And then there were 16. Sixteen teams remain in the hunt for this year’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship, with the action kicking back off tomorrow. For my best bet for Thursday, March 26th: Sweet Sixteen Predictions, we’re off to the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, for the late game in the South Region. Let’s get this money!
Best Bet For Thursday (March 26th): Sweet Sixteen Predictions
#3 Illinois Fighting Illini vs #2 Houston Cougars
Start Time: 10:05 PM EST
While the top half of the South Region bracket has a #9 seed playing the role of Cinderella, the bottom half has gone to chalk, with the #3 Illinois Fighting Illini facing off with the #2-ranked Houston Cougars tomorrow night. While this is technically a home game for the Cougars, since they played one game at the Toyota Center this season, I’m not expecting the home court advantage to be worth much, since fans travel for March Madness.
And, with that being said, I’m going with the slight underdog, the Fighting Illini, to prevail tomorrow night and punch their ticket to the Elite Eight. While they say defense wins championships, Illinois has the top Offensive Rating in the nation, and I’m counting on that to pull them through.
But, most importantly, my numbers say to take the Illini in this spot. After crunching the digits, the game came up as basically a pick ’em (Illinois -0.17, to be exact), so the Illini plus the points is my best bet for tomorrow.
Best Bet: Illinois +3.5 (-115)
Best Bet Overall 2026 Record: 55-28 (66%)
Profit (based on $100/bet): $1,443.03
Return on Investment: 17%
SGPN Daily Content for March 26th, 2026
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