) Utah State 65 — Recap Golden 1 Center — Sacramento |
TNT (Condensed game | Highlights) |
| 2 p.m. | (1) Kansas 96, (16) Howard 68 — Recap Wells Fargo Arena — Des Moines |
TBS (Condensed game | Highlights) |
| 2:45 p.m. | (1) Alabama 96, (16) Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 75 — Recap Legacy Arena — Birmingham |
CBS (Condensed game | Highlights) |
| 3:10 p.m. | (5) San Diego State 63, (12) Charleston 57 — Recap Amway Center — Orlando |
CBS (Condensed game | Highlights) |
| 4:10 p.m. | (15) Princeton 59, (2) Arizona 55 — Upset Breakdown Golden 1 Center — Sacramento |
TNT (Condensed game | Highlights) |
| 4:30 p.m. | (8) Arkansas 73, (9) Illinois 63 — Recap Wells Fargo Arena — Des Moines |
TBS (Condensed game | Highlights) |
| 6:50 p.m. | (9) Auburn 83, (8) Iowa 75 — Recap Legacy Arena — Birmingham |
TNT (Condensed game | Highlights) |
| 7:10 p.m. | (5) Duke 74, (12) Oral Roberts 51 — Recap Amway Center — Orlando |
CBS (Condensed game | Highlights) |
| 7:25 p.m. | (2) Texas 81, (15) Colgate 61 — Recap Wells Fargo Arena — Des Moines |
TBS (Condensed game | Highlights) |
| 7:35 p.m. | (7) Northwestern 75, (10) Boise State 67 — Recap Golden 1 Center — Sacramento |
truTV (Condensed game | Highlights) |
| 9:20 p.m. | (1) Houston 63, (16) Northern Kentucky 52 — Recap Legacy Arena — Birmingham |
TNT (Condensed game | Highlights) |
| 9:40 p.m. | (4) Tennessee 58, (13) Louisiana 55 — Recap Amway Center — Orlando |
CBS (Condensed game | Highlights) |
| 9:55 p.m. | (10) Penn State 76, (7) Texas A&M 59 — Recap Wells Fargo Arena — Des Moines |
TBS (Condensed game | Highlights) |
| 10:05 p.m. | (2) UCLA 86, (15) UNC Asheville 53 — Recap Golden 1 Center — Sacramento |
truTV (Condensed game | Highlights) |
Friday, March 17
| 12:15 p.m. |
(7) Michigan State 72, (10) USC 62 — Izzo snaps whiteboard in half Nationwide Arena — Columbus |
Condensed game | Highlights |
| 12:40 p.m. | (3) Xavier 72, (14) Kennesaw State 67 — Recap Greensboro Coliseum — Greensboro |
Condensed game | Highlights |
| 1:30 p.m. | (3) Baylor 74, (14) UC Santa Barbara 56 — Recap Ball Arena — Denver |
Condensed game | Highlights |
| 2 p.m. | (5) Saint Mary’s 63, (12) VCU 51 — Recap MVP Arena — Albany |
Condensed game | Highlights |
| 2:45 p.m. | (2) Marquette 78, (15) Vermont 61 — Recap Nationwide Arena — Columbus |
(Condensed game | Highlights) |
| 3:10 p.m. | (11) Pittsburgh 59, (6) Iowa State 41 — Crooked rims doom ‘Clones Greensboro Coliseum — Greensboro |
(Condensed game | Highlights) |
| 4 p.m. | (6) Creighton 72, (11) NC State 63 — Recap Ball Arena — Denver |
(Condensed game | Highlights) |
| 4:30 p.m. | (4) UConn 87, (13) Iona 63 — Sanogo goes off in historic performance MVP Arena — Albany |
(Condensed game | Highlights) |
| 6:50 p.m. | (16) Fairleigh Dickinson 63, (1) Purdue 58 — Knights make history in upset Nationwide Arena — Columbus |
(Condensed game | Highlights) |
| 7:10 p.m. | (11) Kentucky 61, (6) Providence 53 — Recap Greensboro Coliseum — Greensboro |
(Condensed game | Highlights) |
| 7:25 p.m. | (5) Miami 63, (12) Drake 56 — Recap MVP Arena — Albany |
(Condensed game | Highlights) |
| 7:35 p.m. | (3) Gonzaga 82, (14) Grand Canyon 70 — Recap Ball Arena — Denver |
(Condensed game | Highlights) |
| 9:20 p.m. | (9) FAU 66, 8) Memphis 65 — Recap Nationwide Arena — Columbus |
(Condensed game | Highlights) |
| 9:40 p.m. | (3) Kansas State 77, (14) Montana State 65 — Recap Greensboro Coliseum — Greensboro |
(Condensed game | Highlights) |
| 9:55 p.m. | (4) Indiana 71, (13) Kent State 60 — Recap MVP Arena — Albany |
(Condensed game | Highlights) |
| 10:05 p.m. | (6) TCU 72, (11) Arizona State 70 — Recap Ball Arena — Denver |
(Condensed game | Highlights) |
