Overview
- CBS and TNT, which reported Tuesday that the tournament averaged 10.7 million viewers in week one, also logged the most-watched opening day at 9.8 million and a record first-round primetime window at 12.5 million.
- The NCAA has locked in Thursday–Friday tip-offs, starting with No. 11 Texas vs. No. 2 Purdue at 7:10 p.m. ET and running to late windows such as Arizona–Arkansas at 9:45 p.m. ET and Houston–Illinois at 10:05 p.m. ET.
- Fans on social media are criticizing the late Eastern time starts, saying 9:45–10:10 p.m. tip-offs on work nights make it hard to watch games to the end.
- The field is mostly chalk with three No. 1 seeds still alive (Duke, Arizona, Michigan) and only two double-digit seeds (No. 11 Texas, No. 9 Iowa), while CBS notes the Big Ten placed a conference-record six teams in the Sweet 16.
- Odds and models are out for every matchup, with ESPN Analytics giving Purdue roughly a three-in-four chance over Texas, as regional sites in San Jose, Houston, Washington, D.C., and Chicago get set to host the games.