Opening Thursday of March Madness featured two massive upsets, one by an Ivy League program with a giant slaughter history and the other by a SoCon team that hasn’t won an NCAA tournament game in nearly half a century.
Now the Friday menu comes with just as much traffic. Here is a summary of Friday’s menu:
Friday afternoon
(7) Michigan State 72, (10) USC 62
(3) Xavier 72, (14) Kennesaw State 67
(3) Baylor 74, (14) UCSB 56
(5) St. Mary’s 63, (12) VCU 51
2:45 p.m. — No. 2 Marquette vs. No. 15 Vermont (CBS)
3:10 p.m. — No. 6 Iowa vs. No. 11 Pittsburgh (True TV)
4:10 p.m. — No. 6 Creighton vs. No. 11 NC State (TNT)
4:30 p.m. — No. 4 UConn vs. No. 13 Iona (TBS)
Must see: Before Rick Pitino left for a bigger job, possibly in the Big East at St. John’s, would try to lead possibly the last Iona team to the massive NCAA Tournament. The Gaels haven’t lost since January…but they also haven’t seen anyone as talented as UConn. Iona has a strong backcourt and a decent size for a medium pan, but defensive rebounding is a major concern. If ghouls can carry huskies in one shot, this one has the potential to live up to the hype.
Thursday night
6:50 p.m. — No. 1 Purdue vs. No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson (TNT)
7:10 p.m. — No. 6 Kentucky vs. No. 11 Providence (CBS)
7:25 p.m. — No. 5 Miami vs. No. 12 Drake (TBS)
7:35 p.m. — No. 3 Gonzaga vs. No. 14 Grand Canyon (truTV)
9:20 p.m. — No. 8 Memphis vs. No. 9 Florida Atlantic (TNT)
9:40 p.m. — No. 3 Kansas State vs. No. 14 Montana State (CBS)
9:55 p.m. — No. 4 Indiana vs. No. 13 Kent State (TBS)
10:05 p.m. — No. 6 TCU vs. No. 11 Arizona State (truTV)
Must see: Two years ago, Kentucky suffered its worst season in decades. Last year, the Wildcats suffered their worst NCAA Tournament loss in program history. Thus, no coach in the country is under more pressure than John Calipari to win their first-round match this week. Kentucky will seek to end a winless 1,449-day drought in the NCAA Tournament when they take on a Providence team that contended for the Big East title in February but struggled on defense down the field.
