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The 2017 NCAA tournament continues today with the second round, but what has taken place up until now can hardly be described as “March Madness.”
The higher seeds won 26 of the first 32 games of the tournament; only one team seeded 12 or lower advanced to weekend — Middle Tennessee State, which takes on Butler today.
Here’s today’s TV schedule; all games are also being live streamed on NCAA.com.
3/18 NCAA Tournament TV Schedule
| Game | Date | Tip Time (ET) | Network | Site | Commentators |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game | Date | Tip Time (ET) | Network | Site | Commentators |
| (4) West Virginia Mountaineers vs. (5) Notre Dame Fighting Irish | March 18 | 12:10 p.m. | CBS | Buffalo | Verne Lundquist / Jim Spanarkel / Allie LaForce |
| (1) Villanova Wildcats vs. (8) Wisconsin Badgers | March 18 | Approx. 2:40 p.m. | CBS | Buffalo | Verne Lundquist / Jim Spanarkel / Allie LaForce |
| (1) Gonzaga Bulldogs vs. (8) Northwestern Wildcats | March 18 | 5:15 p.m. | CBS | Salt Lake City | Andrew Catalon / Steve Lappas / Jamie Erdahl |
| (3) Florida State Seminoles vs. (11) Xavier Musketeers | March 18 | 6:10 p.m. | TNT | Orlando | Ian Eagle / Steve Lavin / Evan Washburn |
| (4) Butler Bulldogs vs. (12) Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders | March 18 | 7:10 p.m. | TBS | Milwaukee | Carter Blackburn / Mike Gminski / Debbie Antonelli / Lisa Byington |
| (2) Arizona Wildcats vs. (7) St. Mary's Gaels | March 18 | Approx. 7:45 p.m. | CBS | Salt Lake City | Andrew Catalon / Steve Lappas / Jamie Erdahl |
| (4) Florida Gators vs. (5) Virginia Cavaliers | March 18 | Approx. 8:40 p.m. | TNT | Orlando | Ian Eagle / Steve Lavin / Evan Washburn |
| (4) Purdue Boilermakers vs. (5) Iowa State Cyclones | March 18 | Approx. 9:40 p.m. | TBS | Milwaukee | Carter Blackburn / Mike Gminski / Debbie Antonelli / Lisa Byington |
The upside to the lack of upsets is that we start getting some really attractive heavyweight matchups pretty quickly. For example, while Florida-Virginia is a 4/5 matchup, each are ranked in the top 10 by kenpom.com. Iowa State and Purdue — another 4/5 game — features a pair of top 20 teams, while No. 7 Saint Mary’s and No. 2 Arizona also are both in the top 20.
All three of those games are considered toss-ups by Pomeroy’s laptop.
As for a game not necessarily considered a toss-up where I like the underdog? No. 11 Xavier over No. 3 Florida State. The Seminole defense is rugged, and a huge key will be whether the Musketeers can have success doing what they do best: Score inside and get to the line. Xavier also will need to find some interior defense.
Discuss below. Go Cougs!