An injured star, dominant top seeds and Hall of Fame coaches face off. Here’s what to know for Sunday’s March Madness action
An injured star, dominant top seeds and Hall of Fame coaches face off. Here’s what to know for Sunday’s March Madness action
Kyle Feldscher, CNNSun, March 22, 2026 at 10:00 AM UTC
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Dominick Nelson #11 of the Iowa State Cyclones shoots the ball against the Tennessee State Tigers during the first half in the first round of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Enterprise Center on Friday in St Louis, Missouri. - Jamie Squire/Getty Images
We’ve had buzzer-beaters, upsets, top seeds narrowly surviving and national title contenders looking like, well, national title contenders.
It’s been a mad, mad weekend and the Sweet 16 in the men’s and women’s NCAA tournament is starting to take shape.
With eight more games scheduled for Sunday, the men’s tournament will wrap up its first two rounds on Sunday. The women, meanwhile, are just getting started with the Round of 32, finishing up their first weekend action on Monday.
Here’s what you for Sunday’s action.
Iowa State and its injured star
The Midwest No. 2 seed Iowa State Cyclones looked like Final Four contenders on Friday as they eclipsed the century mark with a resounding 108-74 win over the Tennessee State Tigers.
But the joy was tempered by an injury to the Cyclones’ second-team All-American Joshua Jefferson. The senior forward landed awkwardly after a layup and rolled his ankle. Jefferson left the court with assistance from athletic trainers and later returned with a boot on his injured left leg.
Iowa State Cyclones forward Joshua Jefferson (5) is helped off of the court after suffering an apparent injury to his left leg against Tennessee State Tigers during the first half of a first round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Enterprise Center on Friday, in St. Louis, Missouri. - Jeff Curry/Imagn Images/Reuters
The 22-year-old was taken for an x-ray, which came back negative, and was diagnosed with a left ankle sprain, team head coach TJ Otzelberger told reporters after the game.
“We will continue to reevaluate over the next day or two and just see where things are when we get to Sunday and we figure out what time we play,” Otzelberger added.
Iowa State will face the No. 7 seed Kentucky Wildcats in St. Louis, Missouri, in the second round. Kentucky is in the game thanks to the standout moment of the tournament, a buzzer-beating 3-pointer that sent their game against Santa Clara into overtime, where they eventually pulled away.
Florida and Arizona look to cruise
The top seeds playing on Sunday barely broke a sweat in their opening games on Friday.
Florida put the hurt on Prairie View A&M on Friday, more than doubling them up with a 114-55 win. Arizona, meanwhile, barely had to get out of second gear against Long Island University, sending the viral 16-seed home after a 92-58 beatdown.
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Florida Gators center Micah Handlogten (3) shoots while defended by Prairie View A&M Panthers forward Hassane Diallo (11) in the second half during a first round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, Florida on Friday. - Matt Pendleton/Imagn Images/Reuters
The Gators and Wildcats are Final Four picks for many bracketologists (professional and amateur alike), and it’s likely that they’ll not exactly face huge tests on Sunday. The Gators take on Iowa and Arizona takes on Utah State.
If either the Hawkeyes or the Aggies pull off the major upset, ignore everything you just read.
Bill Self vs. Rick Pitino
What a tasty matchup of coaches we’ll get in the Kansas-St. John’s game.
Two Hall of Fame coaches with multiple national titles going up against each other for a spot in the Sweet 16 – there are few things better.
Self and Kansas have been to 11 Sweet 16s during their time together, which began in 2003, but are looking to get to the second weekend for the first time since winning the 2022 national title. Kansas put together a 24-10 record this year and escaped California Baptist with an eight-point victory on Friday in a game that the Jayhawks would have liked to be a little less stressful.
Bill Self (left) and Rick Pitino (right) - Getty Images
Pitino and St. John’s, meanwhile, had that stressless experience. The Johnnies – smarting at being chosen as a 5-see despite being the Big East regular season and tournament champions – smacked Northern Iowa 79-53 and are looking to go further than they did in last year’s tournament. In that Round of 32 defeat to Arkansas, Pitino was defeated by another Hall of Fame contemporary, John Calipari and Arkansas.
Pitino has been to the Sweet 16 with three different schools – Providence, Kentucky and Louisville – and will be looking to take St. John’s to the second weekend for the first time this century; the last time St. John’s made it to the tournament’s second weekend was 1999.
Will there be any upsets in the women’s tournament?
Friday was the chalkiest day possible in the women’s bracket as not a single upset took place in the Round of 64. With those same teams taking to the court on Sunday, the question remains: Can any of the underdogs pull off a win?
Latasha Lattimore #8 of Ole Miss Rebels dribbles the ball against Taylor Smith #20 of the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the first quarter during a first round game of the 2026 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament held at Williams Arena on Friday in Minneapolis, Minnesota. - Carlos Gonzalez/NCAA Photos/Getty Images
With three different 4 vs. 5 matches, it’s possible that one of those teams (Ole Miss, Maryland and Michigan State, which narrowly avoided an upset in its opening game) could pull off the mini upset and advance. But they’ll face the unique challenge in the women’s tournament that the opening rounds are played in the highest-seeded team’s home arena so all three of those teams will playing road games against Minnesota, UNC and Oklahoma respectively.
Otherwise, expect more dominant performances by the tournament’s top teams. Michigan, LSU, Duke, TCU and Texas all rolled in their opening games. The closest contest was Duke’s 17-point win over the College of Charleston, and most of those games were decided by 30 or more points.
Men’s schedule -
No. 2 Purdue vs. No. 7 Miami at 12:10 p.m. ET on CBS
No. 2 Iowa State vs. No. 7 Kentucky at 2:45 p.m. ET on CBS
No. 4 Kansas vs. No. 5 St. John’s at 5:15 p.m. ET on CBS
No. 3 Virginia vs. No. 6 Tennessee at 6:10 p.m. ET on TNT
No. 1 Florida vs. No. 9 Iowa at 7:10 p.m. ET on TBS
No. 1 Arizona vs. No. 9 Utah State at 7:50 p.m. ET on truTV
No. 2 UConn vs. No. 7 UCLA at 8:45 p.m. ET on TNT
No. 4 Alabama vs. No. 5 Texas Tech at 9:45 p.m. ET on TBS
Women’s schedule -
No. 4 UNC vs. No. 5 Maryland at noon ET on ESPN
No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 7 NC State at 1 p.m. ET on ABC
No. 4 Minnesota vs. No. 5 Ole Miss at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN
No. 2 LSU vs. No. 7 Texas Tech at 3 p.m. ET on ABC
No. 3 Duke vs. No. 6 Baylor at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN
No. 1 Texas vs. No. 8 Oregon at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN
No. 4 Oklahoma vs. No. 5 Michigan State at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN
No. 3 TCU vs. No. 6 Washington at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN
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