The 2026 NCAA Tournament continues on Friday with 16 more first-round games that will determine the 32 teams in contention to cut down the nets next month in Indianapolis. With the madness fully underway, plenty of storylines are worth pondering.
The first game of the day features No. 10 seed Santa Clara against No. 7 seed Kentucky (12:15 p.m. ET, CBS), with the winner advancing to face the winner of No. 2 seed Iowa State and No. 15 seed Tennessee State. Another intriguing early matchup has No. 4 seed Alabama facing No. 13 seed Hofstra (3:15 p.m. ET, truTV).
Alabama will be without star guard Aden Holloway for that game after he was arrested earlier in the week on felony drug charges.
No. 1 seed Florida begins its quest to repeat as national champions against No. 16 seed Prairie View A&M (9:25 p.m. ET, TNT). Another game to keep an eye on during the late window is Darryn Peterson, the potential No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, making his NCAA Tournament debut with Kansas when the No. 4 seed Jayhawks face No. 13 seed Cal Baptist (9:45 p.m. ET, CBS).
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Chip Patterson
Let’s get into some of the big storylines to know for Friday’s first-round action.
Peterson makes his NCAA Tournament debut
Peterson, who is a candidate to become the No. 1 overall pick in the draft this summer, has been one of the biggest stories in college basketball this season. The Kansas guard missed 11 games during the regular season due to hamstring/cramping issues. Peterson opened up about how the full-body cramping was a “traumatic experience,” which resulted in him having to go to the hospital at one point to receive intravenous fluids.
When Peterson plays, he is one of the most dynamic scorers in the sport. Peterson has played in nine consecutive games since being ruled out less than an hour before tipoff against then-No. 1 Arizona at home last month. In the Big 12 quarterfinals against TCU, Peterson logged a season-high 37 minutes. Peterson is averaging 19.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 22 games this season. If Kansas is going to advance to the Sweet 16 and beyond, it will need Peterson’s best.
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Is Alabama on upset alert?
One of the biggest and most unexpected storylines to land heading into the NCAA Tournament was the arrest of Holloway just days before Alabama’s matchup against Hofstra. According to Holloway’s attorney, Jeff Neff, Alabama’s second-leading scorer has requested several different types of hearings in the coming weeks to combat charges of first-degree marijuana possession and failure to affix a tax stamp, both of which are felonies in the state of Alabama.
If Holloway is indeed out, the Crimson Tide could be on upset alert against the CAA champions. The Pride boasts two dynamic scorers in Cruz Davis (20.2 points) and Preston Edmead (15.9 points). Hofstra ended the season by winning 11 of its last 12 games. Without Holloway, Alabama will rely even more on star guard Labaron Philon. The ceiling of this Crimson Tide roster is obviously lower if Holloway is out this weekend and beyond — if the Crimson Tide gets out of this quadrant without a loss.
Purdue star on the verge of NCAA history
Purdue star guard Braden Smith is close to breaking an NCAA record that has been held for over three decades. Smith needs just two assists to pass former Duke star Bobby Hurley for the most assists by a men’s Division I player. Smith enters the NCAA Tournament with 1,775 career assists and is just one away from tying the record Hurley set in the early 1990s.
Smith, a four-year player at Purdue, has become a rarity in the modern landscape by staying at the same school for his entire career. He is averaging a career-high 9.0 assists per game this season, which surpassed his mark of 8.7 assists per game last year. He dished out 11 assists during Purdue’s win over Michigan in last weekend’s Big Ten title game. He will likely break it against Queens (NC) on Friday.
Friday’s NCAA Tournament streaming schedule
Games played at Benchmark International Arena (Tampa), Xfinity Mobile Arena (Philadelphia), Viejas Arena (San Diego) and Enterprise Center (St. Louis)