The five best matchups of the NCAA tourney’s first round
Trying to decide on must-see games for the first two days of the NCAA tournament? USA TODAY picks the most intriguing first-round matchups of the 32 games.
No. 7 Rhode Island vs. No. 10 Oklahoma (Thursday, 12:15 p.m. ET, CBS)
Rams coach Dan Hurley will have his hands full trying to prepare for Oklahoma freshman Trae Young. But he’ll have plenty of examples of how to contain the nation’s leading scorer based on Big
12 teams limiting Young in the second half of the season. Rhode Island will need solid production from veterans E.C. Matthews and Jared Terrell — on both ends. Young is must-watch because of his ability to channel Steph Curry, but it might be tough to rekindle his early season mojo.
No. 5 Kentucky vs. No. 12 Davidson (Thursday, 7:10 p.m. ET, CBS)
Both teams enter the tournament possibly playing their best basketball. Kentucky put together a nice late-season run to claim the SEC tournament title, and Davidson had to knock off St. Bonaventure and Rhode Island to win the Atlantic 10’s automatic ticket. Much will be made about how Davidson can manage against Kentucky’s NBA talent. But in his 29th year as coach, Bob McKillop knows a thing or two about beating power conference teams (ahem,
2008 Elite Eight run). Davidson makes youth-loaded teams pay, so Kentucky’s Kevin Knox and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will have to be at the top of their game to win this South Region clash.
No. 8 Missouri vs. No. 9 Florida State (Friday, 9:50 p.m. ET, TBS)
Here’s another game that’s more interesting because of a superstar freshman. Missouri’s Michael Porter Jr. returns after missing the entire regular season to injury. Porter was rusty in his first game back against Georgia in the SEC tournament, but if the 6-foot-10 freshman can find a rhythm with his teammates and build chemistry, the Tigers could win this West Region matchup. But don’t count out the Seminoles, whose offense can get hot and catch teams sleeping on defense as it did in wins against North Carolina and Florida in the regular season.
No. 8 Seton Hall vs. No. 9 N.C. State (Thursday, 4:40 p.m. ET, TBS)
Seton Hall, with four senior starters, has been viewed as an underachieving team. The Pirates have great guards (the three-headed monster of Desi Rodriguez, Myles Powell and Khadeen Carrington) and one of the best rebounders in the country in Angel Delgado. But they could have its hands full in this Midwest Region game against an N.C. State team that has beaten Duke and North Carolina this season in ACC play.
No. 3 Texas Tech vs. No. 14 Stephen F. Austin (Thursday, 7:27 p.m. ET, TruTV)
In a battle between Texas schools in the East Region, this could be a bracket-busting upset in the making for the been-there-before-Lumberjacks. Texas Tech, led by Keenan Evans (17.5 ppg), is a sleeper Final Four team coming out of the grueling Big 12. Why SFA is scary: It led the country in points scored off turnovers (over 23 ppg) and led the nation in steals (10.3 per game). So if Tech isn’t on its A-game, it could fall victim to a Cinderella.