by The first full day of the NCAA Men’s Tournament begins Thursday with 16 games in the round of 16 roster. The first four games on Tuesday and Wednesday technically kicked off the tournament, with No. 11 Pittsburgh, No. 16 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson and No. 11 Arizona State advancing to the first round.
The first game on Thursday started at 12:15 p.m. 10:05 p.m. ET (truTV).
Do you think you have what it takes to beat your friends? Test your college basketball skills (or your luck) here with USA TODAY’s Survivor Pool. Also bookmark our brackets page!
Maryland 67, West Virginia 65
The No. 8 seed from the South, Maryland, capitalized on a late stretch to pull away with a 67-65 win over No. 9 West Virginia, in a game that featured nine draws and 11 lead changes. The Terrapins now move on to play the winner of Alabama and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday.
The Mountaineers had a chance to win the game, but Kedrian Johnson’s last-second 3-point attempt was brief.
Julian Reese led four Terrapins, who trailed by 13 points in the first half in double figures with 17 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three blocks. Hakim Hart added 15 and Donta Scott had 11 points and eight rebounds.
West Virginia was led by Johnson, who scored 27 points.
Furman 68, Virginia 67
Virginia guard Kihei Clark threw a pass that was intercepted by Garrett Hien, who then hit JP Pegues, who drilled a 3-pointer with 2.4 seconds left to give No. 13 seed Furman the first upset of the tournament over the Cavaliers. , seeded rooms. .
The Paladins move on and will play the winner of Charleston and San Diego State.
Virginia in a battle with Furman
The Cavaliers lead by as many as 10 over Furman, but the Paladins stay close and trail 32-27 at halftime, despite shooting just 34 percent, including 4-14 from 3-point range. They are also being outrebounded by eight.
Reece Beekman leads the Cavaliers with 10 points and four rebounds and Jalen Swanson leads Furman with eight. Leading scorer Mike Bothwell, who is averaging 18 points per game, has five points but also has three personal fouls.
Maryland leading West Virginia at halftime
The Terrapins found themselves down 13 points against the Mountaineers, but closed hard to take a 32-30 halftime lead. Jahmir Young and Hakim Hart led a balanced Maryland attack with seven points apiece, while West Virginia’s Kedrian Johnson leads all scorers with 10. Maryland is shooting 58 percent from the field.
The first two matches of the tournament are underway
The first games of March Madness are underway as a couple of South Region games kick off the action.
West Virginia and Maryland are advancing again in their 8-9 matchup in Birmingham, Alabama as the first half winds down, while the first game in Orlando pits No. 4 seed Virginia and No. 13 seed Furman.
Bill Self won’t coach Kansas’ first-round game
Kansas coach Bill Self will not be sidelined when the Jayhawks take on No. 16 seed Howard on Thursday.
Norm Roberts will continue to serve as interim head coach in place of Self, who is considered day-to-day.
Self returned to practice this week after being released from the University of Kansas Health System, where two stents were inserted to treat blocked arteries in his heart.
Kansas takes on Howard at 2 pm ET.
Five possible upsets in the first round of the NCAA Tournament
It’s hard to pay attention to all the teams in college basketball through the long season that began in November, when everyone was still focused on soccer. And, even when the gridiron action is over, hardwood teams from big-name conferences snag most marquee TV slots. So many of you may not know about these so-called mid majors that are about to show up and grab your share of the spotlight, if only for a few days, or even the occasional power conference team that shows up. limping like a double. digit seed but hits his stride at the right time. We are here to help. Here are five candidates to seriously consider for a first-round upset.
— eddie timanus
How to watch the first round games of the NCAA Tournament
Whether at home, in a bar or at work, millions of Americans will tune in to see how teams win or break their league.
CBS and Turner Sports hold the broadcast rights to the NCAA Men’s Tournament, airing games on four channels. You may know three of them, CBS, TNT, and TBS, from airing dozens of other sporting events each year, but the remaining channel, truTV, always eludes basketball fans each year.
Here’s where to find TruTV, based on your cable provider or streaming service, and what games will be on the network:
What channel is truTV?
TruTV can be found on several cable providers and has the same channel number nationwide on some of the providers. Here are the channels:
AT&T U-verse: 164/1164
FIOS: 183/683
Helmsman: Varies by location
DISH: 242
DirecTV: 246
Spectrum: Varies by location
Xfinity: Varies by location
For streaming, truTV is also available on: YouTube TV, iOS App Store, Google Play, Amazon App Store, Chromecast, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku and Android TV.
What March Madness games will be on truTV?
Eight games will be broadcast on truTV in the early rounds of March Madness. These are the games that will be on truTV, as well as the warning times (on ET):
-
No. 4 Virginia vs. No. 13 Furman (Thursday, 12:40 p.m.)
-
No. 5 San Diego State vs. No. 12 College of Charleston (Thursday, 3:10 p.m.)
-
No. 7 Northwestern vs. No. 10 Boise State (Thursday, 7:35 p.m.)
-
No. 2 UCLA vs. No. 15 UNC Asheville (Thursday, 10:05 p.m.)
-
No. 3 Xavier vs. No. 14 Kennesaw State (Friday, 12:40 p.m.)
-
No. 6 Iowa State vs. No. 11 Pittsburgh (Friday, 3:10 p.m.)
-
No. 3 Gonzaga vs. No. 14 Grand Canyon (Friday, 7:35 pm)
-
No. 6 TCU vs. No. 11 Nevada/No. 11 Arizona State (Friday, 10:05 p.m.)
— Jordan Mendoza
You’ll probably have to throw away your support
The reality of the NCAA Tournament is that unpredictability and randomness usually trump a perfect script. And this year in particular, we should all spend the next three weeks coming to terms with the idea that our picks are useless and our stands may need to be thrown away.
On paper, this has the potential to be one of the craziest tournaments we’ve ever seen.
Because? Perhaps because this has not been a dominant year for the big traditional brands. Instead, we’ve seen Houston navigate through the American Athletic Conference getting barely a decent test from anyone besides Memphis. We’ve seen Alabama and Texas A&M football schools dominate the SEC, while Kentucky enters the tournament looking like a loser.
We’ve seen Miami, a veteran and transfer-based team, rise to the top of the ACC while Duke went under the radar for most of the year and North Carolina missed the tournament entirely. And the Big Ten almost felt like a random results generator at times with nine teams finishing within two games of the standings behind Purdue, which clinched the conference title.
— clouds give
USA TODAY Final Poll of Sports Coaches
Houston enters the NCAA Tournament ranked No. 1 in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, despite its loss in the American Athletic Conference championship game just before the brackets’ introduction on Sunday.
The Cougars, playing without leading scorer Marcus Sasser in the loss to Memphis, retained 21 of 32 No. 1 votes to prevent second-ranked Alabama. The Crimson Tide received a first eight after winning the SEC title in impressive fashion on Sunday.
— eddie timanus
Alabama clear favorite in the South Region
The South Region is charged. It starts at the top with the highest seed overall, but if Alabama is going to make its first Final Four in program history, it will have to navigate a field full of many successful programs, including four programs with national championship banners hanging. at home. sands
Two of the three most recent NCAA champions are here, Baylor and Virginia. Arizona, a powerhouse from the ’90s, is back in the title hunt. Then there’s Maryland, which cut the nets earlier this century and hopes to make a splash as one of the many Big Ten representatives on the field.
—Eddie Timanus
Defending champion Kansas leads the West Region
Good news for the Jayhawks: They wouldn’t have to play Texas again until the Final Four. Even better news: Kansas head coach Bill Self is expected to rejoin the team. He was released Sunday from the hospital, where he was admitted last week with chest tightness and balance problems. According to doctors, Self had two stents placed to treat the blocked arteries in his heart.
No. 2 seed UCLA enters the tournament with injury concerns. If UCLA hadn’t lost defensive genius Jaylen Clark to injury in the regular season finale, it’s highly likely the Bruins would have had a No. 1 seed and a path to the Final Four.
—Jose Pedro
Purdue No. 1 in the East, but plenty of contenders looming
Purdue seeks to advance to the Final Four for the first time under coach Matt Painter and first time as a program since 1980. The Boilermakers are built around 7-foot-4 junior center Zach Edey, the favorite for National Player of the Year . .
The Eastern Region has no shortage of star power: Purdue joins No. 2 Marquette, No. 3 Kansas State and No. 4 Tennessee, followed by No. 5 Duke and No. 6 Kentucky.
—Paul Myerberg
Texas A&M, Penn State have little time to recover
How can you not like a regional group that, if the seeds hold, will have Texas facing Texas A&M in the second round and then Houston, and Texas playing for a spot in a Final Four to be held in Houston?
The best first-round matchup in the Midwest?
The Texas A&M-Penn State game pairs teams that had great runs last weekend and have tremendous guard play; but they both played on Sunday and they have to come back and play on Thursday. (It also matches the splendor of Aggies coach Buzz Williams’ outfit and his vests against the casual Micah Shrewsberry.)
—Steve Berkowitz
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: March Madness live bracket updates: NCAA tournament schedule begins
