Neil Greenberg breaks down the bracket and guides you on a path to tournament pool glory.
Is this the 12 months Gonzaga lastly cuts down the nets? The Bulldogs have a powerful statistical case, together with a couple of different groups.
You may need to learn this earlier than filling out your bracket.
No bracket is full and not using a tiebreaker, and Greenberg is right here that can assist you decide what number of factors can be scored within the championship sport.
These larger seeds won’t go very far on this 12 months’s tournament.
If you may’t wait till Thursday, right here’s methods to wager on the opening-round video games.
Which NCAA gamers can be taking the following step? Ben Golliver appears on the NBA stars of tomorrow.
Women’s news and evaluation
Six Big Ten groups are within the NCAA tournament subject, and all six have an opportunity to make a deep run.
The defending champion Cardinal method issues otherwise than a few of its prime challengers.
The Terps have handled challenges on and off the courtroom this season, however they aren’t completed but.
Connecticut, an 11-time nationwide champion, is a No. 2 seed, however the Huskies nonetheless have an opportunity to primarily host a area last.
Latest NCAA tournament news and commentary
John Feinstein delivers his annual critique of the NCAA tournament choice committee’s work.
The NCAA is placing more emphasis on the ladies’s tournament, one 12 months after it dropped the ball on a number of events.
Barry Svrluga appears on the Hokies’ lengthy street to its first ACC tournament championship.
It’ll be a brand new period within the ACC as soon as Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski steps away after this season.
6:40 p.m. (truTV): No. 16 Texas Southern vs. No. 16 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Midwest)
9:10 p.m. (truTV): No. 12 Indiana vs. No. 12 Wyoming (East)
6:40 p.m. (truTV): No. 16 Bryant vs. No. 16 Wright State (South)
9:10 p.m. (truTV): No. 11 Notre Dame vs. No. 11 Rutgers (West)
First-round males’s matchups
2 p.m. (TBS): No. 1 Baylor vs. No. 16 Norfolk State
4:30 p.m. (TBS): No. 8 North Carolina vs. No. 9 Marquette
7:10 p.m. (CBS): No. 2 Kentucky vs. No. 15 Saint Peter’s
7:20 p.m. (TBS): No. 5 Saint Mary’s vs. No. 12 Wyoming/No. 12 Indiana
9:40 p.m. (CBS): No. 7 Murray State vs. No. 10 San Francisco
9:50 p.m. (TBS): No. 4 UCLA vs. No. 13 Akron
2 p.m. (TBS): No. 3 Purdue vs. No. 14 Yale
4:30 p.m. (TBS): No. 6 Texas vs. No. 11 Virginia Tech
Murray State-San Francisco ought to be an entertaining sport between two groups that don’t get an entire lot of consideration. The Racers and Dons do nearly every part nicely besides shoot free throws: Both are worse than 70 % from the foul line. ACC champion Virginia Tech is ranked twenty third nationally in Ken Pomeroy’s scores however acquired only a No. 11 seed from the choice committee. The Hokies can be a well-liked upset choose towards a Texas crew that has misplaced three straight and 5 of eight coming into the tournament.
12:15 p.m. (CBS): No. 6 Colorado State vs. No. 11 Michigan
2:45 p.m. (CBS): No. 3 Tennessee vs. No. 14 Longwood
12:15 p.m. (CBS): No. 7 Ohio State vs. No. 10 Loyola Chicago
2:45 p.m. (CBS): No. 2 Villanova vs. No. 15 Delaware
6:50 p.m. (TNT): No. 4 Illinois vs. No. 13 Chattanooga
7:27 p.m. (truTV): No. 1 Arizona vs. No. 16 Wright State/No. 16 Bryant
9:20 p.m. (TNT): No. 5 Houston vs. No. 12 UAB
9:57 p.m. (truTV): No. 8 Seton Hall vs. No. 9 TCU
Michigan is favored to beat Colorado State though the Wolverines are ranked beneath the Rams in Pomeroy’s scores. With Sister Jean cheering on Loyola as regular, the Ramblers will look to take down an Ohio State crew that stumbled into the tournament, dropping 4 of its final 5 video games. If you’re on the lookout for a 12-5 upset choose, UAB may very well be well worth the probability towards Houston: The Blazers function 5-foot-11 guard Jordan Walker, who has scored not less than 24 factors in 4 straight video games and has two 40-point video games this season.
12:40 p.m. (truTV): No. 4 Providence vs. No. 13 South Dakota State
3:10 p.m. (truTV): No. 5 Iowa vs. No. 12 Richmond
7:27 p.m. (truTV): No. 8 San Diego State vs. No. 9 Creighton
9:57 p.m. (truTV): No. 1 Kansas vs. No. 16 Texas Southern/No. 16 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
12:40 p.m. (truTV): No. 2 Auburn vs. No. 15 Jacksonville State
3:10 p.m. (truTV): No. 7 USC vs. No. 10 Miami
7:20 p.m. (TBS): No. 6 LSU vs. No. 11 Iowa State
9:50 p.m. (TBS): No. 3 Wisconsin vs. No. 14 Colgate
It’ll be fascinating to see how LSU responds to Saturday’s firing of Coach Will Wade over what the college dubbed “serious” allegations of NCAA violations. Kevin Nickelberry, who has 12 years of head teaching expertise at Hampton and Howard, would be the crew’s interim head coach for the remainder of the season. Colgate-Wisconsin options an awesome three-point taking pictures crew vs. a nasty three-point taking pictures crew: The Red Raiders made 40.1 % of their three-pointers this season (second nationally) whereas the Badgers made solely 31.2 % (291st nationally).
1:45 p.m. (TNT): No. 8 Boise State vs. No. 9 Memphis
4:15 p.m. (TNT): No. 1 Gonzaga vs. No. 16 Georgia State
6:50 p.m. (TNT): No. 5 Connecticut vs. No. 12 New Mexico State
9:20 p.m. (TNT): No. 4 Arkansas vs. No. 13 Vermont
1:45 p.m. (TNT): No. 3 Texas Tech vs. No. 14 Montana State
4:15 p.m. (TNT): No. 6 Alabama vs. No. 11 Rutgers/No. 11 Notre Dame
7:10 p.m. (CBS): No. 2 Duke vs. No. 15 Cal State Fullerton
9:40 p.m. (CBS): No. 7 Michigan State vs. No. 10 Davidson
Sleep on Vermont for those who dare: The Catamounts, who’ve some of the skilled rosters within the nation, have misplaced as soon as since Dec. 7 (by one level in additional time towards Hartford on Feb. 14) and gained their three America East tournament video games by a median of 36.7 factors. The farewell tour for retiring Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski begins Friday evening towards Cal State Fullerton, which has allowed opponents to shoot 37.1 % from three-point vary (solely Georgia State is worse amongst NCAA tournament groups).
7 p.m. (ESPNU): No. 16 Incarnate Word vs. No. 16 Howard (Greensboro)
9 p.m. (ESPNU): No. 11 DePaul vs. No. 11 Dayton (Greensboro)
7 p.m. (ESPN2): No. 16 Mount St. Mary’s vs. No. 16 Longwood (Bridgeport)
9 p.m. (ESPN2): No. 11 Florida State vs. No. 11 Missouri State (Spokane)
First-round girls’s matchups
11:30 a.m. (ESPN2): No. 8 Miami vs. No. 9 South Florida
1:30 p.m. (ESPNews): No. 7 Colorado vs. No. 10 Creighton
2 p.m. (ESPN): No. 1 South Carolina vs. No. 16 Incarnate Word/No. 16 Howard
4 p.m. (ESPN): No. 2 Iowa vs. No. 15 Illinois State
7:30 p.m. (ESPNews): No. 6 Georgia vs. No. 11 Dayton/No. 11 DePaul
10 p.m. (ESPNU): No. 3 Iowa State vs. No. 14 Texas Arlington
7:30 p.m. (ESPNews): No. 5 North Carolina vs. No. 12 Stephen F. Austin
10 p.m. (ESPN2): No. 4 Arizona vs. No. 13 UNLV
South Carolina enters the NCAA tournament as the favourite to win all of it, however the Gamecocks additionally squandered a 15-point second-half lead of their gorgeous SEC tournament loss to Kentucky. In the sport earlier than that one, South Carolina additionally allowed Mississippi to trim a 25-point second-half deficit to only eight with a couple of minutes left. Iowa and Iowa State may very well be on a collision course for a Hawkeye State conflict within the Sweet 16. The Cyclones defeated the Hawkeyes within the common season, snapping a five-game dropping streak within the sequence.
1:30 p.m. (ESPN2): No. 7 Mississippi vs. No. 10 South Dakota
3:30 p.m. (ESPNews): No. 8 Nebraska vs. No. 9 Gonzaga
4 p.m. (ESPN2): No. 2 Baylor vs. No. 15 Hawaii
6 p.m. (ESPN2): No. 1 Louisville vs. No. 16 Albany
1 p.m. (ESPNews): No. 6 BYU vs. No. 11 Villanova
3 p.m. (ABC): No. 4 Tennessee vs. No. 13 Buffalo
3:30 p.m. (ESPN2): No. 3 Michigan vs. No. 14 American
5:30 p.m. (ESPN2): No. 5 Oregon vs. No. 12 Belmont
Top-seeded Louisville has wins over Michigan and Connecticut this season, however the Cardinals have been final seen surrendering a 15-point lead over the ultimate 5 minutes of their ACC tournament quarterfinal loss to Miami. Tennessee gained 18 of 19 to start out the season however has been wrecked by accidents, together with a dislocated elbow suffered by Jordan Horston, who led the Lady Vols in scoring, rebounding and assists.
2:30 (ESPNU): No. 5 Virginia Tech vs. No. 12 Florida Gulf Coast
5 p.m. (ESPNU): No. 4 Maryland vs. No. 13 Delaware
5:30 p.m. (ESPNews): No. 7 Utah vs. No. 10 Arkansas
7:30 p.m. (ESPNU): No. 8 Kansas vs. No. 9 Georgia Tech
8 p.m. (ESPN2): No. 2 Texas vs. No. 15 Fairfield
10 p.m. (ESPN2): No. 1 Stanford vs. No. 16 Montana State
2:30 p.m. (ESPNU): No. 6 Ohio State vs. No. 11 Florida State/No. 11 Missouri State
5 p.m. (ESPNU): No. 3 LSU vs. No. 14 Jackson State
With all however one participant again from final 12 months’s nationwide championship crew, Stanford might once more be a troublesome out. Haley Jones and Cameron Brink each are Naismith Award semifinalists for the Cardinal. Second-seeded Texas, which gained the Big 12 tournament for the primary time in 19 years, was certainly one of solely three groups to beat Stanford this season.
11:30 a.m. (ESPN2): No. 8 Washington State vs. No. 9 Kansas State
1 p.m. (ABC): No. 2 Connecticut vs. No. 15 Mercer
1:30 p.m. (ESPN2): No. 3 Indiana vs. No. 14 Charlotte
2 p.m. (ESPN): No. 1 North Carolina State vs. No. 16 Mount St. Mary’s/No. 16 Longwood
3:30 p.m. (ESPNews): No. 7 UCF vs. No. 10 Florida
4 p.m. (ESPN): No. 6 Kentucky vs. No. 11 Princeton
7:30 p.m. (ESPN2): No. 5 Notre Dame vs. No. 12 Massachusetts
10 p.m. (ESPNU): No. 4 Oklahoma vs. No. 13 IUPUI
Connecticut isn’t a No. 1 seed however gained’t should journey far: The Huskies will open the NCAA tournament at residence and then will play about 80 miles from campus in Bridgeport ought to they make the Sweet 16. The Huskies have been buoyed by the late-season return of Paige Bueckers, the 2020-21 nationwide participant of the 12 months who missed more than 10 weeks recovering from a knee damage suffered in December. Bueckers nonetheless doesn’t appear to be at 100% but, nevertheless.
