Later today, March Madness will be making its way back to the Garden State, as the Prudential Center hosts two NCAA Sweet 16 games for the East Regional. The two matchups set to take place later today are No. 2 Alabama vs. No. 6 BYU and No. 1 Duke vs. No. 4 Arizona.
All four teams coming to Prudential Center are some of the best in college basketball, but only two can make it to the Elite Eight. As they fight for the chance to cement themselves in the game’s history as national champions, they must first make it out of Newark.
While Alabama and BYU are both phenomenal teams in their own right, all eyes will be on Duke and Arizona later in the night. Duke, who currently have the best odds to win the entire tournament, will be taking on a familiar foe in Caleb Love and the Arizona Wildcats.
Love has a storied history with Duke, as he previously played at UNC, one of the school’s biggest rivals. In 2022, during a Final Four matchup against Duke, Love delivered the final blow, nailing a three-pointer and sending Duke home in ‘Coach K’s’ last game of his historic career.
Now having transferred to the University of Arizona, Love will look to see if he can shut them down once again. This will not be an easy feat to accomplish, however, as Duke will be led by Cooper Flagg, one of the nation’s best college basketball players in the world.
The two teams that win their matchups at Prudential Center will face one another this Saturday, Mar. 29. The winner of that game will then advance to the Final Four and officially be declared the winners of the East region.
Before that, however, the two teams will be playing later today, with Alabama vs. BYU tipping off at 7:09 p.m. and Duke vs. Arizona tipping off at roughly 9:39 p.m. Watch as some of the nation’s best talents play in the Garden State.