March Madness: When does the Elite Eight start?
By John Buhler
It will be all about the Elite Eight in March Madness when No. 5 Houston takes on No. 2 Villanova in San Antonio on Saturday night.
Four tickets have been punched into the Elite Eight so far in March Madness.
While eight more teams are playing for four more spots on Friday, four got it done on Thursday evening. No. 4 Arkansas upset No. 1 Gonzaga in San Francisco. No. 2 Villanova ended No. 11 Michigan’s Cinderella season in San Antonio. While No. 2 Duke eked one out over No. 3 Texas Tech in San Francisco, it was No. 5 Houston who had no issues with No. 1 Arizona over in San Antonio.
With those four teams moving on, here is what the first wave of the Elite Eight will look like come Saturday night.
March Madness 2022: When does the Elite Eight tip off?
The South Regional Final will be between the No. 5 Houston Cougars and the No. 2 Villanova Wildcats. Tipoff from the AT&T Center in San Antonio will be at 6:09 p.m. ET, 5:09 p.m. CT. TBS will carry the game. Houston is hoping to get back to the Final Four after an incredible run a season ago. Villanova has been a fixture in latter stages of the tournament for years under Jay Wright.
The West Regional Final will be between the No. 4 Arkansas Razorbacks and the No. 2 Duke Blue Devils. Tipoff from the Chase Center in San Francisco will be at 8:49 p.m. ET, 5:49 p.m. ET. TBS will carry the game immediately after the South Regional Final. Arkansas is really coming alive under its head coach Eric Musselman, while this is Mike Krzyzewski’s last tournament leading Duke.
The East and Midwest Regional Finals will take place on Sunday to round out the Elite Eight. The East Regional Final will feature the winner of No. 15 Saint Peter’s vs. No. 3 Purdue against the winner of No. 8 North Carolina vs. No. 4 UCLA. The Midwest Regional Final will feature the winner of No. 4 Providence vs. No. 1 Kansas against the winner of No. 11 Iowa State vs. No. 10 Miami.
Without debate, the best part of the Elite Eight is the winner of each game cuts down the nets.
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