Who’s playing at Nationwide Arena in NCAA men’s tournament

Posted: Mar 12, 2023 / 06:35 PM EDT

Updated: Mar 14, 2023 / 08:05 AM EDT

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — The NCAA has announced whose potential road to the Final Four includes a stop at Nationwide Arena.

Eight teams will play in Columbus on Friday and Sunday headlined by the No. 1 seed Purdue Boilermakers who won the Big Ten regular season and tournament.

Schedule

#1 Purdue vs. #16 Texas Southern or Fairleigh Dickinson, 6:50 p.m. Friday (playing in First Four in Dayton on Wednesday at 6:40 p.m.)

#8 Memphis vs. #9 Florida Atlantic, 9:20 p.m. Friday

Purdue/Texas Southern/Fairleigh Dickinson winner vs. Memphis/Florida Atlantic winner, Sunday

#7 Michigan State vs. #10 USC, 12:15 p.m. Friday

#2 Marquette vs. #15 Vermont, 2:45 p.m. Friday

Michigan State/USC winner vs. Marquette/Vermont winner, Sunday

Printable 2023 NCAA Men’s Tournament Bracket

About the teams

Purdue

Seed: No. 1, East Region

How they made it: 29-5 overall, 15-5 conference; Big Ten regular season champions, Big Ten tournament champions

Biggest wins: #2 Marquette, #3 Gonzaga, #5 Duke,

One thing to know about the Boilermakers: Led by 7’4″ center Zach Edey (Naismith semifinalist for college basketball player of the year)

Marquette

Seed: No. 2, East Region

How they made it: 28-6 overall, 17-3 conference; Big East regular season champions and Big East tournament champions

Biggest wins: #3 Xavier, #3 Baylor, #6 Creighton

One thing to know about the Golden Eagles: First time making consecutive NCAA tournament since 2013

Michigan State

Seed: No. 7, East Region

How they made it: 19-12 overall, 11-8 conference; at-large selection

Biggest wins: #4 Indiana, #8 Iowa

One thing to know about the Spartans: Eight Final 4 appearances under coach Tom Izzo

Memphis

Seed: No. 9, East Region

How they made it: 26-8 overall, 13-5 conference; American Athletic Conference tournament champions

Biggest wins: #1 Houston, #9 Auburn

One thing to know about the Cougars: AAC player of the year Marcus Sasser missed tournament final due to strained groin. His status is questionable for the NCAA Tournament

Florida Atlantic

Seed: No. 9, East Region

How they made it: 31-3 overall, 18-2 conference; Conference USA regular season champions and Conference USA tournament champions

Biggest wins: Florida

One thing to know about the Owls: First NCAA Tournament appearance since 2002

USC

Seed: No. 10, East Region

How they made it: 22-10 overall, 14-6 conference; at-large selection

Biggest wins: #2 UCLA, #9 Auburn

One thing to know about the Trojans: Led by senior Boogie Ellis who averages 18 points a game

Vermont

Seed: No. 15, East Region

How they made it: 23-10 overall, 14-2 conference; America East regular season champions and America East tournament champions

Biggest wins: Ball State, UMass Lowell

One thing to know about the Catamounts: Won 15 straight games (third-longest streak in NCAA)

Fairleigh Dickinson

Seed: No. 16, East Region

How they made it: 19-15 overall, 10-6 conference; Northeast conference tournament reprsentatives

One thing to know about the Knights: Most improved team from last year (4-22 record), lost Northeast tournament final to Merrimack but advanced due to Merrimack not being eligible for the NCAA tournament