Saturday's second-round games of the 2023 NCAA Tournament saw half of the teams move on to the Sweet 16 portion of March Madness, and now eight more games tipping Sunday will produce winners to round out the group of teams that are advancing to the second weekend of the Big Dance. Sunday's college basketball schedule has some can't miss games, with matchups that include both some of the most iconic programs in the sport's history as well as the team that just pulled off the biggest upset in NCAA Tournament history.
All four No. 3 seeds advanced out of the first round and all will be featured on Sunday, starting with Sean Miller leading Xavier against No. 11 seed Pitt (12:10 p.m. ET, CBS), which is hoping to become the latest team to make it out of the First Four and advance all the way to the Sweet 16. That game will be followed by a surging Kentucky squad riding high off Oscar Tshiebwe's impressive 25-rebound performance in the first round win against Providence, as John Calipari's team will take on No. 3 seed Kansas State (2:40 p.m. ET, CBS) in the second game of the day from Greensboro.
From there the schedule opens up, with non-stop action and multiple screens needed from 5 p.m. ET all the way until the end of the night. Let's get into some of the biggest storylines to follow for Sunday's second round action.
FDU offers an encore
Fairleigh Dickinson has already become one of the biggest stories of the year in American sports as the second No. 16-seed to knock off a No. 1 seed in NCAA Tournament history, but there is so much more to the upset that makes it the biggest upset in tournament history. Not only is it the biggest upset by point spread with FDU entering the game as a 23.5-point underdog, but it did so after being the last team in the field (No. 68 in the committee's seed list), the shortest team in the country and making it into the tournament on a technicality because Merrimack, the NEC Tournament champion was ineligible for the postseason. Knights coach Tobin Anderson has become an all-time March legend for the confidence he instilled in his team and the gameplan he put in place to stifle national player of the year frontrunner Zach Edey and No. 1 seed Purdue.
Now after all the elation, celebration, media appearances and congratulatory text messages, FDU has to go play another basketball game. The second round opponent for FDU is No. 9 seed FAU, a deep and high-powered team that's won 32 games this season (10 more than FDU) and just outlasted a talented Memphis team in thrilling fashion. The FDU-FAU matchup (7:45 p.m. ET, TruTV) has no bad outcome from a storyline perspective. Either FDU will accomplish what UMBC was not able to do in 2018 and follow its No. 16-over-1 upset with a trip to the Sweet 16, or the winningest program in FAU history will continue its dream season with the school's first-ever Sweet 16 appearance.
Title-winners looking to recapture March magic
The second round technically featured four head coaches who have led teams to the national championship in this tournament. One of those, Kansas coach Bill Self, remains sidelined in the wake of a health issue, but the other three are all in action on Sunday with varying levels of pressure and expectations to recapture some of the magic that has sparked previous tournament success.
Kentucky coach John Calipari has dealt with plenty of criticism throughout this season for how the Wildcats were falling short of the preseason expectations of being a national title contender, and within Big Blue Nation the frustrations were compounded by how last year's tournament ended with a loss to 15-seed Saint Peter's in the first round. Calipari's team has had its ups and downs throughout the season, but standing in the way is a high-octane Kansas State team (2:40 p.m. ET, CBS) led by first-year head coach Jerome Tang, who experienced the highest levels of success as an assistant for the Baylor title team in 2021.
Speaking of, Scott Drew and 3-seed Baylor offered 20 stellar minutes of basketball in its first round win against UCSB, nearly doubling up the Gauchos in the second half and turning a potential upset alert into an easy win. The Bears at their best this season flashed Final Four potential, but before we can eye the South Regional matchups Baylor has to get past a Creighton team (7:10 p.m. ET, TBS) that can match their offensive firepower.
And finally there's Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, who has not won a national championship since 2000 but has become one of the most iconic and reliable coaches in this tournament. The Spartans in 2023 have not been reliable, but the defensive effort against No. 10 seed USC in the first round was one of the team's best performances in more than a month. High-level defense is a must as the No. 7 seed Spartans are tasked with slowing No. 2 seed Marquette (5:15 p.m. ET, CBS), a team that rates as one of the five most efficient offensive teams left in the tournament.
Game of the day: No. 4 Indiana vs. No. 5 Miami
Given how things are going at the top of the Midwest Region, the battle between No. 4 seed Indiana and No. 5 seed Miami (8:40 p.m. ET, TNT) sure feels like a battle between teams who could enter the second weekend with an opportunity to crash the Final Four. Trayce Jackson-Davis is coming off a thunderous performance in the Hoosiers' win against Kent State, totaling 24 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and five blocks. The First Team All-American was clearly the best player on the floor, and when we see a star like TJD start to hit that gear in the tournament it creates anticipation for how far he can carry a team.
But on the other side is a Miami squad that's getting healthy at the right time and can absolutely fill up the box score, even if the first round wasn't the team's best offensive performance. Drake disrupted Miami's offense and held them well below their season averages for points and efficiency, but with their season on the line the Hurricanes stormed back from an eight-point deficit in the final 4:38 of the game to win 63-57. The combination of stops and scores in that 14-point swing give Miami some real juice heading into this matchup with Indiana, which could be one of the best games of the night.
Check out the full TV and streaming schedule for Sunday's second round action below.
Sunday's streaming schedule
| Time (ET) | Game | TV / Stream |
|---|---|---|
| 12:10 p.m. | (11) Pitt vs. (3) Xavier Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro | CBS (watch live) |
| 2:40 p.m. | (6) Kentucky vs. (3) Kansas St. Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro | CBS (watch live) |
| 5:15 p.m. | (7) Michigan St. vs. (2) Marquette Nationwide Arena, Columbus | CBS (watch live) |
| 6:10 p.m. | (5) Saint Mary's vs. (4) UConn MVP Arena, Albany | TNT (watch live) |
| 7:10 p.m. | (6) Creighton vs. (3) Baylor Ball Arena, Denver | TBS (watch live) |
| 7:45 p.m. | (16) Fairleigh Dickinson vs. (9) FAU Nationwide Arena, Columbus | truTV (watch live) |
| 8:40 p.m. | (5) Miami vs. (4) Indiana MVP Arena, Albany | TNT (watch live) |
| 9:40 p.m. | (6) TCU vs. (3) Gonzaga Ball Arena, Denver | TBS (watch live) |
