Men's Basketball: March Madness in Fort Worth!
Let the tournament begin. We all have been waiting for this moment. Now we are ready to see which teams can handle the smoke, and who cannot handle the smoke. Starting today, Dickies Arena in Fort Worth will host tournament games for the first time. Four First Round games will be played Thursday, March 17. Those four winners will play in two Second Round games on Saturday, March 19.
Thursday's game feature two matchups between the 1-seed and 16-seed. The Big 12 is well represented at Dickies with both 1-seed Baylor (East Region) and 1-seed Kansas (Midwest Region). Historically, the 1-seed has dominated the 16-seed in the tournament. Only in 2018 has a 16-seed defeated a 1-seed. That was UMBC defeating Virginia.
The other two games feature a matchup between the 8-seed and 9-seed. Historically, these games are basically a shot in the dark, as both teams usually come into the tournament with comparable records and resumes. These two games should provide for some competitive, entertaining games.
If you are looking for an upset in March Madness, historically you'll find that when the 12-seed matches up against a 5-seed. There aren't any of those matchups at Dickies this weekend, but do watch for those upsets in other venues.
Here's a look at Thursday's games at Dickies Arena:
All times listed are Central Time
(1) Baylor vs. (16) Norfolk State - East Region
Thursday | 1 p.m. | TBS
Of the No. 16 seeds, Norfolk State is the most frightening. The Spartans were in this spot last year and got molly wopped by Gonzaga. Yet, this is among the country's most-experienced crews, and it's confronting the section's most-weak No. 1 seed. Baylor lost key large man Jonathan Tchamwa-Tchatchoua for the season because of injury, and it's also without top 3-point shooter LJ Cryer. Norfolk State is equipped for making Baylor sweat.
(8) North Carolina vs. (9) Marquette - East Region
Thursday | 4:30 p.m. | TBS
"All eyes on me" is a famous rap lyric by the great Tupac Shakur. At this point, everyone is focused on the Tar Heels as they attempt and set up a made-for-TV second-round standoff with No. 1 seed Baylor. While UNC and its first-year coach Hubert Davis are the standard fascination here, the restricting coach may really lean toward longshot status. First-year Marquette coach Shaka Smart never dominated a NCAA Tournament match at Texas in his six seasons there, however he won many at VCU before then. His Golden Eagles haven't dominated continuous matches since January, yet maybe Smart can reuse anything persuasive discourses he utilized at VCU here.
(8) San Diego State vs. (9) Creighton - Midwest Region
Thursday | 7:27 p.m. | truTV
Ok, this be prepared for a boring game with this one. It's just something to pass time until Kansas hits the court. It's going to be an old school matchup of the first one to score 50 points wins - a real spine chiller. San Diego State is falling off a 53-52 misfortune to Boise State in the Mountain West Tournament title game. Creighton just lost 54-48 against Villanova in the Big East Tournament title game. Just get ready for the Kansas game.
(1) Kansas versus (16) Texas Southern - Midwest Region
Thursday | 9:57 p.m. | truTV
Texas Southern dominated a First Four matchup for a second consecutive year to arrive at this spot. The Tigers lost to Michigan in last season's opening round, but were able to beat Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 76-67 on Tuesday night. They have a coach in Johnny Jones who will not be shaken by the strong Birds from Lawrence, Kansas. It wouldn't be a stunning assumption that this one remains a tight one for some of the game.
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