FEATURED

NCAA Men's Tournament: South Regional Tracker

Geoff Magliocchetti 404 March 19, 2026Fact checked by: Geoff Magliocchetti No Comments

South regional action at the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament features a potential national championship rematch between Florida and Houston.

Keep track of all the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament happenings in the South Region below ...

Click here to track other regions ...

RELATED: East Region Preview | South Region Preview | Midwest Region Preview | West Region Preview | Ballislife Writer's picks

Region Summary

Champion: Illinois
Most Outstanding Player: Keaton Wagler, Illinois
All-Region Team: David Mirkovic (Illinois), Andrei Stojakovic (Illinois), Pryce Sandfort (Nebraska), Bennett Stirtz (Iowa), Keaton Wagler (Illinois)

Elite Eight (March 28)

(3) Illinois 71, (9) Iowa 59

Keaton Wagler waxed the Hawkeyes in a dominant second half, one that secured the Fighting Illini's first Final Four showing since their run to the 2005 national title game. Their fellow Big Ten representatives, not far removed from upsetting top-ranked defending national champion Florida, jumped out to an early lead thanks to a strong shooting effort from Bennett Stirtz but the Illini bullied the Hawkeyes inside and out: they limited Iowa to 27 points in the second half and outscored them by 28 in the paint and they pulled in 17 more rebounds, led by a dozen for David Mirkovic, who united with Andrei Stojakovic for half of the team's 16 offensive boards.

Sweet 16 (March 26)

(3) Illinois 65, (2) Houston 55

The Fighting Illini managed to distance themselves well enough from a brutal defensive struggle well enough to secure a double-figure victory over the defending national finalist Cougars, retruning to the Elite Eight for the second time in three seasons. David Mirkovic (14 points, 10 rebounds) and Keaton Wagler (13 points, 12 rebounds) each had double-doubles while limiting Houston to 34 percent from the field. A run of 17 unanswered expanded the lead to 18 and the Cougars only got things back to as little as six in the very final stanzas. 

(9) Iowa 77, (4) Nebraska 71

Nebraska put forth a memorable ending to its first major NCAA Tournament run for all the wrong reasons, keeping but four men on the floor when Alvaro Folgueiras sank a crucial three-pointer at the start of the final minute. Another emphatic dunk from Folgueiras, the closer of a 16-point night, served as the dagger, allowing the Hawkeyes to fully recover from an early deficit that peaked at 10. Taking advantage of cold Cornhusker shooting in the second half, Iowa took the lead on a triple from Bennett Stirtz with just over two minutes remaining after four prior ties. The Hawkeyes have thus clinched their first trip to the men's Elite Eight since 1987.

Second Round (March 21-22)

(9) Iowa 73, (1) Florida 72

A game-winning three-pointer from Alvaro Folgueiras, who overcame an early scuffle with Florida big man Alex Condon in the first half, with just under five seconds remaining allowed Iowa to deal one of the biggest blows of the tournament, as the defending champion Gators were eliminated in the second round. The Hawkeyes, flying to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1999, jumped out to an early lead that peaked at 12 before their late heroics, which also featured 20 points from Tavion Banks.

(4) Nebraska 74, (5) Vanderbilt 72

Having waited decades for their first win in the NCAA Tournament, Nebraska needed just two days to pick up No. 2, albeit in dramatic fashion: neither team led by more than three over the final five minutes and it was Braden Frager that provided the victorious tallies with just over two seconds remaining. Tyler Tanner, who led all scorers with 27 points, nearly threw up a miracle for the Commodores, as his desperation heave from beyond halfcourt fell halfway through the hoop before sputtering out, giving a Nebraska-friendly crowd in Oklahoma City clearance for hysterics.  

(3) Illinois 76, (11) VCU 55

After a furious first half, the Illini stuffed the Rams' Cinderella attempt with a dominant victory headlined by a 21-point performance off the bench for Andrei Stojakovic. Despite losing starter Nyk Lewis in the opening minute, VCU kept up a steady pace, leading as late as the three-minute mark of the first half. But the Illini closed the half on a 9-0 run consisting entirely of Stojakovic tallies, allowing them to punch their ticket to their second Sweet 16 in the last three after going 19 tournaments without. 

(2) Houston 88, (10) Texas A&M 57

Houston became the just the fourth team in NCAA Tournament history (and the first since 2008) to win its first two games by at least 30 points, rolling to victory after an early challenge from the Aggies. A 21-4 run to close out the first half helped put the game away, as all but two points in the span were earned by Houston headliners Chris Cenac Jr., Emmanuel Sharp, or Milos Uzan.

First Round (March 19-20)

(1) Florida 114, (16) Prairie View A&M 55

Defending champion Florida quickly overcame an early outside onslaught from the Panthers to create a 39-point by halftime, one that eventually became the the second-largest margin of victory in NCAA men's tournament history (behind only a tally of 69 Loyola put up on Tennessee Tech in 1963). Seven different Gators reached double-figures, paced by 16 from Boogie Fland.

(9) Iowa 67, (8) Clemson 61

A relative offensive struggle yielded the Hawkeyes' first NCAA Tournament victory since 2021. On a night where leading scorer Bennett Stirtz struggle (16 points on 4-of-17 from the field despite some late clutch tallies), Kael Combs and Álvaro Folgueiras united for 29 points while seven different Hawkeyes pulled in at least four rebounds, paced by 10 from Cam Manyawu. 

 

(2) Houston 78, (15) Idaho 47

The Cougars got their national championship revenge tour started on the right note, ending the Vandals' Cinderella run with a dominant victory. Idaho held a brief lead but it quickly went by the wayside thanks to an interior showcase from Chris Cenac Jr., who pulled in 18 boards that allowed Kingston Flemings to pull away with 18 tallies.

(3) Illinois 105, (14) Pennsylvania 70

David Mirkovic and Keaton Wagler packed the statsheet as the Fighting Illini made quick work of the Ivy League champions. Mirkovic put up 29 points and 17 rebounds (setting a program tournament record in the latter category) while the freshman Wagler flirted with a triple-double to the tune of pairing 18 points with seven assists and boards each.

(10) Texas A&M 63, (7) St. Mary's 50

St. Mary's didn't have a prayer against a shutdown defensive effort from the Aggies, who scored the first nine points of their first-round title and never looked back in a wire-to-wire victory. The Aggies, who went up by as much as 20, were paced by a near-double-double from Rashuan Agee (22 points, 9 rebounds) and almost made up the difference through the 14 tallies they had off 18 Gael turnovers. 

(11) VCU 82, (6) North Carolina 78 (OT)

In the first overtime game of the 2026 tournament, VCU held UNC to no field goals in the extra session while Terrence Hill Jr. threw up a successful three-pointer with 15 seconds left to secure the upset victory. VCU trailed by as much as 19 before Hill led them on the comeback trail, as his fateful final fling gave him the last of seven triples on a 34-point night off the bench.

(5) Vanderbilt 76, McNeese 68

After a tepid first half, Vanderbilt ensured that history wouldn't repeat itself, as the Commodores used a sterling second half to call midnight on last March's Cinderella darlings from McNeese. A 26-point outing from Tyler Tanner allowed Vandy to erase a first half deficit that reached as high as 11, stave off the continued upset bid, and secure the program's first NCAA Tournament win in 14 years. 

 

(4) Nebraska 76, (13) Troy 47

Pryce Sandfort scored 23 points while Braden Frager put up 13 off the bench to guide the Cornhuskers to a historic victory. With their triumph, the program formed in 1896 finally earned its first NCAA Men's Tournament victory, becoming the last power five conference team to get off such a skid.

First Four (March 18)

(16) Prairie View A&M 67, (16) Lehigh 55

Dontae Horne and Cory Wells united for 44 points as the SWAC champion Panthers rolled to their first NCAA Tournament victory in program history. PVA&M bottled up the Mountain Hawks' leading scorer Nasir Whitlock, holding him scoreless for over 25 minutes and limiting him to 2-of-15 from the field.

Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags

Editor's Pick
Ballislife's March Madness Sale You Don't Want to Miss!Ballislife's March Madness Sale You Don't Want to Miss!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.