Open Thread: The first weekend ends

Mar 19, 2023 - 3:30 PM

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The Sweet 16 already has a 15-seed after yesterday’s action, when Princeton decided not to recognize Missourah and became the first Ivy League team to reach the round of 16 since Cornell in 2010. (Things Vanderbilt did that Missourah and Arizona could not: beat the Ivy League co-champs in a postseason tournament.)

Today has eight games in the NCAA Tournament to complete the Sweet 16 as well as six games in the NIT. (There’s also the CBI, but I’m not going to bother with that. Go pay for a FloHoops subscription if that’s your thing.)

NIT: (3) Liberty at (2) Wisconsin (11:00 AM CT, ESPN2): Winner gets the winner of Oregon-UCF.

Midwest Regional: (11) Pitt vs. (3) Xavier (11:10 AM CT, CBS): One of these teams is going to the Sweet 16, and given where both of them were last season (but especially Pitt), that’s kind of insane.

NIT: Eastern Washington at (1) Oklahoma State (1:00 PM CT, ESPN2): Oklahoma State is back at home after having to travel to Youngstown State for some reason in the first round. Winner gets the winner of North Texas-Sam Houston.

East Regional: (6) Kentucky vs. (3) Kansas State (approx. 1:40 PM CT, CBS): It’s plausible the top three seeds in the East Regional will all be gone by the end of the first weekend; top-seeded Purdue is already gone.

NIT: Morehead State at (4) UAB (2:00 PM CT, ESPN+): The winner of this game will come to Memorial Gym on Tuesday or Wednesday.

NIT: (3) Sam Houston at (2) North Texas (3:00 PM CT, ESPN+): For those keeping up with realignment, Sam Houston will be joining Conference USA (North Texas’s current conference) next year, and North Texas will be joining the American, and this is all really fucking stupid.

East Regional: (7) Michigan State vs. (2) Marquette (4:15 PM CT, CBS): This one seems fairly compelling. Marquette is favored, but between Tom Izzo and Shaka Smart, who do you trust in March?

West Regional: (5) Saint Mary’s vs. (4) UConn (5:10 PM CT, TNT): Winner gets Arkansas, a team that lost to Vanderbilt in the regular season, one of at least two Sweet 16 teams that did. And we’re in the NIT.

South Regional: (6) Creighton vs. (3) Baylor (6:10 PM CT, TBS): I don’t really have too many thoughts on this, but the winner gets Princeton in the next round.

NIT: UCF at (1) Oregon (6:30 PM CT, ESPNU): I didn’t realize until I watched them play Florida the other night, but apparently UCF has a freshman who’s going to be a lottery pick?And... they went 8-10 in the American?

East Regional: (16) Fairleigh Dickinson vs. (9) Florida Atlantic (approx. 6:45 PM CT, truTV): For its final game of the NCAA Tournament, truTV is broadcasting Fairleigh Dickinson, one of the worst teams to ever make the tournament (no, really, they ranked 312th in KenPom going into their First Four game against Texas Southern) playing a second-round game against Florida Atlantic, whose win over Memphis on Friday night was its first in the NCAA Tournament. Somehow, Purdue lost to Fairleigh Dickinson. One of these teams is going to play Tennessee in the Sweet Sixteen.

Midwest Regional: (5) Miami vs. (4) Indiana (approx. 7:40 PM CT, TNT): The Big Ten has this and the Michigan State-Marquette game earlier in the day to avoid getting shut out of the Sweet 16. The winner will play Houston.

NIT: Utah Valley at (3) Colorado (8:30 PM CT, ESPNU): The winner of the final game of the day will play Cincinnati in the quarterfinals, and if it’s Colorado they’ll host.

West Regional: (6) TCU vs. (3) Gonzaga (approx. 8:40 PM CT, TBS): The final game of the second round will see TCU looking to make the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1968, and in that year, being the SWC champion got them seeded into the Sweet 16 (though they did win a game to make the Elite Eight.)