Elite Eight breakdown: What makes each men’s NCAA Tournament matchup so exciting

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www.nytimes.com

And then there were eight.

The men’s NCAA Tournament Elite Eight is officially set — and it’s a mix of heavy hitters and slight surprises. The East and West regions played out true to form, with No. 1 Duke and No. 2 UConn set to meet Sunday in Washington, D.C., and No. 1 Arizona and No. 2 Purdue doing battle Saturday in San Jose, Calif.

But the South matches up a 3-seed (Illinois) and a 9-seed (Iowa), and sixth-seeded Tennessee broke through in the Midwest late Friday night to earn a matchup with top-seeded Michigan.

Only two of the remaining programs — Duke and UConn — have won a national title in the 21st century. And half of the field — Purdue, Illinois, Tennessee and Iowa — has never won the NCAA Tournament.

Here’s our first look at four enticing matchups.

South

No. 3 Illinois vs. No. 9 Iowa

When: Saturday, 6:09 p.m. ET, TBS
Line: Illinois -7.5**
The Athletic’s projection:** Illinois, 71 percent

First look: Almost no one saw this matchup of former Big Ten West football schools coming. They already met once this season, on Jan. 11, with the Illini winning 75-69 in Iowa City.

Iowa has been the darling of this year’s tournament. Just two years ago, Hawkeyes coach Ben McCollum was still at Division II Northwest Missouri State. After one season at Drake, he and star point guard Bennett Stirtz came to Iowa, where they went .500 in Big Ten play this season. But Iowa has come alive in this tournament, knocking off defending national champion Florida and pulling out a Sweet 16 thriller against fourth-seeded Nebraska. McCollum’s team employs a slow-down pace, takes care of the ball and works relentlessly to find the perfect shot.

But the Hawkeyes will have their work cut out against a talented Illinois team that has reeled off three straight double-digit victories. Coach Brad Underwood’s team stifled No. 2 seed Houston in its hometown in the Sweet 16, holding the Cougars to 34.4 percent shooting in a 65-55 win. Freshman guard Keaton Wagler is a projected NBA lottery pick who can both score and pass.

What’s at stake? McCollum, who previously won four DII national titles, has a chance to lead Iowa to its first Final Four since 1980. It would be a remarkable feat for the Hawkeyes, given that only one of the eight players in the rotation came back from Fran McCaffery’s last team. Most of the roster came either from Drake or other mid-major programs.

While Underwood has taken the Illini to their second Elite Eight in three seasons, the program is seeking its first Final Four trip since Dee Brown and Deron Williams reached the 2005 national championship game. They represent one of the Big Ten’s best shots to end the league’s 26-year title drought.

Reason to be excited: A year after all four No. 1 seeds reached the Final Four, the South region will send either a formidable No. 3 seed or the closest thing to a Cinderella still standing in the bracket.

MakeSecond

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3 Illinois

✓

71%

30%

10%

9 Iowa

✓

29%

2 Houston

✓

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4 Nebraska

✓

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Updated March 28, 2026 at 12:27 a.m. E.T.

West

No. 1 Arizona vs. No. 2 Purdue

When: Saturday, 8:49 p.m. ET, TBS
Line**:** Arizona -6.5**
The Athletic’s projection:** Arizona, 56 percent

First look: It’s hard to beat this matchup in San Jose. Purdue began the season No. 1 in the polls. Arizona later spent nine weeks in the top spot. The top-seeded Wildcats come into the Elite Eight having won 12 straight games, while the Boilermakers haven’t lost since the regular season.

Arizona has been a season-long buzzsaw. Behind point guard Jaden Bradley, who won Big 12 player of the year, standout freshman guard Brayden Burries, and the sizeable front line of Koa Peat, Ivan Kharchenkov and 7-foot-2 Motiejus Krivas, the Wildcats create great looks on offense and play smothering defense. They held No. 4 seed Arkansas to 22 percent 3-point shooting in Thursday’s 109-88 Sweet 16 rout.

Purdue has been less consistent and needed a last-second putback to survive 11th-seeded Texas in the Sweet 16, but the Boilers’ biggest strength is their experience. Point guard and NCAA all-time assists leader Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer and Trey Kaufman-Renn are all senior starters who played in the 2024 national championship game against UConn.

What’s at stake? For all of Arizona’s success under fifth-year coach Tommy Lloyd and predecessor Sean Miller — six 30-win seasons and eight conference championships since 2011 — the Final Four has proven to be maddeningly elusive. The Wildcats last made it to the final weekend in 2001, with Lute Olson at the helm and Richard Jefferson and Gilbert Arenas on the court. This is arguably their best chance since.

Purdue, for its part, is still chasing the school’s first national championship. It’s the last missing piece in 21st-year coach Matt Painter’s distinguished tenure. With a win, Smith and his senior class would become the first in program history to reach two Final Fours.

Reason to be excited: With a different draw, we might have seen this matchup next week in Indianapolis. We’ll gladly take it seven days sooner.

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1 Arizona

✓

56%

32%

21%

2 Purdue

✓

44%

22%

13%

4 Arkansas

✓

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11 Texas

✓

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Updated March 28, 2026 at 12:49 a.m. E.T.

Midwest

No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 6 Tennessee

When: Sunday, 2:15 p.m. ET, CBS
Line: Michigan -6.5
The Athletic’s projection: Michigan, 72 percent

First look: Although NCAA Tournament games usually come down to guard play, this looks like a frontcourt showdown.

The hulking Wolverines have looked like a national title contender all season and haven’t slowed down in the tournament. Their three wins are by a combined 57 points. Forward Yaxel Lendeborg, the Big Ten player of the year, has starred since transferring from UAB. He stuffed the stat sheet (23 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists) Friday to help Michigan pull away from Alabama.

The Volunteers are one of the best rebounding teams in the country and entered Friday with (according to KenPom) the fourth-best offensive rebounding percentage this century (44.8). They outrebounded Iowa State 42-18 in the Sweet 16 to reach their third consecutive Elite Eight. Beyond the boards, Felix Okpara’s 243 career blocks are second among active players.

What’s at stake? Michigan’s Dusty May and Tennessee’s Rick Barnes are both looking to become the 17th coach to take multiple programs to the Final Four. May led Florida Atlantic there in 2023, and Barnes did it at Texas in 2003. May has already established himself as a top-tier coach, but a victory would be a legacy-defining moment for Barnes as the 71-year-old nears the end of his career.

The Wolverines have a pair of national championship game appearances this century (2013 and 2018) and are hoping for their second national championship (first since 1989). The Vols’ drought is even bigger, as they’re one of the most successful programs without a trip to the Final Four. Tennessee has played Michigan three times this century, all in the NCAA Tournament, and lost all three (2022, 2014, 2011).

Reason to be excited: The frontcourt will have a matchup of potential lottery picks, Michigan’s Lendeborg and Tennessee five-star freshman Nate Ament (who has been up and down this postseason but scored 18 points Friday).

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1 Michigan

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72%

37%

24%

6 Tennessee

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28%

2 Iowa State

✓

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4 Alabama

✓

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Updated March 28, 2026 at 12:49 a.m. E.T.

East

No. 1 Duke vs. No. 2 UConn

When: Sunday, 5:05 p.m. ET, CBS
Line: Duke -4.5
The Athletic’s projection: Duke, 66 percent

First look: The sixth NCAA Tournament meeting between these teams should be a good one.

Even if you’ve been focused on other teams, you’ve probably seen Duke twins Cayden and Cameron Boozer on several commercials, which tells you something about their star power. Cameron Boozer was the first Division I player in three decades to finish a regular season with at least 700 points, 300 rebounds, 100 assists and a field goal percentage above 50 percent. He had another double-double in the Sweet 16 (22 points, 10 rebounds) against St. John’s to help Duke win its 14th consecutive game.

The Huskies have rebounded well from a 20-point loss to St. John’s in the final of the Big East tournament. They pulled away from Furman in the first round and beat UCLA by 16 in the second before edging Michigan State on Friday night. UConn has won with balance; five different players entered Friday averaging double figures, led by center Tarris Reed Jr.

What’s at stake? Jon Scheyer has done well since succeeding Mike Krzyzewski, with three consecutive Elite Eight appearances and a Final Four. But the ultimate goal (a national title) remains elusive. Getting back to the Final Four seems like a baseline expectation for a team that has been a championship favorite for most of the last two seasons and has one of the nation’s top players in Cameron Boozer.

UConn can continue bolstering its claim as arguably the top current program in the sport. A victory would put the Huskies in the Final Four for the third time in four seasons after back-to-back titles in 2023 and 2024. Coach Dan Hurley’s NCAA Tournament winning percentage (.782) just passed Ohio State’s Fred Taylor for No. 3 all time. Another Final Four would inch him closer to John Wooden (.825).

Reason to be excited: It’s a matchup between two of the game’s biggest brands with a trip to the Final Four on the line. It sells itself.

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1 Duke

✓

66%

45%

21%

2 UConn

✓

34%

18%

3 Michigan State

✓

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5 St. John's

✓

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Updated March 28, 2026 at 12:27 a.m. E.T.