2015 NCAA Tournament for March 20: Who, what, where, and when

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So … how is your 2015 NCAA Tournament bracket standing after day number one? Yesterday was an unprecedented day of close games as ten of the sixteen games were decided by 8 points or less. We saw upsets as two #3 seeds went down and traditional powers such as North Carolina got a scare of their own. We can only hope that today’s action can repeat what we saw yesterday.

Action gets underway at 12:15PM today with perhaps the most maligned two seed in recent memory, Kansas, tipping off today’s action. Here is a complete look at today’s games, times, and where to watch it all.

12:15PM: CBS – Kansas vs New Mexico State (Omaha)
12:40PM: truTV – Michigan State vs Georgia (Charlotte)
1:40PM; TBS – Northern Iowa vs Wyoming (Seattle)
2:10PM: TNT – West Virginia vs Buffalo (Columbus)
2:45PM: CBS – Wichita State vs Indiana (Omaha)
3:10PM: truTV – Virginia vs Belmont (Charlotte)
4:10PM: TBS – Louisville vs UC Irvine (Seattle)
4:40PM: TNT – Maryland vs Valparaiso (Columbus)
6:50PM: TBS – Oregon vs Oklahoma State (Omaha)
7:10PM: CBS – Duke vs Robert Morris (Charlotte)
7:20PM: TNT – Iowa vs Davidson (Seattle)
7:27PM: truTV – Oklahoma vs Albany (Columbus)
9:10PM: TBS – Wisconsin vs Coastal Carolina (Omaha)
9:40PM: CBS – San Diego State vs St. Johns (Charlotte)
9:50PM: TNT – Gonzaga vs North Dakota State (Seattle)
9:57PM: truTV – Providence vs Dayton (Columbus)

Here are my choices for the better games to keep an eye on today.

12:40 PM – truTV
#7 MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS 23-11
#10 GEORGIA BULLDOGS 21-11

At first glance, it seems like a down year for Michigan State, but this is usually Sparty’s time to shine. The Spartans are an experience group that passes the ball well, plays good defense, and crashes the boards well. Branden Dawson does a little of everything well and averages 11.6 PPG and 9.3 RPG. Michigan State gets balanced scoring from Denzel Valentine (14.8 PPG) and Travis Trice (14.5). Bryn Forbes comes off the bench and hits 42.8% of his 3-pointers. As a team, the Spartans hit 38.6% of their 3-pointers but shoot a very uncharacteristic like 63.3% from the charity stripe. The Spartans have taken some bad losses this year but in the end, their biggest NCAA asset is Izzo.

The Bulldogs seem to be a bit underrated headed into the tournament, but when healthy, this is a very dangerous team. The Bulldogs have five starters that average double digits in scoring and are led by Marcus Thornton. When healthy, Thornton (12.2 PPG, 7.0 RPG) is one of the best players in the SEC. Kenny Gaines (11.6 PPG) is the latest Bulldog to be hampered by the injury bug. He hits 36.5% of his 3-pointers and hopefully he is a go for the tournament. Look for JJ Frazier to be set free in the tournament. Frazier hits 40.3% of his 3-pointers and has gone off for 37 points this year. The Bulldogs are also a very under rated team defensively. Their man to man defense is tenacious and opposing teams hit just 38.8% on the year.

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