Michigan stands as the monsters of the Midwest on the NCAA Men’s Tournament bracket, but they’ve got plenty hot on their tails.
Keep track of all the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament happenings in the Midwest Region below …
(Photo by Ishika Samant/Getty Images)
Click here for the other regions …
Sweet 16 (March 27)
(2) Iowa State (-4.5) vs. (6) Tennessee
10:10 p.m. ET, TBS/TruTV
(1) Michigan (-9.5) vs. (4) Alabama
7:35 p.m. ET, TBS/TruTV
Second Round (March 21-22)
Houston Mallette from DEEP #MarchMadness @AlabamaMBB pic.twitter.com/1qSzu2L19g
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 23, 2026
(4) Alabama 90, (5) Texas Tech 65
A final margin of 25 didn’t do the final score justice, as Alabama rolled to a large lead that peaked at 34 en route to its fourth consecutive Sweet 16 clinch. Latrell Wrightsell scored 24 and contributed six 3-pointers to the Crimson Tide’s 19 on the night. Five more came from Houston Mallette off the bench, accounting for all 15 of his points. Texas Tech hit only four in turn, preventing it from building on last year’s run to the Elite Eight.
Former Terp Ja’Kobi Gillespie just led Tennessee to the Sweet 16 with 21p, 6a after dropping 29 and 9 in the first round.
Hit 6 FTs in the final 30 seconds.
Gillespie’s Maryland teammates dubbed him “Kob Curry.” Maybe they were onto something?pic.twitter.com/fxQ0XwjX0p
— Harrison Rich (@harrisonrich_) March 23, 2026
(6) Tennessee 79, (3) Virginia 72
Tennessee led for a majority of its relative upset bid in Philadelphia, but one last push led by Ja’Kobi Gillespie and Nate Ament was enough to push the Volunteers to their fourth consecutive Sweet 16. With neither team able to breakout by more than one possession over the final five-plus minutes, Ament free throws gave the Vols a lasting lead with 97 seconds to go before more singles from Gillespie locked things down. Gillespie once again paced UT, scoring 21 points in the triumph.
Tamin Lipsey went off for a career-high 26 points in a win over Kentucky
The Cyclones advance to the Sweet 16 pic.twitter.com/kdNCqssOyI
— B/R Hoops (@brhoops) March 22, 2026
(2) Iowa State 82, (7) Kentucky 63
No Joshua Jefferson was no problem for Iowa State, which enjoyed a 26-point, 10-assist double-double from Tamin Lipsey. Kentucky jumped out to an early lead with Iowa State struggling from the field early on, but a 13-1 run for the Cyclones, partly assisted by foul trouble for Otega Oweh, ran through the midway stages of the second half, allowed the second-seed to reach the Sweet 16 for the second time over the last three years.
Yaxel Lendeborg showing in three plays why he should be an NBA lottery pick lock pic.twitter.com/af7BSo4xBY
— Caleb Turner (@calebturner23) March 21, 2026
(1) Michigan 95, (9) Saint Louis 72
Each of the five Wolverine starters reached double-figures in scoring, as a 25-point effort from Yaxel Lendeborg and four rejections from Aday Mara handled business on both sides of the ball. Michigan led by nine at halftime before an early Saint Louis surge, punctuated by a 3-pointer from Robbie Avila, narrowed the gap to four just over four minutes into the latter portion. A 29-8 run in the middle stages allowed them to pull away, denying the Billikens Sweet 16 entry for the sixth time in as many tries since 1995.
First Round (March 19-20)
Ja’Kobi Gillespie is GOING OFF right now.
He’s got 13 of Tennessee’s 26 points so far. @Vol_Hoops pic.twitter.com/OwMBtthoQ6
— CBS Sports College Basketball (@CBSSportsCBB) March 20, 2026
(6) Tennessee 78, (11) Miami (OH) 56
Miami’s second loss of the season proved to be its last, as the Volunteers emphatically and mercilessly took down their Cinderella bid. Ja’Kobi Gillespie clipped the RedHawks with six three-pointers en route to game-best 29 points, all but one coming in the first half as UT built a 19-point lead for halftime. Peter Suder scored almost half of Miami’s points in defeat with 27, as all other RedHawks shot just over 28 percent from the field.
Bama guard LaBaron Philon was HOOPING against Hofstra
29 PTS | 8 REB | 7 AST pic.twitter.com/SIGMTdkgjW
— B/R Hoops (@brhoops) March 20, 2026
(4) Alabama 90, (13) Hofstra 70
The Pride roared in its first NCAA Tournament showing since 2001 but the Tide rolled to an 18-point advantage in the second half to move on. Labaron Philon Jr. picked the scoring pace with Aden Holloway out, earning all but eight of his 29 over the latter 20. An early surge from Hofstra, which was led by 24 points from Preston Edmead, allowed them to go up by as much as 10 and hang around until the dying stages. Alabama ran off with a 26-11 advantage over the last eight-plus minutes, pushing them into the Round of 32 for the four consecutive season.
Killyan Toure, plus the foul.@CycloneMBB is ROLLING in St. Louis pic.twitter.com/8EhmjAgt4I
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 20, 2026
(2) Iowa State 108, (15) Tennessee State 74
The Cyclones put up a bittersweet blowout victory against the Ohio Valley champions: while they never looked back after jumping out to an early 25-point lead, ISU lost Joshua Jefferson to an ankle injury mere minutes after tip-off, casting a bit of a pall over the opening round proceedings. The All-American did eventually rejoin his team on the bench, being one of many to take in the one-sided triumph led by 25 points and 11 rebounds from Killyan Toure.
Jacari White with a massive game off the bench for Virginia
White hit 6 3s and finished with 26 points to lead the Cavaliers to a first-round win. pic.twitter.com/24UVJ0CB32
— B/R Hoops (@brhoops) March 20, 2026
(3) Virginia 82, (14) Wright State 73
Six three-pointers off the bench from Jacari White helped Virginia stave off a Wright State upset bid and secure the program’s first March Madness victory since their national championship triumph in 2019. The Raiders, champions of the Horizon League, held a five-point lead at halftime and were up as late as the post-five-minute mark of the second but a 9-0 run from the Cavaliers, supplied entirely by White and Johann Grunloe, helped seal the deal.
Jaylen Petty with the step back and @TexasTechMBB is ROLLING.
21 points for Petty. pic.twitter.com/tfxvOIrIre
— CBS Sports College Basketball (@CBSSportsCBB) March 20, 2026
(5) Texas Tech 91, (12) Akron 71
Playing without top attraction JT Toppin, the Red Raiders held off an early threat from a 12 seed to secure advancement. With Jaylen Petty leading the way with 24 points (uniting with Donovan Atwell to sink nine three-pointers), Texas Tech embarked on a 16-4 run in the second half capped off by a Petty dunk and three-pointer after a successful and-one for the Zips had cut the lead to four just beyond the 10-minute mark.
OTEGA OWEH AT THE BUZZER TO SEND IT TO OVERTIME!!!!
THIS. IS. MARCH. pic.twitter.com/KGzYtY5rKO
— TNT Sports U.S. (@TNTSportsUS) March 20, 2026
(7) Kentucky 89, (10) Santa Clara 84 (OT)
Program veteran Otega Oweh scored 35 points, with no three more important than the trio he earned at the end of regulation. Oweh’s fateful tally came mere seconds after Allen Graves sank a go-ahead triple of his own with 2.4 seconds remaining, one that seemed to give the Broncos their first NCAA Tournament victory since the Steve Nash days of 1996. But the desperation heave forced an extra session, one where Kentucky scored six unanswered that extended into the final minute to secure the victory.
Dion Brown waltzes down the lane for 2⃣#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/Dmy6blWZJE
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 20, 2026
(9) Saint Louis 102, (8) Georgia 77
An offensive onslaught set the tone for a blowout victory for the Billikens, who had six different men in double figures on a night where they shot 58 percent from the field, rendering a triple-decade effort from Jeremiah Wilkinson mostly meaningless. Dion Brown scored 18 points on a 9-of-10 effort from the field, helping the Billikens jump out to a lead that reached as high as 40 and help earn a program record for most victories in a season 29.
“He turns the rim into a bookshelf, like he’s just reaching up there for Wuthering Heights”
– Jason Benetti on Aday Mara pic.twitter.com/J3OqIz0ieV
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 19, 2026
(1) Michigan 101, (16) Howard 80
Morez Johnson Jr. had a perfect shooting night en route to 21 points and 10 rebounds, allowing top-ranked Michigan to survive a spirted strike from the Bison. The Wolverines led by but four at halftime, allowing Howard to put up 46 points over the first 20, before a second half surge from Johnson, Nimari Burnett, and Aday Mara (who combined to shoot over 87 percent from the floor) restored Blue sanity as they put up their most one-sided March Madness victory since their run to the 2018 national title game.
First Four (March 17-18)
Spot on. Eian Elmer is not Doug Edert. He is a legit NBA prospect. He will get drafted in 2027. I have been saying this for months. Great to see the country get introduced to him tonight. Enjoy his six makes from deep. @DraftDeeper @DraftJunkyJames @JamesRInjuries @NBADraftWass https://t.co/4OsQTJyZc5 pic.twitter.com/qzUk6JXjnS
— JPR (@Scouting_Col) March 19, 2026
(11) Miami (OH) 89, (11) SMU 79
The RedHawks justified their tournament entry in style, recovering from their MAC tournament loss to defeat the ACC’s Mustangs for their first March Madness triumph since Wally Szczerbiak over saw a run to the 1999 Sweet 16. Miami sank 16 threes, all but three coming from the arms of top scorers Eian Elmer, Brant Byers, and Luke Skaljac, while limiting the Mustangs to only five en route to a lead that reached as high as 14, much to the delight of a crowd that made the relatively short trip from Oxford to Dayton.
Bryce Harris in the CLUTCH
He puts Howard up by 4 with 13.1 left!pic.twitter.com/9m5shz1BAf
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) March 18, 2026
(16) Howard 86, (16) UMBC 83
The Bison enjoyed 23 points from Ose Okojie and a 19-point, 14-rebound double-double from Bryce Harris, whose jumper with 13 seconds remaining allowed Howard to withstand a late comeback from the Retrievers and secure the first NCAA Tournament win in program history. Howard, having won the MEAC for the third time in four season, led by 11 entering the two-minute mark before former Cinderella darling UMBC scored nine straight, but that merely served to set up Harris’ heroics and set up a date with top-ranked Michigan.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags
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