With wins by Arizona State and North Dakota State on Wednesday closing out the First Four, the table for the NCAA tournament is completely set. We’ve found our 64 teams. Now, the real fun begins. On Thursday, we’ll see several top teams in action, including No. 1 Gonzaga, No. 2 Michigan State, No. 2 Kentucky, Big East champion Villanova and SEC champ Auburn. But here are three other interesting games to keep an eye on. Family business in Louisville vs. Minnesota The first game of the day tips off at noon (EST), when No. 10 Minnesota takes on No. 7 Louisville. The Golden Gophers are coached by Richard Pitino, whose father Rick coached the Cardinals from 2001 to 2017. This is the second time Richard Pitino has led Minnesota to the NCAA tournament since taking over in 2013. However, he’s still looking for his first win in the Big Dance. In 2017, Minnesota was upset by No. 12 Middle Tennessee State. On the other side, Chris Mack has 11 NCAA tournament wins, all with his former team, Xavier. In his first year on the job at Louisville to a 20-13 (10-8 ACC) record, which featured wins over NCAA tournament teams Vermont, Michigan State, Seton Hall, North Carolina and Virginia Tech. The Cardinals are led by Jordan Nwora's 17.2 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, while the Golden Gophers are steered by Amir Coffey’s 16.3 points and 3.2 assists per game. Belmont back in action Two days after winning his first NCAA tournament game — against Temple in the First Four — Rick Byrd is looking for his second. If he pulls it off, it’ll be a notable upset, as the No. 11 Bruins are taking on No. 6 Maryland in Jacksonville, Florida. Belmont’s win over Temple in Dayton, Ohio saw a 29-point performance from senior guard Kevin McClain, and an effort of 16 points, four rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal from OVC Freshman of the Year Nick Muszynski, who was returning to the court after missing the OVC title game with a foot injury. The Bruins match up well with Maryland as the Terps struggle to defend the three-pointer at times, placing just 57th in three-point defense. Overall, the Terps are solid on that end of the floor, owning the 16th best field goal defense in the country, allowing opponents to make just 39.7 percent of all their shots. The Terps have the 13th-best field goal defense among NCAA tournament teams. Leading the way for Maryland this year is dynamic guard Anthony Cowan Jr., who averages 16 points and 4.3 assists per game. Big man Bruno Fernando chips in 13.7 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. Wofford going for win No. 21 The Wofford Terriers are the hottest team in the country entering the tournament, having won 20 straight games. Standing between Mike Young’s side and win No. 21 — and what would be Wofford’s first ever NCAA tournament win — is a tough Seton Hall team. The Pirates come into this game after losing in the Big East title game to Villanova. Before that loss, they had won four in a row. Wofford enters the tournament with the country’s 10th-best field goal percentage, second best three-point percentage, second best offensive rating, sixth best true shooting percentage and fourth best effective field goal percentage. They are also armed with Fletcher Magee, who has made more three-pointers than any other player in college basketball this season. Seton Hall is led by Myles Powell, the second-leading scorer in the Big East and 13th-best scorer in the country. The 6-foot-2 junior averages 22.9 points per game. 7 Wofford v 10 Seton Hall@CBS AT 9:40PM EST Let’s GOOOOO! 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/MtP8iJcu6Z — Wofford Basketball (@WoffordMBB) March 20, 2019<doc-sep>Now that there’s a bracket, which games to go to this week? Matter of fact, why don’t we plug in the virtual reality transporter and just go to all of them? And so, 36 First Four and opening round games, and 36 reasons to go watch them. Pack lightly. TUESDAY Fairleigh Dickinson vs. Prairie View A&M. It’s a clash of rebooted seasons. Prairie View A&M started 1-11, Fairleigh Dickinson had a 3-10 stretch. Belmont vs. Temple. Belmont’s at-large bid was a victory for the common man, and Fran Dunphy is retiring at Temple after a long and honorable career, so it’s a feel-good story no matter who wins. North Carolina Central vs. North Dakota State. Apparently, you can’t have a First Four without North Carolina Central. Three consecutive MEAC titles for the Eagles, three First Fours. They’re 0-2, so maybe the third trip to Dayton is the charm. Arizona State vs. St. John’s. Who can resist a match of two Final Four coaches? Make that two Final Four players who now coach. Maybe at halftime, Arizona State’s Bobby Hurley and St. John’s Chris Mullin can go one-on-one. Or given the fact they played last century, make that a game of HORSE. More pertinent may be the fact St. John’s started 14-1 but is 7-11 since, with seven of the losses by double digits and its last appearance an 86-54 mashing by Marquette in the Big East tournament. THURSDAY Maryland vs. Belmont-Temple winner. You can look it up. There never has been a year the First Four did not have a winner advance past the next game. And this looks like as good a chance as any. LSU vs. Yale. Ivy League teams have made plucky underdogs lately, and the last time the tournament saw Yale, the Bulldogs promptly took down Baylor, and nearly Duke. Think LSU might be slowed by a last-minute interim coach? This is the 30th anniversary of the Michigan team that got Steve Fisher as interim just before the NCAA tournament. Next thing anybody knew, Fisher was holding the national championship trophy. Louisville vs. Minnesota. Minnesota coach Richard Pitino against the team that used to be coached by Rick Pitino. Yeah, that’ll get some talk. Michigan State vs. Bradley. Bradley started the Missouri Valley Conference season 0-5 and was 18 points down to Northern Iowa in the league tournament championship game, so the Braves are hard to kill. But Michigan State is a stat wonder; third in the nation in assists and field goal defense, fourth in rebound margin, fifth in blocked shots. The Spartans shared the Big Ten season title, won the league tournament and just beat Michigan three times in 15 days. And did a lot of that with two of their top scorers missing. They’re kind of steely themselves. Gonzaga vs. Fairleigh Dickinson-Prairie View A&M winner. The Zags will have had eight days to ponder, study and no doubt seethe about whatever happened against Saint Mary’s. Bad news for the No. 16 seed in this game. Mark Few shares thoughts on Zags' No. 1 seed in West Region Baylor vs. Syracuse. OK, who’s better at form reversal? Baylor has lost four in a row, Syracuse has dropped seven of its last 11. Then again, the Orange are old hands at flipping the switch in March. They lost five of their last six in 2016 and ended up in the Final Four. They dropped five of their last eight in 2018, and went to the Sweet 16. Marquette vs. Murray State. Surely, the selection committee folks had to gleefully giggle when they put this one up. Marquette’s Markus Howard was sixth in the nation in scoring this season and Murray State’s Ja Morant was eighth. They’re the two top scorers in the tournament, and now they’ll be in the same game. Florida State vs. Vermont. Two teams on a roll, just in different universes. Florida State is 14-2 since Jan. 20, with the only losses to Duke and North Carolina. Vermont is 18-2 since Dec. 21, with both defeats by UMBC. Nevada vs. Florida. The Gators held 11 major college opponents at least 19 points under their average. Nevada has the same bunch who put 87 points on Texas and 75 on Cincinnati last March to get to the Sweet 16. BRACKET TIPS: How to pick March Madness upsets | Should you pick a No. 1 seed to win? Michigan vs. Montana. Montana is eighth in the country in field goal percentage and scores 77 points a game. Michigan is second in the nation in scoring defense and has allowed the opponent to break 70 only five times. The Wolverines just have to be glad Montana’s school color is not green. They’re 28-3 against everyone in the world not named Michigan State. Villanova vs. Saint Mary’s. Opportunity, the name is Saint Mary’s. What kind of March would it be to beat the No. 1 ranked team, and then the defending national champion in two gulps? Purdue vs. Old Dominion. Carsen Edwards has shot under 33 percent since the beginning of February, and now he says his back is hurting, and if both of that continues, this could be big trouble for the Boilermakers. Old Dominion is a study in contrast — seventh in the nation in scoring defense and 10th in field goal percentage defense, but 313th in scoring and 320th in shooting. The Monarchs should get a lot of sentimental backing, with coach Jeff Jones battling prostate cancer. Auburn vs. New Mexico State. Auburn appears to be peaking, coming off pounding Tennessee for its first SEC tournament championship in 34 years. But beware the silent power of New Mexico State, which has gotten scant attention for a 30-4 record, or 19-game winning streak, or losing by only three at Kansas. Committee chair Bernard Muir fields questions about the selection process Kansas vs. Northeastern. Northeastern has won 16 of 18, has five different players get double-doubles this season, beat Alabama by 16 and went 14-4 in the Colonial with two of its losses in overtime and the other two by three points each.<doc-sep>If you have every 1-2-3-4 seed making the Sweet 16 on your bracket, you're doing it wrong. At least one double-digit seed has made it to the tournament's second weekend 37 times in the last 40 seasons. More specifically, a No. 11 seed has reached the round of 16 in each of the last five seasons (with three of those No. 11s making it to the regional final, and with Loyola Chicago getting to the Final Four last year).<doc-sep>No matter what happens in the West Regional, Gonzaga's dominance during the regular season should not be ignored when we catalog and index the 2018-19 season in college basketball history. This year's Zags had the best offense in the country for most of the year, a handful of players that could end up playing pro ball and absolutely obliterated the West Coast Conference on the way to a perfect 16-0 record in league play during the regular season. Oh yeah, and it's the only team in the country to be able to say it beat a full-strength Duke. There is a ton that points to this year's team being the one that can get Mark Few his first national championship, but even reaching the Final Four looks challenging with a draw that features no less than a handful of teams that present a test for Gonzaga unlike anything it's faced since back-to-back losses against Tennessee (on a neutral) and North Carolina (in Chapel Hill) in December. It's unfair that the value of Gonzaga's entire 2019 season will be judged, at least in the eyes of many college basketball fans, on whether or not the Bulldogs make it out of the West Regional and to Minneapolis for the Final Four. But that's the reality of the conversation around this program and its relationship to this tournament. Gonzaga has already overcome the initial early-exit tournament narratives with four straight Sweet 16 appearances, including an Elite Eight run in 2015 and Few's first Final Four and a national runner-up showing in 2017. If Gonzaga gets bounced early, it's not a reflection on anything other than a good team's inability to get a win on a neutral floor against another good team. But that's not the way we'd talk about it if Gonzaga falls before the Sweet 16. If Gonzaga wanted or wants an "us against the world" angle, it's got it, because the West Regional is packed with potential landmines for the field's fourth No. 1 seed. Start a bracket pool to compete against friends or play for the chance to win a college basketball dream trip.Get in the action today! Best first-round game No. 5 Marquette vs. No. 12 Murray State: An old adage -- proven and disproven from year to year -- goes that you need great guard play to win in the NCAA Tournament. Well Marquette's Markus Howard and Murray State's Ja Morant are two of the most dynamic scoring guards in the entire field and we get to see them both go head-to-head in the first round. In addition to the matchup of two future pros, the style of both teams should set up for an incredibly entertaining game. It's also somewhat of an upset alert spot for Marquette after stumbling to the finish line in the regular season. Top potential matchup No. 1 Gonzaga vs. No. 4 Florida State: A potential rematch from last year's Sweet 16 stunner, the Seminoles enter this year's tournament in much better form than when they were a 9-seed in 2018. This is also a much better Gonzaga team, and the thing that makes this potential matchup so intriguing is that Florida State has the size and length to keep the Bulldogs from playing bully-ball down low like they were able to do in so many conference games. Upset lock of the regional No. 12 Murray State over No. 5 Marquette: Markus Howard might go for 40+ points and yet I'm not all-in on Marquette based on the way they finished the season. In losing five of their last six games, the Golden Eagles showed a form that struggled in the closing moments of close games and that doesn't set up well as a four-point favorite against a hot Murray State team that just won its conference tournament. Cinderella team that will surprise None: I think Murray State will knock off Marquette, but the thing that makes the West Regional different is the storyline has the major conference teams playing underdog to the mid-major powerhouse. Other regionals have dangerous double-digit seeds from smaller conferences that could make a run into the Sweet 16, but in the West it's national championship-winning programs like Syracuse (9) and Florida (10) that appear to be the closest thing to a "Cinderella" potential. Team that will make a far-too-early exit Michigan: At the start of February, I had the Wolverines as one of four teams I thought could win a national title, but the offense was far too inconsistent down the stretch to think we're about to see another deep run from John Beilein's team. I think the draw is really tough with Nevada, Florida and Texas Tech all in the potential path to an Elite Eight showdown against Gonzaga, and would pick any of those three teams against the Wolverines on a neutral floor right now. Five players to watch Brandon Clarke, F, Gonzaga: Teammate Rui Hachimura gets a ton of attention, but when it comes to efficiency and production, Clarke has been as much if not more impressive this season. In addition to nearly double-double averages (16.5 points, 8.4 rebounds per game), Clarke has also proven to be an elite shot-blocker on defense. Ja Morant, G, Murray State: There is a discussion that Morant has joined Zion Williamson and R.J. Barrett as a lock to be one of the top picks in this summer's NBA Draft. Get your eyes on that first round game against Marquette in case its his last in college hoops. Markus Howard, G, Marquette: The tournament loves game-changing guards that can pour it in, and Howard is averaging 25 points per game while hitting on 40 percent of his 3-point attempts. It's a bummer that matchup against Morant isn't a best-of-seven series, but I've got a hunch we'll get to see more of them facing off for years to come at the next level.<doc-sep>
It's time to start digging in, studying up, getting to know each region so you can completely overthink this on your way to winning your bracket pool. I love it, you love it. I hope you've taken a minute or 10 to soak up the anticipation of the games ahead. The waiting is not the hardest part -- it's the best part. That bracket is clean and full of potential. And as you look about the field of 68, your eyes will drift to the bottom right corner. That's the Midwest pocket. It's the toughest of the four regions. You get three historically great programs in UNC, Kentucky and Kansas. You get the Big 12 Tournament champ (Iowa State) as a No. 6 seed. You get a 31-3 team in Houston as a No. 3. Auburn's red-hot as the No. 5, having won eight straight games, altering its course into this tournament in the process. The Midwest has the best of all the No. 8 seeds (Utah State) and -- I think -- the best of all the No. 9 seeds (Washington). Start a bracket pool to compete against friends or play for the chance to win a college basketball dream trip. Get in the action today! Oh, and then there's Wofford: a No. 7 seed with the longest win streak in college hoops (20 games) and a genuinely good shot to make a deep run. The second longest win streak in college basketball belongs to New Mexico State (19 games). Yeah, guess which region it's in? What I like about the Midwest is how strong the teams are -- which makes for a great combination of upset potential but also really good games. I peek up and down the first round and I don't see a lot of blowout potential. This part of the bracket is stacked. Best first-round game No. 7 Wofford vs. No. 10 Seton Hall: This is fixing to be a fun one. Seton Hall has been good as of late, winning four out of five and getting to the Big East Tournament title game. The Pirates also have a win over Kentucky; if SHU beats Wofford, it's likely going to have a rematch with Big Blue in the second round in Jacksonville. Now, as for Wofford-Seton Hall, it's scheduled to tip around 9:40 p.m. ET on Thursday night. The Pirates have Myles Powell, who was the best player in the Big East in the final three weeks of the season. The Terriers have Fletcher Magee, who is three 3-pointers away from becoming the most prolific 3-ball shooter in men's Division-I history. This is a highly entertaining matchup. Top potential matchup No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 4 Kansas: I'll go with the non 1-vs.-2 here, as that's often the obvious pick for best matchup. I think we can all acknowledge the No. 1 UNC vs. No. 2 Kentucky is the dream game in the Elite Eight. So let's set that aside. Instead. My choice, then is North Carolina vs. Kentucky. Roy Williams vs. his old school. In Kansas City! Kansas is 5-6 all time vs. UNC but has won the last three times the schools met. The most recent example is from 2013, when the teams, in fact, met in the NCAA tourney. Top-seeded Kansas knocked off No. 8 UNC then. This season, seeing a smaller UNC team go up against a Kansas club that similarly doesn't have a lot of presence down low would be fascinating. And obviously you have to Hall of Fame coaches in Roy Williams and Bill Self. That would be a tasty, tasty Sweet 16 affair. Upset lock of the regional No. 12 New Mexico State over No. 5 Auburn: The Tigers are playing well,l no doubt, coming off their first SEC Tournament championship since 1985. But the 30-4 Aggies were the dominant team out of the WAC and also have much less of a travel situation heading into this game. Auburn played late into Sunday, has to travel to Salt Lake City and then has an 11:30 a.m. local tip. And it's a shorter trip for New Mexico State, which gets a little more time off than Auburn. I like what Chris Jans' team has overall. NMSU is a program that makes the tourney almost every season, and this year's team is elite at rebounding. Auburn's small. New Mexico State is the deepest team in the field, too. That's my lock. Visit SportsLine now to see which No.