Here are Saturday’s key March Madness 2023 games to watch:
No. 13 Furman vs. No. 5 San Diego St.: 12:10 p.m., CBS
The second round gets started Saturday with the only mid-major vs. mid-major matchup of the day.
Furman’s dramatic victory over Virginia featured the only near-buzzer-beater Thursday, as JP Pegues drilled a 3-pointer with 2.2 seconds left after a costly Cavaliers turnover.
San Diego State, meanwhile, is the last team standing from the Mountain West Conference, which once again badly underperformed in the NCAA Tournament.
No. 5 Duke vs. No. 4 Tennessee: 2:40 p.m., CBS
Arguably the best matchup of the day features a Duke team that looked as impressive as any in the first round while dismantling Oral Roberts, against Tennessee, which scuffled, but still held off Louisiana.
The winner of this matchup will advance to the Sweet 16 at Madison Square Garden, which surely would be filled with Blue Devils fans if they can move on.
Duke coach Jon ScheyerUSA TODAY SportsTennessee has struggled to score since the loss of point guard Zakai Zeigler to a torn ACL, which nearly cost them in the first round.
No. 8 Arkansas vs. No. 1 Kansas: 5:15 p.m., CBS
All eyes will be on the status of Kansas coach Bill Self, who wasn’t on the sidelines Thursday as he recovers from a medical emergency that has made him unavailable since the start of the Big 12 Tournament.
The defending national champions will have their hands full with Arkansas, a disappointing team during the regular season, but one filled with talent.
The Razorbacks also have the track record of coach Eric Musselman on their side, with two consecutive Elite Eight appearances entering this season.
No. 15 Princeton vs. No. 7 Missouri: 6:10 p.m., TNT
Princeton pulled off the upset of the first round, stunning 2-seed Arizona.
This Tigers-vs.-Tigers matchup will be another test for the Ivy League champions, who weren’t able to follow up first-round upsets in 1996 and 1998 with wins the way fellow 15-seed Saint Peter’s did last year.
No. 9 Auburn vs. No. 1 Houston: 7:10 p.m., TBS
Houston may be the Midwest Region’s No. 1 seed, but the selection committee did them no favors with a second-round matchup against Auburn in Birmingham, Ala., the Tigers’ home state.
That’s just one of Houston’s potential problems: the other is the status of star guard Marcus Sasser, who aggravated his groin injury in a first-round victory over Northern Kentucky.
No. 8 Maryland vs. No. 1 Alabama: 9:40 p.m., TBS
There’s another groin injury to monitor, this one affecting Alabama star Brandon Miller, who went scoreless in 19 minutes Thursday against Texas A&M Corpus Christi after he averaged nearly 20 points during the regular season.
It’s the second tournament meeting in three years for Maryland and Alabama, which knocked out the Terps in the second round in 2021.
