The 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament has reached the second weekend.
Sixteen teams remain in the hunt for the national championship. There are the usual suspects, like Duke, UConn, Arizona and Co. But there are some surprises, too. Nebraska and Iowa will be playing in the Sweet 16, with a spot in the Elite Eight on the line.
Who predicted that when the season started?
No one would be the right answer.
Heading into the Sweet 16 games, ESPN's computer model, the Basketball Power Index, has made its picks for each contest.
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ESPN's computer model, the Basketball Power Index, has predicted the winner of every Sweet 16 game taking place on Thursday and Friday.
Thursday night games
No. 2 Purdue vs. No. 11 Texas
Winner: Purdue, 75.6 percent chance
No. 4 Nebraska vs. No. 9 Iowa
Winner: Nebraska, 59.6 percent chance
No. 1 Arizona vs. No. 4 Arkansas
Winner: Arizona, 76.6 percent chance
No. 2 Houston vs. No. 3 Illinois
Winner: Houston, 59.3 percent chance
Friday night games
No. 1 Duke vs. No. 5 St. John's
Winner: Duke, 76.7 percent chance
No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 4 Alabama
Winner: Michigan, 72.6 percent chance
No. 2 UConn vs. No. 3 Michigan State
Winner: UConn, 53.4 percent chance
No. 2 Iowa State vs. No. 6 Tennessee
Winner: Iowa State, 60.6 percent chance
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How does ESPN's BPI work?
"The College Basketball Power Index (BPI) is a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of performance going forward. BPI represents how many points above or below average a team is. Strength of Record (SOR) is a measure of team accomplishment based on how difficult a team's W-L record is to achieve. Game predictions account for opponent strength, pace of play, site, travel distance, day's rest and altitude, and are used to simulate the season 10,000 times to produce season projections. Numbers update daily," ESPN writes.
