The Sweet 16 kicks off in the South Region with a showdown between two teams looking for a breakthrough in Tennessee and Purdue.
While there are a lot of traditional powers in the other three regions of the NCAA Tournament, the South Region offers plenty of intrigue. The four teams coming to Louisville have a combined six trips to the Final Four, with the only title coming from Oregon back in 1939.
Two squads with a ton to prove square off in the first matchup of the night featuring Purdue taking on Tennessee. The Boilermakers haven’t reached the Final Four since 1980, but they have a good chance to get back if Carsen Edwards can stay hot.
Edwards buried the defending national champions last Saturday, pouring in 42 points to help Purdue blow out Villanova 87-61 to earn a spot in Louisville. The junior guard has averaged 34 points per game during the NCAA Tournament, which means that containing Edwards is imperative for the Volunteers.
Tennessee nearly made the wrong kind of history in the first two rounds, struggling to get by 15-seed Colgate before nearly blowing a 25-point lead against Iowa in the Round of 32. The Hawkeyes ended up forcing overtime in that game, but Tennessee outlasted them to punch their ticket to the Sweet 16.
Tennessee has never reached the Final Four, and they have only made the Elite Eight once, falling to Michigan State back in 2010. Head coach Rick Barnes does have experience here, having gone to the Final Four with Texas back in 2003, which could give him an edge over Purdue counterpart Matt Painter.
How to watch Purdue vs. Tennessee
- Date: Thursday, March 28
- Time: 7:27 p.m. ET
- Location: Louisville, KY
- Venue: KFC Yum! Center
- TV: TBS
- Live Stream: WatchTBS
The winner of this game will take on either Virginia or Oregon on Saturday for a trip to Minneapolis.