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The 2017 NCAA tournament concludes its first weekend today by finishing up the second round, and there are some real fun matchups on tap.
Here’s today’s TV schedule; all games are also being live streamed on NCAA.com.
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| Game | Tip Time (ET) | Network | Site | Commentators |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game | Tip Time (ET) | Network | Site | Commentators |
| (2) Louisville Cardinals vs. (7) Michigan Wolverines | 12:10 p.m. | CBS | Indianapolis | Jim Nantz / Grant Hill / Bill Raftery / Tracy Wolfson |
| (2) Kentucky Wildcats vs. (10) Wichita State Shockers | Approx. 2:40 p.m. | CBS | Indianapolis | Jim Nantz / Grant Hill / Bill Raftery / Tracy Wolfson |
| (1) Kansas Jayhawks vs. (9) Michigan St. Spartans | 5:15 p.m. | CBS | Tulsa | Kevin Harlan / Reggie Miller / Dan Bonner / Dana Jacobson |
| (1) North Carolina Tar Heels vs. (8) Arkansas Razorbacks | 6:10 p.m. | TNT | Greenville | Brian Anderson / Chris Webber / Lewis Johnson |
| (3) Oregon Ducks vs. (11) Rhode Island Rams | 7:10 p.m. | TBS | Sacramento | Spero Dedes / Steve Smith / Len Elmore / Ros Gold-Onwude |
| (3) Baylor Bears vs. (11) USC Trojans | 7:30 p.m. | truTV | Tulsa | Kevin Harlan / Reggie Miller / Dan Bonner / Dana Jacobson |
| (2) Duke Blue Devils vs. (7) South Carolina Gamecocks | Approx. 8:40 p.m. | TNT | Greenville | Brian Anderson / Chris Webber / Lewis Johnson |
| (3) UCLA Bruins vs. (6) Cincinnati Bearcats | Approx. 9:40 p.m. | TBS | Sacramento | Spero Dedes / Steve Smith / Len Elmore / Ros Gold-Onwude |
The heavyweight matchup is the 2/10 between Kentucky and Wichita State. Typically you wouldn’t consider a No. 10 seed to be a “heavyweight,” but as we’ve discussed before, the advanced metrics loooooooove the Shockers — so much so that kenpom.com sees this one as a toss up. Both these teams are ranked in the top 15 in adjusted offense and defense.
Kentucky’s life blood? Making 2s and getting offensive rebounds — the two things Wichita State is best at preventing. The Shockers feature the No. 4 shooting defense in the country and and are No. 5 nationally in defensive rebounding percentage.
It’s important to note, though, that Wichita State put up those raw stats against teams that don’t have the same kinds of athletes Kentucky does. In the three games that might give us the best insight — Wichita State’s non-conference games against Louisville, Michigan State and Oklahoma State, all losses — the Shockers were hit and miss on their 2-point defense and defensive rebounding. They did a great job on both against Louisville (but couldn’t score themselves) and did a terrible job on both against Michigan State and Oklahoma State (and scored at a reasonable clip themselves). Two of those games were in November in the Bahamas so maybe that’s not totally relevant, but OSU was in Wichita in December.
One part of this game that I find fascinating: Kentucky isn’t known for a lot of patience on offense (No. 13 nationally in average length of offensive possessions), and Wichita State will absolutely make you grind for just about every bucket (196th). If the Wildcats try to push the tempo with quick shots, I think that probably will play right into the Shockers’ hands.
Beyond that, I love South Carolina’s chances to beat Duke (the Gamecocks pressure the perimeter like crazy), and it’s going to be fun to see if UCLA can crack Cincinnati’s defense.
Discuss below. Go Cougs!