2023 March Madness Live Stream: NCAA Tournament TV Guide, Watch Elite Eight Stream Saturday – CBS Sports

The 2023 NCAA tournament has reached one of its most iconic points in its annual schedule: The Elite Eight. Saturday’s two regional finals will send the winning teams to college basketball’s biggest stage, the Final Four, where they will play for the national championship in Houston. All the mayhem of the first rounds is taken to the extreme here in the Elite Eight, with only one team emerging from each corner of the bracket.

And while there’s a certain sadness that we won’t have 12 hours of wall-to-wall tournament action or having to switch back and forth between games, there’s a certain urgency in the scarcity. This is the end of the road for the 2023 season. Just like the teams looking to capitalize on every remaining opportunity, there’s a whole collection of sports fans tuned in to the Elite Eight to soak up every last shiny moment.

Saturday’s Elite Eight action begins with the East Regional Final between No. 3 seeded Kansas State against No. 9 seeded FAU and is followed by the West Regional Final between No. 3 seeded Gonzaga and No. 4 seeded UConn.

Let’s move on to some key storylines that feed into both games.

battle of the greats

The bout on the block between Gonzaga center Drew Timme and UConn forward Adama Sanogo will be entertainment worthy of a Las Vegas billboard of its own, promoting a clash of the greats that will determine the tournament fortunes of two proud programs. Timme posted an all-time NCAA tournament performance with 36 points and 13 rebounds in the Sweet 16’s win over UCLA and set a new tournament record with 10 games with at least 20 points. Timme, who is now stepping onto the court for his 13th NCAA tournament game of his career, likely needs another big performance to keep Gonzaga’s title hopes alive.

That road to Houston currently runs directly through Sanogo, who lacks Timme’s tournament experience but plays at the elite level, averaging 23.3 points per game and 9.7 rebounds per game in the Huskies’ three wins. The 6-foot-9, 245-pound junior was an integral part of UConn’s build up to this year’s breakthrough. Now, just one win from the Final Four, it’s impossible to believe he won’t feature heavily in Saturday night’s showdown.

When Gonzaga was under pressure in close games against TCU and UCLA in that tournament, the offense focused solely on getting the ball deep to Timme. Obtaining similar possessions in this competition would mean the game and season depend on winning those post-up fights. And while Timme can fill a goal blade, he also has to worry about edging out Sanogo at the other end as UConn is one of the top offensive rebound teams in the country. Yes, UConn guard Jordan Hawkins just scored 24 points in the win over Arkansas, and Gonzaga wing Julian Strawther just wiped a legendary game winner from the logo against UCLA. However, given the way these teams fit together, the key to the game will be in the battle of the greats.

Mr. New York City’s encore

Kansas State guard Markquis Nowell didn’t downplay the importance of these all-time basketball moments at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Nowell has welcomed these NCAA tournament opportunities in his hometown, and his showmanship in a record-breaking 20-point, 19-assist performance against Michigan State has fans everywhere excited about the encore. But as more fans get to know Nowell and this energetic Kansas State roster, many know the Wildcats have been playing like this for a good chunk of the year.

Nowell and teammate Keyontae Johnson were both selected by the All-Big 12 First Teams, and coach Jerome Tang was named the league’s Coach of the Year for leading the team to third place after being ranked was selected last. Kansas State defeated Baylor twice, defeated Kansas at home and Texas on the road, and started the year 15-1 despite having a roster with one of the least year-over-year continuity in the country. Only two players from Kansas State’s eight-man rotation were on the team last year, and one of them was Nowell. Tang’s arrival coincided with Nowell’s explosion as one of the sport’s elite guards, and now he has another game in Midtown Manhattan to bring Kansas State back into the Final Four for the first time since 1964.

FAU aims to prove seed #9 can fly

The 43 previous tournaments since the NCAA began seeding teams in 1979 have produced 172 Final Four appearances. The No. 1 seed accounts for more of these Final Four bids than any other seeding line, with 69 different teams making it from the top seeding line to the national semifinals. The number of Final Four appearances by seeding line drops significantly as you get deeper into the bracket, with the No. 2 seeds (37), No. 3 seeds (19), and No. 4 seeds (14) combined 70 performances result. The fact that 80.8% of Final Four attendances come from these four top seeding lines shows how difficult it is for Cinderella teams to maintain a magical four-game run over two weekends of tournament chaos.

While there is some debate as to whether a 34-win FAU team should count as “Cinderella,” there is no debate that a win would put the Owls into the Final Four as 9-seeded. A 9er has only made it to the Final Four twice: Penn in 1979 and Wichita State in 2013. One could argue that the 9er has a bracket disadvantage with a possible second-round matchup against the 1er, but it doesn’t. It is failing to explain why 8th place has made it into the Final Four seven times, the second most of all seedlings outside of the Top 4. For whatever reason, the number 9 hasn’t made the Final Four as often as the number 8 or even number 11, but FAU can join this exclusive club on Saturday.

Check out the full TV and streaming schedule for Saturday’s Elite Eight action below: