No. 1 seeds Duke and Michigan each faced legitimate challenges from No. 9 seeds on Saturday before pulling away and advancing to the Sweet 16. The final score of the Blue Devils’ 81-58 win over TCU hides the truth that it was a dogfight for 30 minutes.
When Duke needed it most, it got a heroic effort from star freshman Cam Boozer. The All-American forward exploded in the second half after going MIA during the first. His 19 points and 11 rebounds, along with the return of center Patrick Ngongba from injury, helped the Blue Devils wear down a gritty Horned Frogs team that briefly took a lead early in the second half.
Saint Louis tested Michigan in a different way before the Wolverines cruised to a 95-72 victory. The Billikens’ well-oiled attack knocked the No. 1 seed Wolverines on their heels early. But the Atlantic 10 champions ultimately had no answer for Michigan stars Yaxel Lendeborg and Aday Mara.
A total of eight Sweet 16 bids flew off the shelf on Saturday as the first weekend of the 2026 NCAA Tournament rolled on. Here are the winners and losers from the action.
Winner: Michigan activates “machine” mode
Saint Louis coach Josh Schertz and Michigan coach Dusty May are close friends who share basketball insights and swap ideas. But Michigan at its best is an inevitable force that cannot be contained — even by an opponent who knows exactly what’s coming.
The No. 1 seed Wolverines’ 95-72 win over No. 9 seed Billikens brought the latest demonstration of Michigan’s unmatchable top gear, as SLU offered a valiant but ultimately hopeless effort. The two-way attack led by bigs Yaxel Lendeborg and Aday Mara simply overwhelmed a skilled but undersized group of Billikens. When your 7-foot-3 center is rifling cross-court passes like this to a 6-foot-9 potential lottery pick for open 3s, things are definitely going well. – David Cobb
Winner: Saint Louis runs into a buzzsaw but appears primed for consistent relevance
The best season in Saint Louis history is over after catching Michigan on a day when everything was rolling.
No one is beating Michigan when it plays as well as it did on Saturday, and SLU certainly found that out the hard way. But with sharp coach Josh Schertz signed to come back, there’s tons of hope that this is far from just a blip on the radar.
The Robbie Avila Era is over, so SLU will need to remake its frontcourt, but five rotation players can return and a legitimate proof of concept has been established. This may be just the beginning. – Isaac Trotter
Winner: Duke emerges from the slumber with knockout second-half punch
What a response. Duke was wobbly early in the second half as TCU clawed back to take a two-point advantage, but the Blue Devils were not going to be denied.
Cameron Boozer scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half to lead Duke to the Sweet 16 with an 81-58 victory over the ninth-seeded Horned Frogs. Freshman wing Dame Sarr deposited four key 3-pointers and finished with 14 points. Isaiah Evans (17 points) did his thing as well.
Maybe most importantly, Duke is starting to get healthy. Big man Patrick Ngongba played 12 minutes and scored four points in his return from a foot injury. Kansas or St. John’s awaits in what should be a doozy. — Trotter
Loser: Iron unkind to Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt and Nebraska played the game of the tournament so far, and it all came down to a half-court heave from Commodores star Tyler Tanner. The high-arcing attempt hit the backboard, rattled around the rim and then bounced out, preserving a 74-72 victory for the No. 4 seed Cornhuskers. It was a brutal ending to a memorable performance from Tanner. The undersized sophomore led all scorers with 27 points as the No. 5 seed Commodores hung tough inside a road-type environment.
Oklahoma’s City Paycom Center was filled with Nebraska fans thrilled to see the Cornhuskers advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history just two days after the school’s first-ever NCAA Tournament win. Braden Fraser scored the go-ahead bucket with 2.2 seconds remaining, which left just enough time for Tanner to catch, dribble once then let it fly. It came oh so close to a moment for the history books. Instead, it produced a brutal agony for the Commodores that only March Madness can bring. – Cobb
Winner: Arkansas avoids the trap
No. 12 seed High Point faltered in its quest to pull off another major upset, as the Panthers fell 94-88 to No. 4 seed Arkansas in the second round. But the Panthers played with gusto and pushed the Razorbacks until the very end behind a 30-point showing from Rob Martin. Cam’Ron Fletcher, who once played for Arkansas coach John Calipari at Kentucky, added 25 for the Panthers, who upset Wisconsin in Thursday’s first round.
The Razorbacks never led by double digits in the second half and needed a combined 55 points from freshman guards Darius Acuff Jr. and Meleek Thomas in order to survive. — Cobb
Loser: Texas A&M gets a painful wake-up call
No. 10 seed Texas A&M enjoyed a successful first season under coach Bucky McMillian, but it ended with a rude awakening. No. 2 seed Houston, which has now been to seven straight Sweet 16s, made quick work of the upstart Aggies in an 88-57 win.
The outcome demonstrated the gulf between programs that share a state, but are in vastly different stages of their life cycles. A sure-handed group of Houston guards never caved under A&M’s pressure, and the Cougars dominated on the glass with a 19-9 edge in offensive rebounds. After beginning the second half on an 8-0 run, Houston led by at least 20 the rest of the way. The Aggies are on the way up under McMillan, but they saw on Saturday just how high the mountain is to climb if they want to be among the best. – Cobb
Winner: Texas joins exclusive company
There will be at least one double-digit seed in the Sweet 16. Texas made sure of that by knocking off No. 3 seed Gonzaga 74-68, reaching the tournament’s second weekend for the first time since 2023.
The Longhorns become the sixth team to advance from the First Four to the Sweet 16, joining VCU, UCLA, Syracuse, La Salle and Tennessee. Both VCU and UCLA went on to reach the Final Four before falling in the national semifinals.
Texas is far more dangerous than its seed suggests, with high-end talent and an experienced coach. Sean Miller will be making his ninth Sweet 16 appearance and is the 10th coach to take three different programs to the tournament’s second weekend. — Cameron Salerno
Loser: VCU’s bid for another comeback flails
Even as Illinois turned a seven-point halftime edge into an increasingly significant lead, hope still persisted that perhaps No. 11 seed VCU could pull another stunner.
But just two days after executing the largest comeback in Round of 64 history against North Carolina, the Rams ran out of magic in a 76-55 loss to the No. 3 seed Illini.
Illinois is at its best when balance is king. Saturday’s Round of 32 showed more maturity in that department. Andrej Stojakovic dominated the first half with 16 of his 21 points, and Keaton Wagler took over in the second half with 13 points to send the Illini to the Sweet 16 with a 76-55 win over No. 11 seed VCU. Four different players cracked double figures. That’s exactly what Underwood was envisioning. — Trotter and Cobb
Winner: Jeremy Fears Jr. makes history
Jeremy Fears Jr. set a school record for most assists in an NCAA Tournament game as he dished out 16 dimes while directing No. 3 seed Michigan State to a 77-69 win over No. 6 seed Louisville.
Fears is up to 27 assists through two games in this Big Dance, which is the most for any player through two games since UCLA’s Earl Watson amassed 28 in 2000.
One of Fears’ favorite targets was high-flying forward Coen Carr, who finished with a game-high 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting. Carr added 10 rebounds and two blocks as the Spartans flew into a Sweet 16 matchup with the winner of Sunday’s game between No. 2 seed UConn and No. 7 seed UCLA. — Cobb
Loser: Louisville falls short of preseason expectations
Winning a first-round game against No. 11 seed South Florida is a fine achievement, but this is a Louisville program with high expectations. The Cardinals won 27 games last season with a less talented roster. Simply put, another early exit from the Big Dance is disappointing.
Louisville star Mikel Brown Jr. didn’t play in the NCAA Tournament, which certainly didn’t help. The projected top-10 pick showed flashes this season of why he was a five-star prospect coming out of high school, but he only managed to play in 21 games.
This will be a critical offseason for Louisville. The Cardinals currently have zero players signed from the 2026 recruiting cycle. Louisville will likely use the transfer portal again to build out its roster. The teams at the top of the sport — namely Duke, Michigan, Arizona and Florida — have gone all-in on building massive frontlines and using two-way rim dominance to separate from the rest of the pack.
Louisville zigged while they zagged, choosing to invest heavily into building maybe the most dangerous backcourt in all of college basketball … on paper. All four of Louisville’s biggest free agent additions were guards: Mikel Brown Jr., Ryan Conwell, Isaac McKneely and Adrian Wooley.
Even when Brown was healthy, Louisville didn’t the smashmouth basketball ability that might be necessary in the supersized era of college basketball.
Change feels vital to reach that top level. – Salerno and Trotter
