Who's Punching Their Tickets to Next Weekend?: Round of 32, Saturday March 21

#9 St Louis Billikens vs #1 Michigan Wolverines

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

BoilerUp89: St. Louis shoots the ball really, really well. They don't have the size to match up with Michigan in the paint though. If Schertz wants to win, expect to see lots of zone from the Billikens.

MaximumSam: Josh Schertz was my man crush when OSU was hiring last time, but no one who funds college basketball pays attention to it. Perhaps a win against Michigan will have them thinking "who was that guy with the white center who beat Michigan, we should hire him" next time.

HoustonBoiler: Saint Louis is a solid team though solid is usually not good enough to beat a 1-seed. I agree with BoilerUp89 that Saint Louis should play some zone if they want to hang with the NBA-level talent on Michigan. That said, I expect Michigan to win this one.

#6 Louisville Cardinals v #3 Michigan State Spartans

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

BoilerUp89: Louisville blew a 20 point lead in the Round of 64. That's a testament to both sides of this year's Cardinals. They can build leads and blow them. The guards can be excellent, but they occasionally play sloppy.

MaximumSam: Louisville is very susceptible to the backdoor groin screen.

HoustonBoiler: If the Louisville player have any fear for their future generations, they will bring their cups for this game. I expect Sparty to win, but if Fears does something stupid, it could change the complexion of this game.

#9 TCU Horned Frogs v #1 Duke Blue Devils

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

BoilerUp89: Duke may have looked vulnerable against Siena, but expect them to be much more focused coming into this one. The Horned Frogs are the most erratic team remaining in the field. Regular season wins over Florida and Iowa State show they could pull this off, but they could also lose by 30 and nobody would be surprised.

HoustonBoiler: As BoilerUp89 said, TCU tends to be erratic so if good TCU shows up for this one, they could make it interesting, especially if Duke is not focused. It might be worth watching for bit to see whether TCU can hang or not.

#10 Texas A&M Aggies v #2 Houston Cougars

6:10 ET/5:10 GTZ. TNT

BoilerUp89: Buckyball is fun but I don't think it's a solution to beating Houston's suffocating defense.

HoustonBoiler: I'm certain that the Coogs would absolutely love to deliver a beat down to one of their instate rivals that they no longer face on a regular basis.

#11 Texas Longhorns v #3 Gonzaga Bulldogs

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

BoilerUp89: Gonzaga has to be thrilled to avoid Dybantsa. There's no matchup issues with Texas and Gonzaga has more disciplined roster and better coach.

HoustonBoiler: While Texas has beaten some Tournament teams this season (Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, Alabama, Missouri), they've also lost to several Tournament teams (Florida, Arkansas, Texas A&M, Tennessee, UConn, Virginia, Duke). So there is some talent on the roster, but can they beat a team that is better than them, rather than a team that is roughly their level? I would say this only happened once during the regular season when they beat Vanderbilt. On the other hand, Gonzaga plays a respectable non-con schedule but the WCC, outside of Saint Mary's, is usually very soft. So you really don't know if, or by how much, Gonzaga has improved over the course of a season. All this said, I agree with my fellow bot that Gonzaga has the better team and coach, the question is how much better at this point? We'll find out.

#11 VCU Rams v #3 Illinois Fighting Illini

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

BoilerUp89: VCU needed a monster comeback to beat a flawed UNC team. That fact that they accomplished it though means Illinois shouldn't relax if they build a 15 point lead.

HoustonBoiler: Illinois should win this game because they have the better team. However, Illinois does seem to lose close games (by 3 to Nebraska), including all four of their games that went to OT (to Michigan State, UCLA, and wisconsin twice). Illinois' smallest margin of victory was 6 points (Purdue and Maryland). If VCU can somehow keep it close, they have a shot to win it in the endgame.

AlmaOtter: That's my secret, captain. I'm never relaxed with a lead. And thanks for the reminder of all those OT losses, HB!

#5Vanderbilt Commodores v #4 Nebraska Cornhuskers

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

BoilerUp89: The battle between the two non-conference darlings of the 2025-26 season. Both teams started the season on absolute fire. Nebraska has the better defense. Vanderbilt has the better offense. The other side of the ball is merely passable for both.

HoustonBoiler: My coinflip game of the day! This has the potential to be a very good game to watch for those with no connection to either program.

AlmaOtter: The Peach Basket says Vandy. But the heart says CORNNNNN. Should be a fun one.

#12 High Point Panthers v #4 Arkansas Razorbacks

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

BoilerUp89: Thanks to Wisconsin's 10 turnovers against High Point, Arkansas is the new best team in the country at avoiding turnovers. Perhaps I misjudged High Point. Or perhaps Arkansas takes care of the ball better than Wisconsin and runs away with this one as they clamp down on High Point's half court offense.

HoustonBoiler: TBF, team chaos wisconsin, was due for a clunker, i.e., losing a game they shouldn't, but credit High Point for taking advantage. Once the calendar flipped to February, Arkansas really picked up their game, only losing a close one at Alabama, being blown out on at Florida, and winning the SEC tournament. Arkansas has elevated their level of play and I don't see a reversion here.