The Who’s Who of NCAA March Madness
Selection day has come and gone and many of us are either excited or heart broken.
Below you’ll find the teams who were lucky enough to make it into the tournament and what day/time they play. And now it’s time to construct our winning brackets! Well wait, if you don’t know how to do this or not sure who to pick I’ve also decided to give y’all a short guide to help you fill that bracket.
Who’s playing in March Madness 2018
First Four: 3/13/2018
(16) Radford v. (16) LIU Brooklyn @ 4:40pm
(11) UCLA v. (11) St. Bonaventure @ 7:10Pm
First Four: 3/14/2018
(16) TX Southern v. NC Central @ 4:40pm
(11) Syracuse v. (11) Arizona State
NCAA First Round- 3/15/2018
(10) Oklahoma v. (7) Rhode Island @ 10:15am
(14) Wright State v (3) Tennessee @ 10:40am
(13) UNCG v. (4) Gonzaga @ 11:30am
(16) Penn v. (1) Kansas @ 12:00pm
(15) Iona v. (2) Duke @ 12:45pm
(11) Loyola IL v. (6) Miami FL @ 1:10pm
(12) SD State v. (5) Ohio State @ 2:00pm
(9) NC State v. (8) Seton Hall @ 2:30pm
TBD v (1) Villanova @ 4:50pm
(12) Davidson v. (5) Kentucky @ 5:10pm
(11) San Diego State v. (6) Houston @ 5:20pm
(14) SFA v. (3) Texas Tech @ 5:27pm
(9) Alabama v. (8) Virginia Tech @ 7:20pm
(13) Buffalo v. (4) Arizona @ 7:40
(14) Montana v. (3) Michigan @ 7:50pm
TBD v. (6) Florida @ 7:57pm
NCAA First Round- 3/16/2018
(10) Providence v. (7) Texas A&M @ 10:15am
(15) CSUF v. (2) Purdue @ 10:40am
(13) Marshall v. 4 Wichita State @ 11:30am
(15) Georgia State v. (2) Cincinnati @ 12:00pm
(15) Lipscomb v. (2) UNC @ 12:45pm
(10) Butler v. (7) Arkansas @ 1:10pm
(12) Murray State v. (5) West Virginia @ 2:00pm
(10) Texas v. (7) Nevada @ 2:30pm
(9) Kansas State v. (8) Creighton @ 4:50pm
(14) Bucknell v. (3) MI State @ 5:10pm
TBD v. (1) Xavier @ 5:20pm
(13) Charleston v. (4) Auburn @ 5:27pm
(16) UMCB v. (1) Virginia @ 7:20pm
TBD v. (6) TCU @ 7:40pm
(9) Florida State v. (8) Missouri @ 7:50
(12) NM State v. (5) Clemson @ 7:57
Break down of the rounds:
Round 1: In this round the pot of 64 gets cut down to 32. This round has the most eliminations than all the rest. Keep in mind the higher seeded teams will underestimate some others and lower seeded teams will work their butts off to keep their name in the brackets. So be smart with who you pick.
Round 2: In this round the teams get cut from 32 into the Sweet 16. As the team choices become smaller it becomes even trickier to pick the winners. During this round we will lose quite a few No. 3 teams and a couple No. 2 teams. But keep in mind that No. 1 teams will not fall to No. 8 or 9 teams just yet.
Round 3: In the Sweet 16, we will see many many many upsets. Most of the teams are higher-seeded teams, and they will win most of their games. You should move these teams to the next round (or just a few). During this round its likely to lose at least one No. 1 seeded team.
Round 4: The Elite 8 is the round with 4 super huge games. Here’s where your gut really needs to kick in since everyone is shooting for that spot in the final four. You could expect at least one or two No. 1 seeds to make it. But for the most part, it’s anyone’s game.
Round 5: The Final Four round is tough! This is is the do or die round, go big or go home because the winners move into the Championship round.
Round 6: The Championship round. Most people will pick the higher seeded team but if your gut says go for the lower seeded team then do it. At this point if your still in than man you got it!
Quick Tips:
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Don’t think that a low-seeded team is going to win because it’s never won, you never truly know, I mean they made it this far right?
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Be on the lookout for injuries. The loss of key players could mean the difference between winning and losing. (MAJOR KEY)
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Remain objective. Don’t pick your favorite team to win the whole tournament when it starts out as a No. 16 seed. ( I do this a lot…)
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Look back into the past. If two teams played against each other earlier in the season, review the previous games. That could give you a good idea of what could happen again.
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Make sure you have fun.
Stay tuned for next rounds break down and some recaps of the games!
XOXO- Michaela