NCAA Bracket 2023: Updated Men's Schedule and Predictions After Thursday's 1st Round
If this is the earliest your March Madness bracket has ever been busted, you're not alone.
Thursday's First Round of the 2023 men's NCAA tournament was chock-full of shocking upsets. No. 13 Furman squeaking by No. 4 Virginia 68-67 was surprising, but not as much as No. 15 Princeton besting No. 2 Arizona 59-55.
According to NCAA.com, a little more than 25 percent of brackets had Furman defeating Virginia, but just 4.13 percent of people thought Princeton could get it done against Arizona.
It's the third year in a row that a No. 15 seed has advanted to the Round of 32. In fact, as The Ringer's Rodger Sherman pointed out, there have been seven 15 over 2 upsets in the last 10 tournaments...even though there were only four in the first 27 years of the 64-team field.
When the dust settled on the first day of March Madness, just 787 perfect brackets remained, per NCAA.com
We'll break down the schedule for the remaining First Round games on Friday, and then take a look ahead to which teams have earned a spot in the Round of 32 and how those games could go.
Watch March Madness Live to stream every tournament game through the Final Four.
Thursday's First Round Results
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Thursday, March 16 (First Round)
No. 8 Maryland 67, No. 9 West Virginia 65
No. 13 Furman 68, No. 4 Virginia 67
No. 7 Missouri 76, No. 10 Utah State 65
No. 1 Kansas 96, No. 16. Howard 68
No. 1 Alabama 96, No. 16 Texas A&M CC 75
No. 5 San Diego State 63, No. 12 College of Charleston 57
No. 15 Princeton 59, No. 2 Arizona 55
No. 8 Arkansas 73, No. 9 Illinois 63
No. 9 Auburn 83, No. 8 Iowa 75
No. 5 Duke 74, No. 12 Oral Roberts 51
No. 2 Texas 81, No. 15 Colgate 61
No. 7 Northwestern 75, No. 10 Boise State 67
No. 1 Houston 63, No. 16 Northern Kentucky 52
No. 4 Tennessee 58, No. 13 Louisiana 55
No. 10 Penn State 76, No. 7 Texas A&M 59
No. 2 UCLA 86, No. 15 UNC Asheville 53
Friday's First Round Schedule
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Friday, March 17 (First Round)
No. 10 USC vs. No. 7 Michigan State: 12:15 p.m. ET, CBS
No. 14 Kennesaw St. vs. No. 3 Xavier: 12:40 p.m., truTV
No. 14 UC Santa Barbra vs. No. 3 Baylor: 1:30 p.m., TNT
No. 12 VCU vs. No. 5 Saint Mary's: 2 p.m., TBS
No. 15 Vermont vs. No. 2 Marquette: 2:45 p.m., CBS
No. 11 Pitt vs. No. 6 Iowa State: 3:10 p.m., truTV
No. 11 NC State vs. No. 6 Creighton: 4 p.m., TNT
No. 13 Iona vs. No. 4 UConn: 4:30 p.m., TBS
No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson vs. No. 1 Purdue: 6:50 p.m., TNT
No. 11 Providence vs. No. 6 Kentucky: 7:10 p.m., CBS
No. 12 Drake vs. No. 5 Miami: 7:25 p.m, TBS
No. 14 Grand Canyon vs. No. 3 Gonzaga: 7:35 p.m., truTV
No. 9 Florida Atlantic vs. No. 8 Memphis: 9:20 p.m., TNT
No. 14 Montana St. vs. No. 3 Kansas St.: 9:40 p.m., CBS
No. 13 Kent State vs. No. 4 Indiana: 9:55 p.m., TBS
No. 11 Arizona State vs. No. 6 TCU: 10:05 p.m., truTV
After the chaos that Thursday brought, could we see similar shocking upsets on Friday? No. 10 USC is a popular upset pick over No. 7 Michigan State.
Joe Lunardi likes No. 11 Providence over No. 6 Kentucky, as well as No. 9 Florida Atlantic over No. 8 Memphis.
Another stunner Lunardi is eyeing is No. 12 Drake over No. 5 Miami. In fact, the only region in which Lunardi took chalk across the board was the West.
Lunardi's projected Final Four was No. 1 Alabama over No. 5 Duke and No. 1 Houston over No. 3 Gonzaga. The Blue Devils defeated Oral Roberts handily on Thursday, 74 to 51.
We'll see if the Zags can best No. 14 Grand Canyon and keep Lunardi's Final Four perfect.
Remaining Schedule
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Saturday, March 18 (Round of 32)
No. 5 San Diego State vs. No. 13 Furman: 12:10 p.m., CBS
No. 4 Tennessee vs. No. 5 Duke: 2:40 p.m., CBS
No. 1 Kansas vs. No. 8 Arkansas: 5:15 p.m., CBS
No. 7 Missouri vs. No. 15 Princeton: 6:10 p.m., TNT
No. 1 Houston vs. No. 9 Auburn: 7:10 p.m., TBS
No. 2 Texas vs. No. 10 Penn State: 7:45 p.m., CBS
No. 2 UCLA vs. No. 7 Northwestern: 8:40 p.m., TNT
No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 8 Maryland: 9:40 p.m., TBS
Sunday, March 19 (Round of 32)
TBD vs. TBD: 12 p.m. ET, CBS
TBD vs. TBD: 2:30 p.m., CBS
TBD vs. TBD: 5 p.m., CBS
TBD vs. TBD: 6 p.m., TNT
TBD vs. TBD: 7 p.m., TBS
TBD vs. TBD: 7:30 p.m., truTV
TBD vs. TBD: 8:30 p.m., TNT
TBD vs. TBD: 9:30 p.m., TBS
Thursday, March 23 (Sweet 16)
TBD vs. TBD: 6:15 p.m. ET, TBS
TBD vs. TBD: 7 p.m., CBS
TBD vs. TBD: 8:45 p.m., TBS
TBD vs. TBD: 9:30 p.m., CBS
Friday, March 24 (Sweet 16)
TBD vs. TBD: 6:15 p.m. ET, TBS
TBD vs. TBD: 7 p.m., CBS
TBD vs. TBD: 8:45 p.m., TBS
TBD vs. TBD: 9:30 p.m., CBS
Saturday, March 25 (Elite 8)
TBD vs. TBD: 6 p.m. ET, TBS
TBD vs. TBD: 8:30 p.m., TBS
Sunday, March 26 (Elite 8)
TBD vs. TBD: 2 p.m. ET, CBS
TBD vs. TBD: 4:55 p.m., CBS
Saturday, April 1 (Final Four)
TBD vs. TBD: 6 p.m. ET, CBS
TBD vs. TBD: 8:30 p.m., CBS
Monday, April 3 (National Championship Game)
TBD vs. TBD: 9 p.m. ET, CBS
Houston and Alabama made it through the First Round, causing a collective sigh of relief around the nation, as they were the two most popular picks for this year's champion.
Per NCAA.com, Houston was the projected winner in 20.14 percent of brackets, with Alabama close behind at 15.22.
Neither No. 8 Maryland nor No. 9 Auburn project to give Alabama and Houston, respectively, much trouble, though crazy things can and do happen.
Alabama went 7-4 this season against top 25 teams, while Maryland went 4-8. Auburn slightly upset Iowa in the First Round, and it did have an impressive 3-2 record against top 25 teams, compared to Houston's 1-1 result.
However, Houston ranks in the top 15 in both offensive and defensive efficiency, the only team in the nation that can claim that.
Houston's leading scorer Marcus Sasser came into the tournament with a groin injury and reaggravated it Thursday. However, he told reporters he could "definitely" play on Saturday.
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