2024 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 game times, TV schedule announced
The first two rounds of the 2024 NCAA Tournament are in the books. Now, it’s time for the Sweet Sixteen, and the full schedule has officially been announced.
The Round of 64 featured no shortage of upsets as viewership soared, and the Round of 32 wasn’t any calmer. It adds to the intrigue as the race to the Final Four heats up, and 16 teams remain in the March Madness field with games on either Thursday or Friday. (All times Eastern)
2024 NCAA Tournament: East Region
5. San Diego State vs. 1. UConn – March 28, 7:39 p.m. (TBS)
2. Iowa State vs. 3. Illinois – March 28, approx. 10:09 p.m. (TBS)
West Region
2. Arizona vs. No. 6 Clemson – March 28, 7:09 p.m. (CBS)
1. North Carolina vs. 4 Alabama – March 28, approx. 9:39 p.m. (CBS)
South Region
1. Houston vs. 4. Duke – March 29, approx. 9:39 p.m. (CBS)
11. NC State vs. 2. Marquette – March 29, 7:09 p.m. (CBS)
Midwest Region
1. Purdue vs. 5. Gonzaga – March 29, 7:39 p.m. (TBS)
2. Tennessee vs. 3. Creighton – March 29, approx. 10:09 p.m. (TBS)
Recapping the NCAA Tournament Round of 32
Two standalone games got the day started things out on Saturday. The first one went as expected as Arizona defeated Dayton, but the second one made some history.
After that, two blue-bloods squared off – and it was a surprising blowout. No. 5 Gonzaga wasn’t sure if it’d be in the NCAA Tournament a week ago, but the Bulldogs flew past No. 4 Kansas 89-68 to advance to its ninth straight Sweet Sixteen. That ties the record set by North Carolina from 1985-93.
As NC State took on Oakland, that assured one double-digit seed would make the Sweet Sixteen. The Golden Grizzlies gave it their all to continue their Cinderella run, but the Wolfpack got hot in overtime and didn’t look back en route to the 79-73 victory to continue their impressive postseason journey.
Later in the day, Tennessee and Texas also went down to the wire. The Vols led by 12 points with 12 minutes to go, but the Longhorns battled back to get within two. Ultimately, though, Rick Barnes’ group held on to defeat his former program and advance to the Sweet Sixteen – with the winner of Oregon vs. Creighton awaiting.
The Dana Altman Bowl turned into an instant classic. Neither Oregon nor Creighton had a double-digit lead during regulation, and the game went to overtime. As if one wasn’t enough, it eventually headed to double-overtime after a wild shot from Jermaine Couisnard fell. In the end, the Ducks seemed to run out of gas, and the Bluejays ended up with the 86-73 victory after a dominant stretch in 2OT.
That laid the groundwork for another thrilling day on Sunday, which lived up to the billing.
First up was Marquette vs. Colorado, which saw both offenses break out in a huge way. The Golden Eagles led by 11 at halftime, but the Buffaloes came back and eventually took a brief lead in the second half. However, the Golden Eagles managed to do just enough to get the victory, though, and advance to the Sweet Sixteen with an 81-77 victory.
While Duke was taking care of business against James Madison, things got interesting in Memphis where Baylor was taking on Clemson. The Tigers took a lead into halftime, managed to expand the lead to 15 points in the second half, then nearly gave it all away. But Clemson held on in the end for a 72-64 win to advance.
Alabama and Grand Canyon squared off in another matchup that featured one of the first-round upsets, and the first half was a physical affair that saw the Crimson Tide quite frustrated. But a poor closing stretch just before the half allowed the Crimson Tide to build an eight-point lead at the break. The Lopes evened the game again in the second half before a serious surge from Mark Sears and company gave Alabama a 72-61 win.
UConn made short work of Northwestern in a thoroughly dominant 75-58 win that wasn’t as close as the final score indicated. San Diego State put up a similarly stellar performance against Yale, winning 85-57 to move on.
Meanwhile, in the penultimate game of the night, Houston and Texas A&M put on an absolute thriller. The Cougars led for most of the game, but they let a double-digit lead slip away on a remarkable run by the Aggies at the death of it. A 3-pointer by Andersson Garcia sent the game to overtime. Finally, Houston put the final nail in the coffin, outlasting Texas A&M in a 100-95 win to move on to the Sweet 16.