March Madness Elite 8 Games: How to Watch, Preview, and More

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Texas Men's Basketball has advanced to the 2023 March Madness Elite 8.
(Credit: University of Texas Athletics)

Welcome to the March Madness Elite 8 everyone.

The Sweet 16 games for Thursday and Friday have already come and gone and given us some instant classic moments. UCLA and Gonzaga produced yet another game that came down to the wire and surely made Adam Morrison proud as a Gonzaga alum. Kansas State and Michigan State went to overtime with KSU point guard Markquis Nowell giving us an all-time performance while breaking the NCAA Tournament record for most assists in a single game with 19! We also got the mighty Volunteers falling to the ninth-seeded FAU Owls in a rock fight of a game. Now we have to see if the Elite 8 games can even come close to matching those moments.

How to Watch March Madness Elite 8 Games

No. 3 Kansas State vs No. 9 Florida Atlantic

  • When: Saturday, March 25th, 2023
  • Start Time: 6:09 PM ET
  • Location: Madison Square Garden – New York, New York
  • How to watch: TBS

Kansas State vs Florida Atlantic Preview

Kansas State is coming off a highly emotional win over Michigan State that required an extra five minutes of basketball. Markquis Nowell set a single game tournament record with 19 assists and surely will have to put forth another Herculean effort to beat this scrappy Owls team. If the Wildcats continue their streak of hot shooting, it may not even matter what FAU comes up with for a game plan as KSU shot over 55% from the floor and 45% from beyond the arc.

FAU had a pretty nice path paved for them with Purdue getting knocked off in the first game and Marquette losing to Michigan State in the second round. However, they still had to go out and beat the most efficient defense in the country in Tennessee. They didn’t back down from the fight and actually looked like a Rocky movie as the game went on. They would take their punch, absorb it, and come out swinging harder and faster than the Vols expected. They’ll take that and their three-point shooting into this game against Kansas State hoping to knock off another giant on their Cinderella run.

No. 3 Gonzaga vs No. 4 UConn

  • When: Saturday, March 25th, 2023
  • Start Time: 8:49 PM ET
  • Location: T-Mobile Arena – Las Vegas, Nevada
  • How to watch: TBS

Gonzaga vs UConn Preview

Gonzaga beat UCLA and gave us another classic March Madness game between the two. This time, Adam Morrison was a bit happier with the outcome. Drew Timme had an all-time game finishing with 36 points, 13 rebounds, four assists, and two blocks. He and fellow big man, Anton Watson will need to have the defensive games of their lives against the likes of Adama Sanogo and Donovan Clingan. But those Huskies also have to contend with Timme and Watson on offense. Look for the Gonzaga’s guards to be the X-factor in this game.

UConn absolutely thrashed Arkansas to get here and should be fairly fresh as they were able to rest starters for good spurts throughout the game. While Sanogo and Clingan will be the biggest players on the floor, look for UConn’s guards to have major advantages throughout this game. Andre Jackson, Jordan Hawkins, and Tristen Newton could and should decide this game with Gonzaga having considerably more inconsistent backcourt play not only through the season, but especially this tournament.

No. 5 San Diego State vs No. 6 Creighton

  • When: Sunday, March 26th, 2023
  • Start Time: 2:20 PM ET
  • Location: KFC Yum! Center – Louisville, Kentucky
  • How to watch: CBS

San Diego State vs Creighton Preview

The Aztecs are heroes to many people in this tournament. For some, they took down a hate-able team in Alabama and for others, they continued the chaos of this particularly frenetic NCAA Tournament. They also are now in the Elite Eight for the first time in school history while this is Creighton’s second time getting there and first since 1941. The suffocating defense forces opponents to play ugly and that’s where San Diego State thrives. Now they look to take that into their game against Creighton.

Meanwhile, the Bluejays love to get up and down the floor quickly and get up a ton of threes. If they start catching fire, they can blast anybody out of the building. That’s how they’ve been winning in this tournament as they shot over 35% against Princeton and shot over 45% against Baylor. This game could and should come down to guard play as Creighton has a couple excellent ones in Trey Alexander and Ryan Nembhard. San Diego State has the burly Matt Bradley, Darrion Trammell, and Lamont Butler.

No. 2 Texas vs No. 5 Miami

  • When: Sunday, March 26th, 2023
  • Start Time: 5:05 PM ET
  • Location: T-Mobile Center – Las Vegas, Nevada
  • How to watch: CBS

Texas vs Miami Preview

Texas absolutely throttled No. 3 Xavier with its defense to get here and played some of its best offense of the season too. Xavier’s up-and-down nature came back to haunt it as they found out quickly that Tex(as) was in fact, “gon’ give it to ’em”. The Longhorns have the athletes to potentially shut down Miami, but could be without Dylan Disu, depending on how his foot heals.

Miami beat top-seeded Houston with their shot making and shot creating abilities. While the Cougars’ defense is usually its calling card, the Hurricanes stormed their way to 89 points, which was easily the most Houston had given up all year. With Nijel Pack, Isaiah Wong, Norchad Omier, and Jordan Miller leading the way, Miami is playing with supreme confidence and look like legitimate world beaters under coach Jim Larranaga.

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