With the field of 64 now set, the real fun begins bright and early on Thursday. Once again, the NCAA is working with multiple cable partners to ensure that every game appears on television. If you own or live at a bar, this is great news for you on top of the fact that you own or live at a bar. For the rest of us watching from home, it means being judicious with the remote, lest you miss something truly exciting. Not having tru TV (like a good chunk of Americans) helps too.
Also helpful? Our second annual Crasstalk NCAA Opening Round Viewers Guide. Yes, I know the NCAA now considers Thursday and Friday ‘Round 2’ because of the First Four BS, but that’s not flying around here. Now, where to land on Thursday:
Early Games:
12:15- (11) Colorado St. vs. (6) Murray St. (CBS)
12:40- (9) Southern Miss vs. (8) Kansas St. (tru TV)
1:40- (13) Davidson vs. (4) Louisville (TBS)
The Pick: Honestly, the most entertaining game out of this bunch is likely to be the first. Murray St. probably deserves a slightly better seeding. All they’ve done is go 30-1 (admittedly in a mediocre conference), beat tournament teams Southern Miss, USF, St. Mary’s and Memphis, and shoot nearly 48% from the field. They should be able to handle CSU, but it should be the most entertaining of the bunch. Don’t bother with Davidson-Louisville, Stephen Curry is not walking through that door for Davidson.
Mid-Afternoon Games:
2:10- (13) Montana vs. (4) Wisconsin (TNT)
2:45- (14) BYU vs. (3) Marquette (CBS)
3:10- (16) UNC-Ashville vs. (1) Syracuse (tru TV)
4:10- (12) Long Beach St. vs. (5) New Mexico (TBS)
4:40- (12) Harvard vs. (5) Vanderbilt (TNT)
The Pick: Hint, it’s not the game with Mormons or the first 1-16 blowout of the day. Start with Montana-Wisconsin, which has the potential for upset. That’s not a knock on Wisconsin, but they typically play button-downed, slow-paced basketball, which opens the door to a team like Montana, who can shoot a little, to get hot and sneak up. A little additional kudos to the NCAA for realizing the power of the 12-5 upset trend, and putting a pair of 12-5 games in the usual dead time before dinner. Long Beach is turning into the trendy pick to score that upset this year, so look to flip over there, if you can.
Post Dinner Games:
6:50- (16) Western Kentucky vs. (1) Kentucky (TBS)
7:15- (12) VCU vs. (5) Wichita State (CBS)
7:20- (10) West Virginia vs. (7) Gonzaga (TNT)
7:27- (14) South Dakota St. vs. (3) Baylor (tru TV)
The Pick: The network distribution here pretty much tells the story. Wichita St. is another of those fun to watch teams that nobody knows about. Playing last year’s Final Four darling, it would seem this is a game ripe for another 12-5 upset, but this years VCU team is not last year’s VCU team. It should be the most fun to watch. Gonzaga-WVU has promise, but if the last two years have taught us anything, the Big East is not to be trusted in the tournament.
Late-Night Games:
9:20- (9) Connecticut vs. (8) Iowa State (TBS)
9:45- (13) New Mexico St. vs. (4) Indiana (CBS)
9:50- (15) Loyola (MD) vs. (2) Ohio St. (TNT)
9:57- (11) Colorado vs. (6) UNLV (tru TV)
The Pick: Indiana is another trendy pick to bite the upset bullet this year. They haven’t been terribly good outside their home state, and New Mexico St. is a brutally physical team. At the least, they are going to make things difficult for Indiana just by getting rough with them. Connecticut isn’t anywhere near the team that won the title last year, but they should be able to handle Iowa St. well enough that I wouldn’t recommend spending too much time on this game.
Feel free to use the space below to trash talk, or, more likely, bemoan your shamed-by-5pm brackets. We’ll check back in tomorrow with a preview of Friday’s slate of games. Not signed up for the Crasstalk Bracket of Death yet? Hit it.
