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So...did you all enjoy your first taste of the tournament this year? Yale gave us our first upset of the day, taking down 5 seed Baylor while Arkansas-Little Rock followed suit knocking off 5 seed Purdue in double OT. Things didn't stop there as 11 seed Wichita State took down 6 seed Arizona and 11 seed Gonzaga took down 6 seed Seton Hall. The later of those was probably the result of massive underseeding due to injury, but 11 over 6 nonetheless.
This is how you outrebound the Baylor Bears, along with the anatomy of a rebound, if you were wondering!
Even more upset specials are on tap today! Prime games that are just ripe for an upset include, but are by no means limited to the following: (11) of Northern Iowa over (6) Texas, (10) Temple over (7) Iowa, (10) Syracuse over (7) Dayton, *gulp* (12) South Dakota State over (5) Maryland, and my favorite upset pick in all of my brackets: (13) Hawaii over (4) Cal. Who did I miss?
B1G Games today:
(2) Michigan State Spartans vs. (15) Middle Tennessee State University || 2:45pm ET
This one should, I repeat should, be a snooze fest. I expect Sparty to roll in a similar manner to how Kansas did in their game yesterday. Izzo teams don't make dumb mistakes often in March.
(7) Iowa Hawkeyes vs. (10) Temple || 3:10pm ET
Look, Iowa should win this game. They shouldn't even struggle in this game. Of course, I'm speaking of the Iowa of December and January who looked like one of the top 5-10 teams in the country. The Iowa team of February? Ugh, I don't know, they could completely derp this game and lose in double digits for all I know. Iowa, along with Maryland, are complete wild cards in the tournament.
(5) Maryland Terrapins vs. (12) South Dakota State University || 4:30pm ET
I'm absolutely terrified of watching Maryland in the tournament. It could be wildly exciting or I could be throwing things through the TV for stupid mistakes they make. Maryland, when focused, is one of the best teams in the country. The problem this year? Focus. They just have dumb mental lapses at inexplicable times in games that make them much closer than they should be, or cost them the game. Things like Robert Carter traveling at the top of the key, Damonte Dodd with his guaranteed moving screen of the game, or taking contested three's for long stretches when they are in the double bonus. If they can focus and minimize the mistakes, they'll roll to the Sweety 16 without issue. Or they could be done at 6:30. Who knows.
(7) Wisconsin Badgers vs. (10) Pittsburgh || 6:50pm ET
Wisconsin has a pretty good draw in the first round with Pitt, who won't try to push the pace and will willingly play the half court game with them. That favors Wisconsin and I don't think they'll struggle with pulling out the W tonight.
(11) Michigan Wolverines vs. (6) Notre Dame || 9:40pm ET
This might be the worst draw for Michigan for the first round. I don't think playing one of the better backcourts plays into the strength's of Michigan, so this one is going to be tough to pull out. Playing Notre Dame will no doubt get the players laser focused into the game, so perhaps they can pull off the upset and beat their old rival.
All games are televised across the CBS Network (CBS, TNT, TBS, or lol #TruTVisathing). Sit back and enjoy!