From Thursday afternoon through Sunday evening, CBS and Turner Sports will televise 48 men’s NCAA tournament games. The opening day is not lacking in intrigue either.
Here’s a look at the first day’s slate of games as we tip March Madness (all times ET).
THURSDAY MORNING/AFTERNOON
(8) Maryland 67, (9) West Virginia 65
(13) Furman 68, (4) Virginia 67
(7) Missouri 76, (10) Utah State 65
(1) Kansas 96, (16) Howard 68
(1) Alabama 96, (16) Texas A&M Corpus Christi 75
(5) San Diego State 63, (12) College of Charleston 57
(15) Princeton 59, (2) Arizona 55
(8) Arkansas 73, (9) Illinois 63
THURSDAY EVENING
(5) Duke 74, (12) Oral Roberts 51
(9) Auburn 83, (8) Iowa 75
7:25 p.m. — No. 2 Texas vs. No. 15 Colgate (TBS)
19:35 — No. 7 Northwestern vs. No. 10 Boise State (truTV)
9:20 p.m. — No. 1 Houston vs. No. 16 Northern Kentucky (TNT)
9:40 p.m. — No. 4 Tennessee vs. No. 13 Louisiana (CBS)
9:55 p.m. — No. 7 Texas A&M vs. No. 10 Penn State (TBS)
10:05 p.m. — No. 2 UCLA vs. No. 15 UNC Asheville (truTV)
Must be seen: Texas A&M-Penn State is a first-round matchup of underseeded teams that feels like it should happen a round or two later. The Aggies went 15-3 in the SEC and have ranked No. 6 in the nation since Jan. 1, according to Bart Torvik’s T-Rankings. The Nittany Lions climbed off the edge of the bubble by winning eight of their last 10 games, including upsets at Illinois, Indiana and Northwestern.