The first two rounds of March Madness have officially ended and that means we can get excited about Sweet 16 games this week. Here are all of Thursday’s games to watch as the tipoffs become more manageable and may not require all four of your TVs to be put to good use at once.
How To Watch March Madness Sweet 16 Games
No. 3 Kansas State vs No. 7 Michigan State
- When: Thursday, March 23rd, 2023
- Start Time: 6:30 PM ET
- Location: Madison Square Garden – New York City, New York
- How to watch: TBS
Kansas State vs Michigan State Preview
The Wildcats beat another team of Wildcats in Kentucky to get here. If they can overcome the rebounding machine that is Oscar Tshiebwe, they should be just fine against a pretty average rebounding team at Michigan State. Markquis Nowell will have yet another chance to prove he’s one of the best point guards in the country and Keyontae Johnson’s incredible comeback story could continue. Obviously, these are all great things and make the Wildcats a lovable underdog despite being the higher seed.
For Michigan State, this was a team that was pretty mediocre in Big Ten play but is now the only team standing from the conference. However, the Spartans are one of the sharpest shooting teams from beyond the arc at 38.7% collectively. If they start off hot or get there, it could spell doom for Kansas State.
No. 4 UConn vs No. 8 Arkansas
- When: Thursday, March 23rd, 2023
- Start Time: 7:15 PM ET
- Location: T-Mobile Arena – Las Vegas, Nevada
- How to watch: CBS
UConn vs Arkansas Preview
The Huskies showed why they ranked so highly in the AP Poll at the beginning of the season in their game against Saint Mary’s. They played some stifling defense, protected the rim, and put pressure on the opposing defense with big men Donovan Clingan and Adama Sanogo. Sanogo also had 24 points and eight rebounds on almost 70% shooting. He plays like that again and he could have the Arkansas big men in real trouble.
Arkansas toppled No. 1 seed Kansas to get here so they are feeling pretty good. Kansas didn’t have a true big man like UConn does though and the Razorbacks will likely need another Herculean effort from Davonte Davis to bring down the Huskies in this one. He had 25 points and eight rebounds before fouling out of the game. He’ll need to play every minute possible if Arkansas wants to pull off the upset and help the SEC cement its spot as the best conference in March.
No. 4 Tennessee vs No. 9 Florida Atlantic
- When: Thursday, March 23rd, 2023
- Start Time: 9:00 PM ET
- Location: Madison Square Garden – New York City, New York
- How to watch: TBS
Tennessee vs Florida Atlantic Preview
This might be the most intriguing matchup of the Sweet 16 as it features one of the most unlikely middle seeds to make it to this spot. FAU should have run into Purdue and would have likely lost, but Fairleigh Dickinson saved them that trouble. FAU kept FDU from becoming the first ever 16-seed to advance past the second round and in doing so, became the first Conference USA team to get to the Sweet 16 since 2009 (thanks, Memphis).
Tennessee inarguably had a much tougher path, having to beat a feisty Louisiana team and a fairly hot Duke team. But the Volunteers’ defense was stout as ever in the last few minutes against the No. 4 seeded Blue Devils. They’ll have to bring it again as they have an Owls team that shoots a lot of threes and will pull up from anywhere to do it. Look for the Uros Plavsic and Vladislav Goldin matchup to potentially decide this game.
No. 2 UCLA vs No. 3 Gonzaga
- When: Thursday, March 23rd, 2023
- Start Time: 9:45 PM ET
- Location: T-Mobile Arena – Las Vegas, Nevada
- How to watch: CBS
UCLA vs Gonzaga Preview
UCLA easily dispatched its first-round opponent in UNC-Asheville but struggled a bit more with Northwestern despite the Wildcats shooting poorly from all over the floor. The Bruins gave up 14 offensive rebounds, which could spell doom for them against a Gonzaga team with a few good athletes who like to crash the boards. The Bruins shot the ball well against Northwestern and could surely do that again, but will face an uphill battle in the post against Drew Timme.
Gonzaga fielded a couple of scares against the Grand Canyon and TCU. The Bulldogs managed to pull away from GCU in the second half, but let the Horned Frogs (or Texas Froghorns, depending on who you ask) hang around for a little too long at the end. Timme had a phenomenal game, scoring 28 points, grabbing eight rebounds, and shooting over 50% from the floor. He will likely have to replicate that and get some help from Julian Strawther and Anton Watson for his team to pull off the upset and get him back to the Elite Eight for the second time in his career.
Stay tuned to Project Spurs for more March Madness coverage.
