Above / Every summer during Thursday evening Naperville Municipal Band Concerts in Central Park, many band fans show their college school spirit via collapsible chairs. And PN’s camera is always happy to recognize Big Ten. (PN File Photo)
Though our bracket was shot after the first round of March Madness, our favorite conference took the lead with six teams still in play after the first two rounds. Do you have a favorite college basketball team in the NCAA Men’s Basketball playoffs? And we wonder, how’s your bracket holding up?
As Big Ten followers since childhood when the Big 10, now with 18 teams, was so-named for 10 Midwestern teams, our bracket picks support our loyalty to the conference and especially Purdue. My grandfather was a Purdue graduate who became an agricultural economist there until he retired. My dad met my mother there. My mother’s siblings went there. My younger brother, cousins, two sons, nieces and nephews went there. Our family legacy shouts, “Boiler up!”
Late Sunday we favorably noted six Big Ten teams had advanced to the Sweet 16. In addition to Purdue, Illinois is still in it to win it along with Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa and Nebraska.
Let us also note that early Sunday evening, our eight-year-old granddaughter whose mother is a Fighting Illini grad and father is a Boilermaker grad already was mindful that the only way Illinois could face Purdue in March Madness is if they both end up in the final game. And she said she’s rooting for Illinois.
What are the odds for such a match up?
Furthermore, what a joy it’s been to watch Purdue guard Braden Smith set the new all-time NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Assist Record with 1,091 career assists. We’ve been watching Smith play “live” during the last four years from Mackey Arena to Indy’s Lucus Oil Stadium to Wisconsin to Northwestern to the United Center. We’ll likely always remember when Smith surpassed the previous record of 1,076 held by Bobby Hurley in Round 1 on March 20. (Hurley had set the all-time assist record during his final season with the Duke Blue Devils in 1993.) By the end of March Madness 2026, who knows what new record Smith will set!
Keeping our bracket up to date during Round 2, we noted four teams— Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee and Texas—made the Sweet 16 from the Southeastern Conference (SEC). In addition, three teams advanced from the Big 12 (Arizona, Houston and Iowa State), two from the Big East (Connecticut and St. John’s) and one from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), namely Duke.
The Big Ten’s showing for 2026 is the second-most for any conference after the SEC dominance with seven in 2025. Looking ahead this week to Thursday evening, Boiler Up at 6:10PM and Illinois fights at 9:05PM. Cheers!
Sweet 16 schedule: Game tip times this week
THURSDAY, MARCH 26
- 6:10PM: Purdue, 79* vs. Texas, 77 (West), CBS
- 6:30PM: Nebraska, 71 vs. Iowa, 77* (South), TBS/truTV
- 8:45PM: Arizona, 109* vs. Arkansas, 88 (West), CBS
- 9:05PM: Houston, 55 vs. Illinois, 65* (South), TBS/truTV
FRIDAY, MARCH 27
- 6:10PM: Duke vs. St. John’s (East), CBS
- 6:35PM: Michigan vs. Alabama (Midwest), TBS/truTV
- 8:45PM: UConn vs. Michigan State (East), CBS
- 9:10PM: Iowa State vs. Tennessee (Midwest), TBS/truTV
Elite Eight
SATURDAY, March 28
- Matchup 1: No. 3 Illinois****, 71, vs. No. 9 Iowa, 59 (4:09PM, TBS/TruTV).
- Matchup 2: No. 1 Arizona, 79 vs. No. 2 Purdue, 64 (7:59PM, TBS/TruTV). We expected Arizona to be tough! Thanks for a great season, Coach Painter and all Boilermakers! Congratulations again to Braden Smith for a career of record-breaking assists, giving him the distinction of being the NCAA Division I all-time leader in assists on March 20, 2026, surpassing Bobby Hurley’s previous record of 1,076. By the end of the Elite 8 game against Arizona, Smith had increased his (unofficial) record total to 1,103. Cheers!
SUNDAY, MARCH 29
- Matchup 3: Duke vs. UConn – Location: Washington, D.C..
- Matchup 4: Michigan vs. Tennessee – Location: Chicago.
Final Four – First Weekend in April
SATURDAY, APRIL 4 / 5PM and 7:30PM on TBS at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis
NCAA Championship Game: 7:30PM on Mon., April 6, on TBS at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis
Thanks for reading and cheering! March Madness is the most wonderful time of the year! Go, Big Ten! —PN
Last Updated, March 28, 2026
