Houston the host-site for the Sixteen and Elite 8 rounds of the 2026 March Madness Tournament. Thursday nights slate saw No. 9 seed Iowa Basketball take down No. 4 seed Nebraska 77-71 to lock in the first spot in Saturday’s Elite 8 matchup. Iowa’s win was followed by the No. 2 seed Houston Cougars taking on No. 3 seed Illinois. Despite the home-court advantage, the Cougars fell to the fighting Illini 65-55, setting the stage for an Elite 8 Big-10 showdown between Iowa and Illinois.
Kingston Flemmings. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Zvonimir Ivisic. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Iowa Basketball player Alvaro Folgeiras. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Kingston Flemmings and Keaton Wagler. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Kingston Flemmings. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Iowa Basketball player Cooper Koch. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Illinois fan. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Iowa Basketball players Cooper Koch and Tate Sage. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Illinois fans. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Milos Uzan. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Houston Cheerleader. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Brad Underwood. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Kelvin Sampson. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Iowa Basketball player Alvaro Folgeiras. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Milos Uzan. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Ben Humrichous. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Milos Uzan. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Iowa Basketball player Bennett Stirtz and Nebraska Basketbal player Braden Frager Credit: Sean Thomas 
Kelvin Sampson. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Houston Cougar fans and Houston Football Head Coach Willie Fritz. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Keaton Wagler. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Emanuel Sharp. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Kelvin Sampson. Credit: Sean Thomas 
March Madness is in Houston. Credit: Sean Thomas 
David Murkovic. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Kelvin Sampson, Emanuel Sharp and Milos Uzan. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Kingston Flemmings and Milos Uzan. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Iowa Basketball player Kael Combs. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Brad Underwood. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Chris Cenac Jr. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Bennett Stirtz and Iowa Head Coach Ben McCollumn. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Brad Underwood. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Kingston Flemmings. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Keaton Wagler and Kylan Boswell. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Milos Uzan. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Kelvin Sampson and Brad Underwood. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Milos Uzan and Andrej Stojakovic. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Kelvin Sampson. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Iowa fans. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Andrej Stojakovic and Ben Humrichous. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Illinois Cheerleader. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Emanuel Sharp. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Illinois players and fans. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Illinois fans. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Brad Underwood. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Kingston Flemmings. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Illinois band member. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Kelvin Sampson. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Emanuel Sharp. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Chase McCarty. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Kingston Flemmings. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Keaton Wagler and Chris Cenac Jr. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Houston Cheerleader. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Keaton Wagler. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Chris Cenac Jr. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Kylan Boswell. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Houston Cougar fans. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Illinois fan. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Milos Uzan. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Emanuel Sharp. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Keaton Wagler. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Keaton Wagler. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Illinois Cheerleader. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Milos Uzan. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Illinois band. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Zvonimir Ivisic. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Illinois band member. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Illinois fans. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Illinois rebound. Credit: Sean Thomas 
JoJo Tugler. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Illinois Band. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Illinois Basketball pregame. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Nebraska Basketball fans. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Iowa Basketball player Alvaro Folgeiras. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Iowa Basketball player Cam Manyawu. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Keaton Wagler, Chase McCarty and JoJo Tugler. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Brad Underwood. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Houston Cougar fan. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Iowa Basketball player Alvaro Folgeiras. Credit: Sean Thomas 
Kingston Flemmings. Credit: Sean Thomas