Howdy once again, folks! I'm back with another slate of games to get the second week of our Tournament Squares game going. And you might notice that for the second year in a row, there's not a glass slipper to be found among them. And that's because all the mid-majors and small schools have been knocked out of the tournament - it's blue-bloods and power conferences all the way down. I don't know for sure what that says about the state of college basketball in 2026, but I don't think it says anything good.

Anyway, I wanted to take a moment to point out to you guys a couple of things about our new all-online Squares game that you might not have noticed yet. First off, you can ALWAYS access the app at https://famsquares.net. You can stick that in your bookmarks or even make it your homepage, and it'll always be available for you, even if there's no event going on. Second of all, even if you haven't seen an email yet, you can see games as soon as they're posted on the app - just click that link and if games have been created, they'll be on the event page. You don't need to wait on the edge of your couch for these emails anymore, but hey, you certainly can if you want to. I won't judge. Lastly, if you go to the app and look up towards the top right of the browser, you'll see a timezone there. Click it, and you can select whatever timezone you're in. The browser will remember what you selected, and magically all the games from now on will be listed in your local time, so you don't even need to take a moment to convert from Pacific time to wherever you are. Pretty cool, huh?

Anyway, let's get into what we've got on tap for the next few days, shall we?

Men's Sweet 16 - Thursday, 4:30 Pacific / 7:30 Eastern: Iowa (9) vs. Nebraska (4)

Iowa forward Alvaro Folgueiras hit a buzzer-beating three to stun defending national champion Florida on Sunday — the kind of shot that changes a program's entire tournament narrative overnight. Nebraska got here the hard way too, surviving Vanderbilt on a last-second layup from freshman Braden Frager. But the real story is that these two Big Ten rivals are meeting for the third time this season, each having won one — Iowa won the February regular season game and Nebraska took the overtime rematch on Senior Day in March. Thursday night in Houston is the rubber match, and both teams know each other better than maybe any two teams left in this tournament. Nebraska is making their first-ever Sweet 16. Iowa hasn't been here since 1999. For one of them, the dream run ends Thursday night.

Men's Sweet 16 - Thursday, 7:05 Pacific / 10:05 Eastern: Illinois (3) vs. Houston (2)

Illinois has the best offense in the country and has looked unstoppable in the tournament, blowing out Penn and VCU by a combined 56 points to get here. Houston has something to say about that — the Cougars won both their tournament games by 31 points each, and they're literally playing at home in front of their own fans. Houston is trying to avenge last year's national championship loss, and their defense is the kind that can make the country's best offense look very ordinary. Freshman lottery picks Keaton Wagler for Illinois and Kingston Flemings for Houston are the headliners — two of the best guards left in the tournament going head to head late Thursday night.

Women's Sweet 16 - Friday, 11:30 Pacific / 2:30 Eastern: Vanderbilt (2) vs. Notre Dame (6)

Notre Dame's Hannah Hidalgo and Vanderbilt's Mikayla Blakes are both Players of the Year in their respective conferences and quite likely the two best players in the country this season, making this a battle to look forward to. The Irish upset Ohio State on the road to get here, and Hidalgo was the reason — she just broke Notre Dame's all-time single-season scoring record along the way. Vanderbilt has waited 17 years to be back on this stage, and Blakes put up a near triple-double against Illinois in the second round to get them here. There's one catch for Notre Dame: they've reached the Sweet 16 five straight years without once making an Elite Eight. Friday in Fort Worth is the game that changes that — for one of them.

Women's Sweet 16 - Friday, 4:30 Pacific / 7:30 Eastern: UCLA (1) vs. Minnesota (4)

To begin with, UCLA is an absolute juggernaut. Center Lauren Betts is already a legitimate superstar on the court, and is rapidly becoming one off it as well. Minnesota has overachieved at every step to reach this stage — a team without superstars, but with plenty of grit and toughness. The Bruins are appearing in their fourth straight Sweet 16 with an eye on the Final Four, while the Gophers look to avenge a bad loss to UCLA earlier this season and keep their remarkable postseason run alive.

Alabama is playing without suspended guard Aden Holloway and they've barely noticed, blowing out their first two opponents while burying 19 three-pointers in the second round alone. That's what this team does: they run, they shoot threes at a volume that strains belief, and they dare you to keep up. Michigan is the one seed for a reason — the Wolverines have one of the most dominant frontcourts in the country, and Alabama simply doesn't have the size to match them inside. The question Friday night in Chicago is whether Alabama can get enough threes to fall to keep it close, or whether Michigan's size advantage just grinds them down.

There are only three inevitabilities in life: death, taxes, and Tom Izzo's Michigan State Spartans making the Sweet 16. Dan Hurley has turned UConn into a dynasty, and the Huskies' Tarris Reed Jr. has been a force of nature in the tournament, putting up numbers that haven't been seen since the era of Elvin Hayes. The last four times UConn has reached the Sweet 16, they've won the national championship — which is either inspiring or terrifying depending on which bench you're sitting on. Michigan State is good enough to end that streak. Whether they're clean enough is the question.

Clara Strack is back — and she's been the reason Kentucky is here, putting up double-doubles in every meaningful game on the way to the Wildcats' first Sweet 16 in a decade. Texas is a different problem than anything Kentucky has faced so far. The Longhorns blew out their first two tournament opponents by a combined 84 points, and Madison Booker just put up 40 points against Oregon — the most ever by a Texas player in an NCAA tournament game. These two teams met in February and the Wildcats showed they might have found a way to slow Booker down. Whether that knowledge is enough against a Texas team playing its best basketball of the season is the whole question Saturday in Fort Worth.

South Carolina is making its 12th straight Sweet 16 under Dawn Staley and has won its first two games in this tournament by a combined 109 points. The Gamecocks are built for March — when they lose a tournament game, it's a near-seismic event. Thing is, Oklahoma did narrowly beat them in January, with freshman Aaliyah Chavez taking over down the stretch. That's the whole story Saturday in Sacramento — whether the Sooners can replicate that performance against a South Carolina team that has only gotten more dangerous since that January upset. South Carolina's Joyce Edwards has been a force all tournament, and Raegan Beers gives Oklahoma a legitimate inside presence to challenge them. Dawn Staley is a legend in part because her teams simply don't lose to the same opponent twice. Oklahoma needs to prove they can withstand her second shot.

Okay, that'll just about do it for me tonight. We've got another brilliant weekend of college basketball waiting for us, so enjoy the games, and I'll be back on Friday night with our men's Elite 8 matchups, and again on Saturday night with the same thing for the women's side.

Best,

Chris