Eight teams remain in the NCAA Tournament, and two will punch their tickets to the Final Four on Saturday. It sets up another strong night of college basketball.
The action begins with No. 9 seed Iowa facing No. 3 seed Illinois in Houston. The Hawkeyes are on a remarkable run under first-year coach Ben McCollum, led by standout guard Bennett Stirtz. Iowa advanced past Big Ten rival Nebraska in the Sweet 16, but faces a tougher challenge against Illinois. In its Sweet 16 win over Houston, Illinois smothered the Cougars in a 65-55 victory — the second straight game the Illini allowed just 55 points.
In the second game, No. 2 seed Purdue meets No. 1 seed Arizona. The Boilermakers edged Texas 79-77 in the Sweet 16 on Trey Kaufman-Renn’s tip-in with less than a second remaining. Arizona had a far more comfortable path, rolling past Arkansas 109-88 behind a 23-point performance from Brayden Burries, who shot 7 of 11 from the field.
By the end of the night, two teams will be headed to Indianapolis for the Final Four.
Here is the full tournament schedule and bracket to keep you up to date.
As the home of March Madness, CBS Sports will track every game and score, keeping you apprised of notable developments in our continuously updating live NCAA Tournament bracket with matchup analysis for every game.
As far as the NCAA Tournament schedule, we understand that it’s hard to keep up with that printable bracket of yours, so how about an easier way to digest it?
Below you will find a March Madness schedule featuring viewing information for each game broken down by region, so you can not only follow your team but also those they may compete against through the duration of March Madness.
In other words, you should bookmark this page and keep it as an easy reference guide from the First Four through the Final Four. Now that the games started on Tuesday, it will be updated with scores, analysis and much more — all the way through the national championship.
2026 NCAA Tournament bracket, scores
All times Eastern
East
FIRST ROUND
Thursday, March 19 — Greenville
Thursday — Buffalo
Friday, March 20 — San Diego
Friday — Philadelphia
SECOND ROUND
Saturday, March 21 — Greenville
Saturday — Buffalo
Sunday, March 22 — San Diego
Sunday — Philadelphia
SWEET 16
Friday, March 25 — Washington, D.C.
- (1) Duke 80, (5) St. John’s 75
- (3) Michigan State vs. (2) UConn | 9:45 p.m. | CBS
ELITE EIGHT
Sunday, March 27 — Washington D.C.
- (1) Duke vs. (2) UConn | 5:05 p.m. | CBS
West
FIRST FOUR
Tuesday, March 17 — Dayton
FIRST ROUND
Thursday, March 19 — Portland
Friday, March 20 — San Diego
Friday — St. Louis
SECOND ROUND
Saturday, March 20 — Portland
Sunday, March 21 — San Diego
Sunday — St. Louis
SWEET 16
Thursday, March 26 — San Jose
ELITE EIGHT
Saturday, March 27 — San Jose
- (1) Arizona vs. (2) Purdue | 8:45 p.m. | TBS
Midwest
FIRST FOUR
Tuesday, March 17 — Dayton
Wednesday, March 18 — Dayton
FIRST ROUND
Thursday, March 19 — Buffalo
Friday, March 20– St. Louis
Friday — Tampa
Friday — Philadelphia
SECOND ROUND
Saturday, March 21 — Buffalo
Sunday, March 22 — St. Louis
Sunday — Tampa
Sunday — Philadelphia
SWEET 16
Friday, March 27 — Chicago
- (4) Alabama vs. (1) Michigan | 7:35 p.m. | TBS
- (6) Tennessee vs. (2) Iowa State | 10:10 p.m. | TBS
Sunday, March 28 — Chicago
- (1) Michigan vs. (6) Tennessee | 2:15 p.m. | CBS
South
FIRST FOUR
Wednesday, March 18 — Dayton
FIRST ROUND
Thursday, March 19 — Oklahoma City
Thursday — Greenville
Thursday — Oklahoma City
Friday, March 20 — Tampa
SECOND ROUND
Saturday, March 21 — Greenville
Saturday — Oklahoma City
Sunday, March 22 — Tampa
SWEET 16
Thursday, March 26 — Houston
Saturday, March 28 — Houston
- (3) Illinois vs. (9) Iowa | 6:09 p.m. | CBS
Elite Eight
Saturday, March 28 — 6:09 p.m. start (TBS)
Toyota Center (Houston), SAP Center (San Jose)
Sunday, March 29 — 2:15 p.m. start (CBS)
United Center (Chicago), Capital One Arena (Washington, D.C.)
Final Four
Saturday, April 4 — 6:09 p.m. start (TBS)
Lucas Oil Stadium (Indianapolis)
National Championship
Monday, April 6 — 8:50 p.m. (TBS)
Lucas Oil Stadium (Indianapolis)
