On Sunday, the last two remaining tickets to the Final Four will be punched as the 2023 NCAA Tournament schedule has reached the last day of regional action. It's been a historic and bracket-busting year of March Madness, with no No. 1 seeds in the Elite Eight for the first time ever. Sunday's Elite Eight action features the teams responsible for making that history, as a pair of No. 5 seeds, San Diego State in South and Miami in the Midwest, will play in regional finals after knocking off top seeds in the Sweet 16.
The action will start with San Diego State looking to follow its takedown of No. 1 seed Alabama with a victory against No. 6 seed Creighton (2:20 p.m. ET, CBS) in Louisville followed by No. 2 seed Texas against No. 5 seed Miami (5:05 p.m. ET) in Kansas City. Texas is the only one of the four programs with any Final Four appearances, so there's a lot of individual school history on the line, and even in the Longhorns' case it's been 20 years since their last Final Four appearance.
So whether its a first-time bit of tournament history or snapping a decades-long drought, any combination of winners on Sunday will bring its own unique storylines to add to the celebration.
Let's take a look at some other storylines to note in Sunday's Elite Eight action.
Texas dealing with a notable injury issue
Texas' Dylan Disu has been a significant reason for the Longhorns' good results here in the postseason. The senior forward was a force in the Big 12 Tournament title run and was named the Big 12 Tournament MVP. He followed that strong showing in Kansas City with 17 points against Colgate in the NCAA Tournament opener and then a game-high 28 points in a five-point win against Penn State in the second round. Along the way, Disu suffered a bone bruise in his foot. He only played two minutes against Xavier in the Sweet 16 and after the game Rodney Terry seemed to indicate that the opportunity to play was almost ceremonial, giving the senior a chance to take the floor with his teammates in the Sweet 16.
Disu is officially considered day-to-day, with treatment and rehab trying to get him as healthy as possible as soon as possible. But the image of Disu, one of Texas' most important players, in a walking boot on the bench does not suggest this is a minor issue. Texas has great options to pick up the work thanks to a deep bench and some good bigs in the rotation, but the absence of Disu would leave the Longhorns without a big piece of its postseason success at a very crucial time in the tournament.
Brian Dutcher's championship pedigree
No coaches left in the NCAA Tournament have experienced winning a national championship as a head coach, but San Diego State's Brian Dutcher has been a part of a championship run as an assistant. Dutcher assumed the SDSU head coaching position after Steve Fisher retired, and that relationship between those two coaches goes back to Fisher's national championship run in 1989, with Dutcher serving in his first year as an assistant on that staff. He was with Fisher at Michigan through multiple Final Four runs, so while San Diego State as a program and Dutcher as a head coach are in the Elite Eight for the first time ever there is plenty of tournament experience on the Aztecs' sideline.
Miami is in the midst of a program peak under Jim Larranaga
Larranaga, at 73 years old, has Miami in a spot where its experience more NCAA Tournament success under his guidance than at any other time in the school's history. In beating Houston, Larranaga now has 10 NCAA Tournament wins at Miami while every other coach in the school's history combined only has four. Larranaga is responsible for four of the program's five Sweet 16 appearance and now both of the school's Elite Eight appearances, reach this point in back-to-back years. One more win sends Miami to the Final Four for the first time program history, though it would mark Larranaga's return to the Final Four after guiding George Mason to the game's biggest stage in 2006. That experience advantage is an interesting wrinkle to Miami's showdown with Texas, which has Rodney Terry in his first-ever Elite Eight appearance as a head coach.
Check out the full TV and streaming schedule for Sunday's Elite Eight games below.
Elite Eight
Sunday, March 26
| Time (ET) | Game | TV / Stream |
|---|---|---|
| 2:20 p.m. | (6) Creighton vs. (5) San Diego State KFC Yum! Center -- Louisville | CBS (watch live) |
| 5:05 p.m. | (5) Miami vs. (2) Texas T-Mobile Center -- Kansas City | CBS (watch live) |
