Last Call for the Best Weekend in Sports: Round of 32, Sunday March 22

#7 Miami (FL) Hurricanes vs #2 Purdue Boilermakers

12:10 ET/11:10 GTZ. CBS.

BoilerUp89: The Boilers get a fiesta Miami squad that kept responding every time Mizzou made a run. Old enemies Malik Reneau and Tre Donaldson start for the Hurricanes. Purdue cant let Miami dominate on the boards and needs to minimize turnovers. If they do both of those and have a decent shooting day, things should be okay.

Kind of...: Purdue is an excellent rebounding team. It will take a significant failure, or outlying performance, for the Boilermakers to lose this game.

HoustonBoiler: The usuals apply and will continue to apply as long as Purdue remains in the tournament: rebounding, limiting their turnovers, containing the dribble, and making some shots. Miami is decidedly mediocre. Could they cause Purdue some problems, absolutely. However, if the focused Purdue team that won the BTT shows up, they should win.

#7 Kentucky Wildcats v #2 Iowa State Cyclones

2:45 ET/1:45 GTZ. CBS.

BoilerUp89: Josh Jefferson is unlikely to play after hurting his ankle in the tournament opener. Oweh is not ready for UK's season to be over.

MaximumSam: Please Cyclones, please put an end to Kentucky's season.

Kind of...: Yeah, not having Jefferson sucks. Still, Iowa State is a very good team without him. Otzelberger is a smart coach and only Momcilovic played more than 30 minutes Friday. Iowa State should still win this game. And, Otega notwithstanding, Kentucky has had an up-and-down year plagued by a big money/culture of me narrative. With a well-timed run, the Cyclones might be able to take away Kentucky's interesting in fighting to the death. They already have their tournament highlight.

HoustonBoiler: Even without Josh Jefferson, Iowa State is more than capable of beating Kentucky.

#5 St. John's Red Storm v #4 Kansas Jayhawks

5:15 ET/4:15 GTZ. CBS.

BoilerUp89: A game between two of the more morally questionable coaches remaining. St John's has defense. Kansas has a top 2 draft pick.

Kind of...: I know St. John's won the Big East regular season and tournament and lots of people thought they were under seeded. But Kansas has 6'10" and 6'11" starters they can throw at former Jayhawk Ejiofor. Also, against non-Big East tournament teams, St. John's only win was Friday's game against Northern Iowa. St. John's is getting a LOT of mileage out of beating UConn twice. I'm betting on conference depth in this one.

HoustonBoiler: Counterpoint to Kind Of..., St. John's is not under seeded, the Big East was trasch. Kansas faced much better competition in the B1g XII and I believe that will show in this game. On the other hand, St. John's seemed to improve over the course of the season. Was this a reflection of a team really improving or facing worse competition, i.e., the Big East was trasch. I'm going with the latter.

#6 Tennessee Volunteers v #3 Virginia Cavaliers

6:10 ET/5:10 GTZ. TNT

BoilerUp89: Go Cavs, beat UT.

Kind of...: Tennessee is favored by a point. Basically the game is who can frustrate the other team more? Friday, Gillespie went off, and that was enough. But if Virginia can continue to make Nate Ament invisible, I like their chances. That said, these are two of the top 10 teams in the country on the offensive glass. Duke was able to take it to UVa on the offensive glass in the ACC title game, and Estrella and Okpara are going to pose quite the challenge.

#9 Iowa Hawkeyes v #1 Florida Gators

7:10 ET/6:10 GTZ. TBS.

BoilerUp89: There never was much hope. Just a fool's hope. Florida has size and athleticism that Iowa is going to struggle to match up with.

Kind of...: Iowa is "eight amazing ways to clean your house with lemon, vinegar and some baking powder." Florida is "Hey Alexa, what's the best cleaning service in my area."

HoustonBoiler: Channeling Mr. T, my prediction for Iowa ... pain. Iowa had a nice season, but Florida is just much better.

#9 Utah State Aggies v #1 Arizona Wildcats

7:50 ET/6:50 GTZ. truTV.

BoilerUp89: See Florida/Iowa but add a dash of Arizona's tendency to shoot themselves in the foot.

Kind of...: Never say never I guess. Utah State is...sound. But the MWC was a one-bid league more because it wasn't as good this year than because the Aggies were dominant. I don't know if that noise in the distance is a wood chipper, steamroller, or the Doof Wagon, but I'm pretty sure it's bad news for Utah State.

HoustonBoiler: Cats gonna roll.

#7 UCLA Bruins v #2 UConn Huskies

8:45 ET/7:45 GTZ. TNT.

MaximumSam: Welcome to Douchebag Bowl 2026. I hope the refs in this one show up ready to dish out technical fouls or at least wear ear plugs.

Kind of...: Feel like this one's been picked over in terms of UCLA being a live 7-seed, how they can win, etc. Just gotta roll the ball out and see what happens.

I'll spend the rest of my time noting that I have some work training Friday and Saturday in Philly and it happened to be at the same hotel where UConn is staying. So...at 9:00 or so Friday, while having a drink at the bar, a couple of co-workers and I got to see Bill Murray walk through the lobby on his way to the game.

Nonetheless, go Bruins!

HoustonBoiler: MaximumSam nailed this one.

#5Texas Tech Red Raiders v #4 Alabama Crimson Tide

9:45 ET/8:45 GTZ. TBS.

Kind of...: I love watching JT Toppin's throwback game. But, his injury is a reminder that you're not literally replacing 20 points a game when a 20 ppg scorer gets hurt. There are five players on the court, and they're not all going to maximize their scoring ability. The Red Raiders are still legit and this game is close to a tossup. What Toppin's injury does mean is that Texas Tech is a bit more perimeter-oriented, though they're still playing at a rather deliberate pace. We all know what Alabama wants to do, will be interesting to see if they can impose their tempo on Texas Tech.