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#11 Missouri 45 #6 Kentucky 38
Missouri and Kentucky produced the highest-scoring game of the round, combining for 83 points in a contest that sends the 11th seed through and the sixth seed home. Missouri's 45–38 victory was a statement result against a Kentucky team that had survived a tight 27–24 battle with Northwestern in the previous round.
This time, Kentucky found itself on the wrong end of a high-scoring contest. The Wildcats put up 38 points, a total that would be enough to win plenty of games, but Missouri answered with 45. Whatever the defensive plans were coming into this one, the scoreboard suggests that neither team was going to advance by playing it safe.
Missouri's reward is a place in the regional final and a growing reputation as a dangerous opponent. The Tigers have knocked out a sixth seed and will now face Wake Forest, another team that just toppled a major favorite.
With Notre Dame gone and Kentucky eliminated, this region has officially thrown away the script. One of these two survivors is going to a regional championship, and neither arrived there by following the expected path.
#19 Wake Forest 31 #3 Notre Dame 28
Notre Dame's tournament journey ends in a three-point heartbreak, and Wake Forest gets to celebrate one of the biggest victories of its season. The 19th seed defeated the third seed, 31–28, knocking out a team that had looked formidable after its 38–7 demolition of Oklahoma in the previous round.
That contrast makes this result especially striking. Notre Dame entered the matchup with momentum and the kind of seeding that suggested a deep tournament run. Wake Forest didn't care. The Demon Deacons put 31 points on the board and did just enough to send the Irish packing.
For Notre Dame, it's a brutal exit. After cruising through the previous round, the Fighting Irish are eliminated by a team seeded 16 places lower. In a single-elimination tournament, there is no credit for what you did last week.
Wake Forest, meanwhile, has delivered a statement that will echo through the remaining bracket. The Demon Deacons have eliminated a top-three seed and are now one win away from the regional championship. They won't be sneaking up on anyone after this.
#39 Clemson 45 #55 Baylor 34
If anyone thought the lower-seeded teams were running out of magic, Clemson and Baylor apparently missed the memo. The 39th-seeded Tigers defeated 55th-seeded Baylor, 45–34, in a 79-point shootout that sends Clemson into the regional final.
Both teams arrived here after pulling off impressive upsets in the previous round. Baylor had eliminated UCLA, while Clemson had stunned seventh-seeded Indiana in a 41–38 thriller. Something had to give when the two underdogs met, and Clemson emerged with the bigger number on the scoreboard.
The Tigers' 45 points tell the story of an offense that delivered when it mattered, while Baylor's 34 were enough to keep the contest lively but not enough to extend the Bears' improbable run.
Now comes the ultimate test in this region: second-seeded Georgia. Clemson has already proved it can knock off a favorite, but Georgia represents an entirely different level of challenge. One more upset would send the Tigers into the regional championship conversation as one of the tournament's most remarkable survivors.
#2 Georgia 41 #18 Wisconsin 24
Wisconsin's tournament adventure ends against one of the strongest teams left in the field. Georgia's 41–24 victory was a convincing result, with the second seed putting up a substantial score against a Badgers team that had already knocked out higher-ranked opposition.
Wisconsin had earned its place in this round by beating Army and proving it could handle the pressure of tournament football. But Georgia presented a different challenge. The Bulldogs move on with 41 points on the board, making it clear that an opponent needs more than a respectable performance to keep pace with them.
For Wisconsin, the run stops here, but reaching the regional semifinals as the 18th seed is no small accomplishment. The Badgers made the bracket interesting and gave their fans a reason to believe.
Georgia, however, has business to finish. The Bulldogs remain alive and will face a Clemson team that has been producing fireworks of its own. That regional final could be a whole different kind of test.
#5 Alabama 24 #21 Iowa 21
Alabama advances, but Iowa made the Crimson Tide work for every inch of this one. The 24–21 final is a far cry from the kind of comfortable Alabama victory that can make a tournament opponent look completely overmatched. Iowa brought the fifth seed to the edge, and the Hawkeyes came within three points of turning the region on its head.
For Alabama, this was a test of survival rather than a showcase. The Tide have moved another step closer to the regional championship, but the margin was razor-thin against a team seeded 16 places lower.
Iowa exits with its head held high. The Hawkeyes pushed a national heavyweight to the limit and came remarkably close to taking its place in the next round.
Now Alabama gets Mississippi State. The Bulldogs have already eliminated Texas and Miami, so this isn't a routine semifinal for the Tide. It's a matchup against a team that has made a specialty of sending favorites home.
#20 Mississippi State 31 #4 Miami 28
Miami entered this matchup as the fourth seed and the regional favorite. Mississippi State entered as the 20th seed with absolutely no interest in respecting that distinction. When the final score settled at 31–28, the Bulldogs had delivered one of the tournament's biggest blows: the elimination of a top-four seed by three points.
Mississippi State has now made a habit of ruining somebody else's plans. Texas fell to the Bulldogs in the previous round, and Miami has now joined the growing list of higher seeds sent home by a team that was supposed to be the underdog.
A three-point result leaves no room for comfortable assumptions. Miami's tournament ends agonizingly close to a regional final, while Mississippi State advances with another statement victory. The Bulldogs aren't merely surviving the bracket anymore. They're tearing through its hierarchy.
And with Alabama waiting on the other side of the bracket, Mississippi State has a chance to turn this Cinderella run into something truly dangerous.
#24 Minnesota 35 #8 Texas Tech 28
Minnesota has officially become a problem nobody in this bracket wanted to deal with. The 24th seed took down eighth-seeded Texas Tech, 35–28, punching its ticket to the regional final and proving that its earlier victory over LSU was no one-round fluke.
This was a seven-point game between two teams capable of putting up a serious score, which made every possession precious. Texas Tech's tournament run ends here, despite having looked like a legitimate threat to make a deeper push. Minnesota, meanwhile, keeps finding ways to outlast teams seeded well above it.
The Golden Gophers are no longer just a fun underdog story. They're one win away from the regional championship game, and suddenly Ohio State has a much more complicated road ahead than the bracket originally suggested.
#1 Ohio State 37 #48 Arkansas 27
Arkansas had already turned the tournament upside down by making it this far, and the Razorbacks weren't about to give the top overall seed a free pass. Ohio State's 37–27 victory was a reminder that even a ten-point margin can come with plenty of tension when the opponent has made a habit of punching above its weight.
For Arkansas, the run ends one round short of the regional final, but the Razorbacks leave with their reputation transformed. They knocked off USC and forced Ohio State to earn its place in the next round. That's a tournament run worth remembering.
For the Buckeyes, the job is done. They survived the dangerous underdog and remain the team everyone in their region is chasing. But with the field shrinking, the next opponent won't be impressed by the number beside Ohio State's name.
