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NCAA Tournament Continues Today, But Can the Aggies beat Florida State in the Second-Round of the Big Dance?

Yesterday was full of upsets, but will Texas A&M be the next team to fall in the NCAA Tournament?

In a word, no.

Florida State, the Aggies' opponent in the second-round, has not had a quality win in a long, long time and once these two teams take the court and get underway at 4:10 p.m EST on TBS, we'll see that Texas A&M is simply the better team.

Sure, the Seminoles had big wins earlier in the season, but it's more about what you've done for me lately, and while Texas A&M hasn't exactly come roaring into the big dance, the Aggies have been battle-tested in the Big-12, and I'm much more confident in their resume than I am Florida State's.

However, this is going to be a close game, and hopefully it provides the same excitement that yesterday's morning session gave us, with plenty of close games, a ton of lead changes and a handful of buzzer beaters.

That's what March Madness is all about and I can't wait for these games to get underway and all of the drama that we associated with the first two days of this tournament. It's the best time of the sports calendar, soak it in ladies and gentleman.

Look for Texas A&M to find a way to win this game. The Aggies are a talented team that's seen some of the best squads in the country and Florida State has pretender written all over them. An upset would be nice, but I don't see it in the cards for the Seminoles.

Playing Notre Dame on Sunday will be no picnic for either team, so it will be lights out for the Aggies or the Seminoles, it's just a matter of today or two days from now.

For more on March Madness, be sure to check out Bleacher Report's hub for all things related to the NCAA Tournament.

Also, if you're looking for a bracket to fill out to keep handy for this weekend, be sure to download Bleacher Report's printable tournament bracket.

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Dalton Pepper Emerged Yesterday as West Virginia Held Off Clemson in the Second-Round of the NCAA Tournament

If you went up to 10 people on the street yesterday who Dalton Pepper was, I'm not sure one person would have given you the correct answer.

Pepper is a bench player for West Virginia, and if you watched the Mountaineers' game against Clemson yesterday, you saw the guard explode to hold off Clemson in the second-round of the NCAA Tournament. Not only did Pepper hit all four of his shots to get 10 points for the game, he also had three monster steals in the final minute of the game to seal it for his team and send the Tigers home disappointed.

Performances like that are exactly what the NCAA Tournament is all about. Role players become stars for their late-game heroics and guys like Pepper can become household names overnight for stealing the show in the big dance.

Will we see another performance like this when the Mountaineers take the court against Kentucky? I wouldn't doubt it, because once you start to get confident and believe that you can compete and excel on the biggest stage in college basketball, there is no stopping you. Sports are all about confidence and there's no way that Pepper isn't brimming with it at this moment.

It's not every day that you get to save the game for yourself and your team and have dozens of people writing about you and talking about how amazing your performance was.

Pepper could be Bob Huggins' secret weapon as he tries to upset John Calipari and the Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday.

For more on March Madness, be sure to check out Bleacher Report's hub for all things related to the NCAA Tournament.

Also, if you're looking for a bracket to fill out to keep handy for this weekend, be sure to download Bleacher Report's printable tournament bracket.

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Kyrie Irving Will Play For Duke Tonight, But How Effective Will He Be Once He Takes the Court?

It has been a long, long time since we've seen Kyrie Irving suit up for the Duke Blue Devils.

The star freshman guard has only been seen in eight games this season before finding himself on the bench with a toe injury. There was a lot of doubt on if he would even play this year but somehow, someway, Irving will take the court for Coach K as Duke takes on Hampton in the second-round of the West region.

The real question is what can we expect from a player who hasn't played in a game in months? I expect Duke to ease him into game action and not rush things, because this tournament is a marathon, not a sprint, and Coach K knows that. Irving is a sensational talent, and I'm sure we're going to see flashes of it tonight, but we're also going to see a player that is very rusty and it will show, especially in his outside shooting.

But as the tournament goes on and Duke advances deeper, which it will, because the Blue Devils are in an extremely weak region, we're going to see Irving get his legs back and he's going to start taking games over with his extreme talent. Irving had a chance to be the Player of the Year before his injury and he's just the X-Factor that can turn the Blue Devils into the champions for a second-straight year.

Normally I avoid the first games for the top seeds in the tournament, but I'll be sure to watch this one just to see how Irving looks in the court. It's going to be one of the top storylines in this tournament, so you owe it to yourself to check it out.

For more on March Madness, be sure to check out Bleacher Report's hub for all things related to the NCAA Tournament.

Also, if you're looking for a bracket to fill out to keep handy for this weekend, be sure to download Bleacher Report's printable tournament bracket.

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NCAA Schedule Gives Us A Matchup Between Arizona and Memphis, But Who Will Come Out On Top?

Sometimes, it just takes one player to win you a game in the NCAA Tournament.

For Arizona, that player is Derrick Williams. The kid is simply a star and when the Wildcats take the floor at 2:45 p.m. EST on CBS, he's going to leap off of the screen as he powers Arizona to a big win over Memphis in the West region.

The Wildcats are the five-seed and that's always a seed that is vulnerable to the upset, at least historically in the NCAA Tournament. We saw Vanderbilt fall to Richmond yesterday and that was our first upset from the matchups between the five-and-12 seeds, while Kansas State and West Virginia managed to avoid becoming the victim of a Cinderella.

Williams is going to have to be big against Memphis, a program that has seen deep runs in the NCAA Tournament in the past, although that was the John Calipari teams, not the team that we're looking at right now. Arizona looks like a team poised to win this game and maybe even shock people going forward in the big dance. I do not like Texas at all and the Longhorns look very beatable in this tournament and the Wildcats could certainly be dancing for a long, long time.

If Williams plays up to his ability, there's no telling what Arizona can do in March Madness. That's the beauty of this tournament. It's a very star-driven event, and the Wildcats certainly have one in Williams.

For more on March Madness, be sure to check out Bleacher Report's hub for all things related to the NCAA Tournament.

Also, if you're looking for a bracket to fill out to keep handy for this weekend, be sure to download Bleacher Report's printable tournament bracket.

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NCAA Tournament Schedule Has A Slumping Villanova Taking On George Mason, But Will The Patriots Continue On?

The words George Mason are instantly recognizable when you talk about the NCAA Tournament, and today, the Patriots will try and capture the magic that sent the program and a Cinderella run to end all Cinderella runs years ago.

First up will be a matchup against the Villanova Wildcats, a team that is playing terrible basketball and limped into the NCAA Tournament after losing its last five games and seven of its last nine, including an embarrassing loss to South Florida in the Big East Tournament. Jay Wright's team had looked like the best team in the Big East at one point this year, but it's clear that this team has nothing left in the gas tank and that George Mason should advance in this tournament.

It almost doesn't seem like it could possibly happen after the way Villanova played earlier in the season, but it's true, and when this game tips off at 2:10 p.m. on TNT, you'll see how this team could have fallen so far. The Wildcats have been banged up and demoralized in recent weeks and that is not the way you want to head into the big dance.

The Patriots will get past this game and we'll see what this team can do against Ohio State. While another Cinderella run is possible, I don't see it happening and I see George Mason going home after giving the Buckeyes all they can handle.

That's really all you can ask from a team like the Patriots.

For more on March Madness, be sure to check out Bleacher Report's hub for all things related to the NCAA Tournament.

Also, if you're looking for a bracket to fill out to keep handy for this weekend, be sure to download Bleacher Report's printable tournament bracket.

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NCAA Tournament Gives Notre Dame A Great Chance To Go Deep Into the Big Dance, But Can the Fighting Irish Dominate Today?

Ben Hansbrough has seen his brother reach the greatest heights of college basketball, and now it's his turn to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.

Hansbrough will lead the Notre Dame Fighting Irish into today's second-round matchup against Akron. The game tips off at 1:40 p.m. EST and will air on TBS. As with most matchups between a two-seed and a 15-seed, this game is going to be a blow out. The Fighting Irish are simply in a different class and it will be evident once these two squads take the court.

Hansbrough is going to do some serious damage from the perimeter as he continues the great play we've seen from the brother of the North Carolina great. The Fighting Irish are the two-seed in the Southwest region and that isn't exactly the easiest region on the bracket. However, this is a team that has played the top teams in the country all year long out of the Big East, so I don't worry about how Notre Dame will handle teams like Purdue later in the tournament.

Akron is a nice story, but being a feel-good team doesn't exactly get you much once you take the court against one of the best teams in basketball. This game is going to be a rout early and it's going to end with a lopsided score. Hansbrough is going to show you that he's his own player and that he's no longer in the shadow of his big brother.

Keep your eyes on the Irish, because this team can make it rain from deep and if Akron doesn't close out on defense, it's going to be a long, long afternoon for the Zips.

For more on March Madness, be sure to check out Bleacher Report's hub for all things related to the NCAA Tournament.

Also, if you're looking for a bracket to fill out to keep handy for this weekend, be sure to download Bleacher Report's printable tournament bracket.

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NCAA Tournament Schedule Gives Us A Matchup Between Michigan and Texas, But Who Will Get The Win?

This could be Bruce Pearl's last dance with the Tennessee Volunteers.

Pearl is the embattled coach of the Volunteers and it's seriously time for him to go. He's gotten the program in trouble with the NCAA and the team isn't performing like it used to under Pearl and that's the perfect storm to get you fired as head coach. It seems like it could be in the cards in Tennessee and a fresh start would really do the program a whole lot of good.

When you have a coach that clearly has a poor grasp of the NCAA rules, or either simply doesn't care about bending the rules, you have to get him out of your school, especially with people looking at him, waiting for him to make the slightest violation in the rules.

Pearl and the Vols will take on Michigan at 12:40 p.m. EST and the game will air on TruTV. Michigan made a great run in the Big Ten Tournament, and the Wolverines are playing strong basketball right now. If you play in the Big Ten, you have to play good defense, and that's going to frustrate the Vols all game long as Michigan gets physical with Tennessee.

That's one thing that puts the Wolverines in a great position to win this game and I see Michigan getting the big win and moving on to the next round of the tournament. Afterward, it won't be a major shock if the program decides to send Pearl packing, because it's simply time for him to go, especially after all that has happened over the past year.

For more on March Madness, be sure to check out Bleacher Report's hub for all things related to the NCAA Tournament.

Also, if you're looking for a bracket to fill out to keep handy for this weekend, be sure to download Bleacher Report's printable tournament bracket.

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NCAA Tournament Schedule Kicks Off With Texas Looking To Avoid the Upset Against Oakland

If you're the Texas Longhorns this morning, you are the highest levels of upset alert.

The Longhorns are four-seed in the West region and will take on Oakland today in Friday's first game of the NCAA Tournament. The game tips off at 12:15 p.m. EST on CBS. The Golden Grizzlies are coming into this matchup riding an eight-game winning streak and if Oakland can keep this thing close in the first half, you'll have to have an uneasy feeling in your stomach if you're the Longhorns or their fans.

Texas had an up-and-down finish to the regular season and if Oakland hangs around, the doubt is going to start to creep in it's going to compound the mistakes and it's going to give the Golden Grizzlies an even better chance of pulling off a massive upset.

Despite this, the matchup is one that Texas should win. The Longhorns have been battle-tested in the Big-12 and this is a team that knows what it has to do once it takes the court. It's time to step it up and despite Oakland having a ton of momentum, this team isn't as talented as Texas and it's going to show on the court.

If the Longhorns lose, it will be a total stunner and there's going to be a lot of questions and a lot of finger-pointing as Texas tries to figure out how it went so horribly wrong in just the second-round of the NCAA Tournament.

No one wants that.

For more on March Madness, be sure to check out Bleacher Report's hub for all things related to the NCAA Tournament.

Also, if you're looking for a bracket to fill out to keep handy for this weekend, be sure to download Bleacher Report's printable tournament bracket.