Elite 8 2026 Updated Bracket and Full Schedule for Men's NCAA Tournament

Only 12 teams remain in the chase for the 2026 men's NCAA Tournament title.

And after Friday night's four-game slate, the bracket will fully feature its Elite Elight field.

While chalk has largely prevailed to this point, there are three schools seeded fifth or higher still in the running. Most surprising among them is ninth-seeded Iowa, which followed its upset of top-seeded Florida by dispatching its Big 10 rival (and fourth-seeded) Nebraska on Thursday night.

So, who else will join the Hawkeyes in the Elite Eight? We'll find out for sure Friday evening, but for now, we'll lay out the remaining tournament schedule and spotlight the Sweet 16 showdowns remaining in the East and Midwest regions.

Remaining Tournament Schedule

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Sweet 16

Friday, March 27

5-St. John's vs. 1-Duke, 7:10 p.m. ET on CBS

4-Alabama vs. 1-Michigan, 7:35 p.m. ET on TBS/truTV

3-Michigan State vs. 2-UConn, 9:45 p.m. ET on CBS

6-Tennessee vs. 2-Iowa State, 10:10 p.m. ET on TBS/truTV

Elite Eight

Saturday, March 28

9-Iowa vs. 3-Illinois, 6:09 p.m. ET on TBS/truTV

2-Purdue vs. 1-Arizona, 8:49 p.m. ET on TBS/truTV

Sunday, March 29

Duke-St. John's winner vs. UConn-Michigan State winner, time TBD on CBS

Michigan-Alabama winner vs. Iowa State-Tennessee winner, time TBD on CBS

Final Four

Saturday, April 4

Semifinal Game 1, 6 p.m. ET on TBS

Semifinal Game 2, 8:30 p.m. ET on TBS

Championship

Monday, April 6

National championship, 8:30 p.m. ET on TBS

Sweet 16: East Region

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St. John's vs. Duke

Coach Rick Pitino's Red Storm play with maximum effort and relentless defense, but it'll take more to take down the No. 1 overall seed in this tournament. Granted, the Blue Devils have rarely looked the part so far, but they boast brilliant two-way balance, a certified superstar in freshman Cameron Boozer and a rotation made deeper by the return of Patrick Ngongba II.

It remains to be seen whether they'll have guard Caleb Foster back from foot surgery, and this offense doesn't have quite as much playmaking or perimeter shooting without him. St. John's will need to muck this game up as much as it can, but it'll also need a better showing than usual from its three-point shooters and defensive rebounders to pull off the upset.

Michigan State vs. UConn

Not that a single seed line difference ever means much, but it feels entirely useless here. In fact, the third-seeded Spartans are actually ranked higher than the second-seeded Huskies over at KenPom—albeit by a single spot (ninth and 10th in the nation, respectively).

Coin flips feel easier to call than this matchup. Both teams have higher ranked defenses than offenses, and neither necessarily has a go-to scoring star. Spartans sophomore guard Jeremy Fears Jr. boasts the highest average output for either side at 15.3 points per game. Even the coaching comparison is tricky. Tom Izzo is obviously a living legend, but Dan Hurley delivered back-to-back national title runs in 2023 and 2024.

Sweet 16: Midwest Region

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Alabama vs. Michigan

The Crimson Tide's path to a victory is simple. Not easy to pull off, but simple nonetheless: Alabama has to take and make a bunch of three-pointers. That's how it wins most games anyway (31 threes in two tournament wins so far), but it'll be especially critical for its shooters to be on point here, because Michigan's supersized frontcourt makes it so difficult to score from close range.

The Wolverines won't shy away from a shootout (they tallied 196 points over the first two rounds), but they will want to take advantage of their superior play in the paint. Do that and keep Alabama star guard Labaron Philon Jr. contained (he's had 38 points and 19 assists in the tournament), and Michigan should be sitting pretty.

Tennessee vs. Iowa State

All eyes are on Cyclones star forward Joshua Jefferson, who's a gametime decision after spraining his left ankle early in his team's tournament opener. Tennessee's path to an upset would get infinitely easier to navigate if the multi-talented Jefferson is either unavailable or greatly limited.

If not, the Volunteers will be hoping their size and physicality can help them brute-force their way past this stingy, disruptive defense. Iowa State's chaos-creation will put pressure on senior guard Ja'Kobi Gillespie and freshman forward Nate Ament to take care of the basketball and make enough shots to keep their defenders honest.