March Madness 2023 Live Stream: NCAA Tournament TV Schedule, Watch Basketball Online Streaming Saturday

Half the field has been eliminated from the 2023 NCAA Tournament bracket, so now eight Sweet 16 spots will be on the line as the second round begins Saturday. It’s a loaded slate with some of the biggest brands in college sports on a huge stage, but the schedule also features two of the year’s big upsets with 13-seed Furman and 15-seed Princeton looking to establish themselves as true Cinderellas punching. ticket to the second weekend of the tournament.

The No. 1 seeds from the Western Conference (Kansas), the Midwestern Conference (Houston) and the Southern Conference (Alabama) face tough tests with their seasons on the line, and each has their own concerns about being able to perform in maximum possible. Throw in the extended reach that comes with programs like Duke, UCLA, Texas and Penn State, AND Saturday’s second round will demand the attention of fans everywhere, no matter how broken one’s bracket may be.

Here are some of the biggest storylines to remember from Saturday’s second round action.

Princeton, Furman look to keep magical times alive

For the third straight season, a 15-seed upset a 2-seed in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The latter two — Oral Roberts in 2021 and Saint Peter’s in 2022 — won their next game to advance to the Sweet 16. That’s now the challenge for 15-seed Princeton, which broke the mark with its upset win over 2-seed Arizona on Thursday. Princeton has not reached the Sweet 16 since the tournament expanded, with its best finish coming in a Final Four appearance in 1965. The Tigers have reached the Round of 32 in 1983, 1996 and 1998, but lost in each of these games. Head coach Mitch Henderson was a Princeton player on the 1996 and 1998 teams and now looks to lead his alma mater to new tournament heights when the Tigers take on 7-seed Missouri.

Furman might have had one of the best shots and most exciting moments we’ll have all tournament with the game-winning steal and three-pointer in the final seconds against 4-seed Virginia. The Paladins, the 13 seed in the South Region, hadn’t won an NCAA tournament game since 1974, and before Thursday, it was the only tournament win in program history. Furman’s efforts to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time since the tournament expanded will begin Saturday’s action as the Paladins take on 5-seed San Diego State.

Availability inquiries for Alabama, Houston and Kansas

All three No. 1 seeds in action Saturday carry a significant amount of intrigue, at best, and concern, at worst, surrounding their teams heading into their second-round games. First, there’s No. 1 overall seed Alabama, which saw freshman All-American Brandon Miller miss the tournament opener in part because of a hamstring injury that kept Nate Oates from using him extensively in the Crimson Tide’s win over 96-75 vs. Texas A&M- Corpus Christi. It was the first time Miller had been held scoreless all season, though he played just 18 minutes. While he is expected to play in Alabama’s second-round game against Maryland, he was again limited during the Crimson Tide’s practice on Friday. Houston began the tournament with injury concerns surrounding star guard Marcus Sasser, and those concerns came back to the fore when he re-aggravated his groin injury in the Cougars’ first-round win against Northern Kentucky. Making matters worse was a knee injury suffered by fellow guard Jamal Shead, though both players said after the game their plan is to play Saturday against Auburn.

Then we have Kansas, which isn’t dealing with player availability issues, but instead questions about whether two-time national championship-winning coach Bill Self will return to the sidelines. Self, who underwent heart surgery and missed the entire Big 12 tournament as well as the Jayhawks’ first-round win against Howard, is considered “day-to-day” in his return as the team’s in-game coach. . He has been with the team for practice and some meetings, but whether he will practice against Arkansas has yet to be determined.

Game of the Day: (1) Kansas vs. (8) Arkansas

What an absolutely delightful second-round matchup between the national champions and an Arkansas program that has reached the Elite Eight in recent years under Eric Musselman. That will test Kansas’ ability to mix and match lineups, which makes Self’s availability especially noteworthy as Norm Roberts can take over orchestrating the substitution patterns against a long and athletic Arkansas rotation. Razorbacks freshman superstar Nick Smith didn’t even have a particularly strong game in the win against Illinois, and the team nearly went wire-to-wire thanks to tenacious defense and strong performances from Ricky Council, Davonte Davis and Anthony Black. . Kansas was outstanding in its tournament opener against Howard with star forward Gradey Dick flying all over the floor and totaling 19 points and 11 rebounds to lead the way. His 96 points are the most by Kansas in a tournament game since 2017 and the most by a reigning champion in the next tournament game since Florida in 2007 — the Gators’ first back-to-back title win.

Ultimately, Kansas’ ability to advance to the Sweet 16 may lie not with Bill Self’s availability but with the play of key veterans: point guard Dajuan Harris and Big 12 Player of the Year Jalen Wilson. Oddsmakers have made this point one of the tightest lines a 1-seed has faced in the second round in years, and if those expectations are met, it will come down to a stop-and-shoot in the final minutes.

See the full TV and streaming schedule for Saturday’s second-round NCAA Tournament action below.

Second round

Saturday, March 18