Cougars are gearing up for a big moment in their historic season: Their first-ever NCAA March Madness tournament. SIUE (a 16-seed) will take on the college basketball powerhouse Houston Cougars (a 1-seed) in their tournament debut Thursday afternoon.

It’s a cougar on cougar matchup to kick off March Madness as the No. 1-seeded Houston Cougars and No. 16-seeded SIU Edwardsville cougars go head-to-head on Thursday night. Houston earned a No. 1 seed after a 30-4 season, finishing first in the Big 12. SIUE finished second in the Ohio Valley conference with a 22-11 overall record.

The NCAA Women's Tournament resumes Friday with the Sweet 16 as teams look to punch their ticket to the Elite Eight. All four No. 1 seeds remain, but USC will have to keep dancing without its best player after JuJu Watkins suffered a torn ACL in the second round.

Here's what to know for Saturday's Elite Eight games. March Madness: Here are the 16 most intriguing potential Final Four combinations With 16 teams still alive in the NCAA men's tournament, Final Four combinations are plentiful.

It's Arkansas basketball vs Texas Tech in the 2025 March Madness bracket. Watch the Sweet 16 game, including time, channel, TV schedule and stream info.