March Madness 2023: Top Storylines and Expert Picks for Men's Elite 8 Bracket
The madness of the men's NCAA tournament did not end in the Sweet 16. No. 9 seed Florida Atlantic continued its run to the Elite Eight, where it will be joined by two No. 5 seeds and a No. 6 seed.
The Kansas State Wildcats narrowly avoided the upset bug against No. 7 seed Michigan State. The Spartans took their opponents to overtime, where the Wildcats outscored them 16-11.
Alabama and Houston weren't so lucky. Both surviving No. 1 seeds hit the end of the road in the Sweet 16. The San Diego State Aztecs' stingy defense helped them stun the Crimson Tide, while Houston ran into a Jim Larrañaga-led Miami squad that put up 89 points.
The mayhem has generated plenty of fun storylines with the field now whittled to just eight teams competing for a national title.
Some of those were expected contenders. Others have caught fire and stunned the college basketball world.
As we head into Saturday and Sunday's action, here's a look at the complete schedule, storylines and predictions for the next four games.
Watch March Madness Live to stream every tournament game through the Final Four.
Elite Eight Schedule
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Saturday, March 25
East Region: No. 9 Florida Atlantic vs. No. 3 Kansas State, 6:09 p.m. ET, TBS
West Region: No. 4 UConn vs. No. 3 Gonzaga, 8:49 p.m. ET, TBS
Sunday, March 26
South Region: No. 6 Creighton vs. No. 5 San Diego State, 2:20 p.m. ET, CBS
Midwest Region: No. 5 Miami vs. No. 2 Texas, 5:05 p.m. ET, CBS
The East Region winner will play the South Region winner. The West Region winner will play the Midwest Region winner.
Saturday Storylines and Predictions
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Can Florida Atlantic Slow Down Markquis Nowell?
Florida Atlantic punched its ticket to the first Elite Eight in school history with a stellar defensive performance in a 62-55 rock fight against the Tennessee Volunteers. That kind of game was to be expected from two teams comfortable with a slow pace.
Their defensive slog was quite the contrast from the 98-93 overtime thriller the Wildcats won on the strength of Markquis Nowell's 20-point, 19-assist performance.
Nowell accounted for 63 of Kansas State's 98 points, which was the most points created by a player in an NCAA tournament game since ESPN Stats & Info started tracking in 2010.
Over at CBS Sports, five of their six college basketball experts are picking Kansas State. Matt Norlander is the only believer in the Owls. Three of the four experts for The Athletic are also backing the Wildcats, with John Hollinger their lone holdout.
Can Gonzaga Continue to Close Out Close Games?
UConn has been playing like one of the country's best teams since February. They've only lost two games since the second month of the year, and those were by a combined five points.
Thus far in the tournament, they haven't even been challenged while winning their three games by a combined 62 points. Meanwhile, Gonzaga has needed every ounce of last-minute execution to stave off challenges from TCU and UCLA.
They beat the Horned Frogs 84-81 before taking out No. 2 seed UCLA 79-76 on Thursday.
Drew Timme leads a Gonzaga offense that has been nearly impossible to slow down all year. Whether it's enough to keep up with UConn is the biggest question heading into Saturday's action.
CBS Sports' expert panel favors the Huskies 4-2. Norlander and Jerry Palm are backing the Bulldogs.
Sunday Storylines and Predictions
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South Region: No. 6 Creighton vs. No. 5 San Diego State, 2:20 p.m. ET, CBS
Midwest Region: No. 5 Miami vs. No. 2 Texas, 5:05 p.m. ET, CBS
Can Creighton Continue Elite Offensive Production Against San Diego State Defense?
Neither Creighton nor San Diego State were expected to make it this far.
Creighton has relied on a diverse offense that has won in different ways throughout the tournament. In the first round, center Ryan Kalkbrenner was the star of the show with 31 points on 11-of-14 shooting. Then it was Ryan Nembhard's time to shine against Baylor. He led the way with 30 points
Against Princeton, Baylor Scheierman, Kalkbrenner and Trey Alexander combined for 62 points. The Jays' ability to rely on different scorers every night is a big strength for them.
They haven't seen a defense like San Diego State yet, though. The Aztecs blocked eight shots and held Alabama to 3-of-27 shooting from three-point distance to suffocate the Tide's title hopes.
Kyle Boone of CBS Sports is picking Creighton's offense to ultimately prevail because of "a unique combination of guards, wings and bigs that match up favorably against the Aztecs on paper."
How Does Texas Handle Dylan Disu's Injury?
Dylan Disu was dominant in the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament. The forward ripped down 10 rebounds in each contest and scored 55 points while shooting over 70 percent from the field.
Then he spent most of their Sweet 16 matchup against Xavier in a boot. The senior got the start, but head coach Rodney Terry noted they knew he wasn't likely to be available.
Texas is an incredibly talented team and had the depth to overcome Disu's absence in an 83-71 win. Senior forward Christian Bishop stepped up with 18 points and nine rebounds.
Now Disu is day-to-day, per Terry, with another big game against Miami on tap. Hurricanes big Norchad Omier has been dominant on the boards all tournament, averaging 14.6 rebounds per game.
Disu's absence could mean a lot more against the Hurricanes.
Boone is taking the Longhorns to win despite Disu's injury status, though.
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