The 10 Best Early Games to Watch in the 2013 NCAA Tournament

It's not your fault you're calling in sick this week, some of the early games this year are just too good to miss.

While nobody can actually predict how the tournament will pan out, one thing is for sure—it's going to be an exciting three weeks.

Things kick off Tuesday and Wednesday with the opening round, but the biggest action gets going Thursday.

Here's a look at the 10 best games to catch in the opening days of the NCAA tournament.

10. Play-in Game: North Carolina A&T vs. Liberty

I'm excited about this matchup simply because of what Liberty did in its conference tournament.

Going 6-10 in conference play, Liberty had four straight upsets to win the Big South Conference.

While nobody expects the Flames to do much, it's always great to root for an underdog.

North Carolina A&T comes into this game as a favorite, something it's never been in an NCAA tournament game.

The Aggies were another team that pulled a few upsets in their conference tournaments to get here.

9. No. 6 UCLA vs. No. 11 Minnesota

Some may say this will be an easy matchup for UCLA.

However, Minnesota has the ability to be this year's Virginia Commonwealth.

The Golden Gophers have struggled as of late, but did beat Indiana on Feb. 26. That alone makes them a dangerous team.

UCLA is coming into the tournament on a relative high, even after the loss to Oregion in Pac-12 semifinals.

The Bruins are full of future NBA stars, while the Golden Gophers aren't.

Good thing this is a team game or UCLA would likely easily run away with this one.

8. No. 7 Creighton vs. No. 10 Cincinnati

Creighton and Cincinnati is a great matchup for the first round.

The Bluejays won the Missouri Valley Conference and finished with an RPI of 25. Doug McDermott has been all-world this year, averaging 23.1 points per game.

Cincinnati comes out of a tough Big East, where it was literally held under the fire.

Lately, however, things haven't been great for the Bearcats as they've lost seven of their last 11 games.

7. No. 8 Colorado State vs. No. 9 Missouri

This is going to be one of the more underrated matchups in the first round.

Colorado State finished second in the Mountain West and had an RPI of 24.

Missouri was down a little in its first year in the SEC, finishing fifth in the league and an RPI of 35.

Both teams rebound the ball well, ranking in the top five in the country in boards.

This could be a war of attrition with the better rebounding team likely to come out on top.

6. No. 8 Pittsburgh vs. No. 9 Wichita State

Another great 8-9 matchup in the tournament pits Wichita State against Pittsburgh.

Wichita State finished second in the Missouri Valley Conference and had an RPI rank of 37. One thing the Shockers won't do is score points in bunches as they ranked 117th in the NCAA in points per game.

Pittsburgh came out of a tough Big East, but it is one of the fresher teams in the tournament, having only played 10 games since Feb. 2.

This game could simply come down to the fact that the Panthers have fresher legs after losing to Syracuse in the conference quarterfinals.

5. No. 7 Illinois vs. No. 10 Colorado

Colorado is one of the bigger surprises in basketball this year with a 21-11 record and a fifth-place finish in the Pac-12.

However, you never know which Colorado team is going to step on the floor. One day the Buffs are spanking Arizona (71-58) and the next day they're losing to lowly Arizona State in overtime (63-62).

Illinois was one of those teams that could play with the best teams in the country, but like Colorado, there was no consistency.

It beat Indiana at one point, but also lost to Iowa and Northwestern. So, consistency is needed if the Illini are going to advance.

4. No. 5 Oklahoma State vs. No. 12 Oregon

This is my prediction for the 5-12 upset.

Oregon is scary good when it’s playing at its best. The Ducks have two wins over UCLA and a win over Arizona.

Oklahoma State is a good No. 5 seed, finishing third in the Big 12. The Cowboys have victories over Kansas and Kansas State in the last month, although they did lose to the Wildcats in the conference tournament.

Look for this game to be fast-paced with fast-break and second-chance points being the key.

3. Play-in Game: Middle Tennessee State vs. St. Mary's

This is the most intriguing of the play-in games.

Both Middle Tennessee State and St. Mary's deserved to be in the tournament without the play-in game, but it does give an intriguing matchup for fans.

Middle Tennessee State went 28-5 on the year and won the conference regular-season title. However, a loss to Florida International in the conference tournament put it immediately on the bubble.

The Blue Raiders beat Ole Miss and Vanderbilt from the SEC, which shows they can stay on the floor with some of the best shooting teams from that conference.

As far as St. Mary's goes, it seems to always be playing second-fiddle to Gonzaga.

No worries though. The Gaels had three of their six losses come at the hands of the Bulldogs, so they'll get a chance to show something against someone other than Gonzaga.

2. No. 5 Wisconsin vs. No. 12 Ole Miss

It's no secret that Wisconsin likes to slow things down, while Ole Miss loves to speed things up. So this will be an interesting matchup in that aspect.

The Badgers came close to winning the Big Ten, but just couldn't get it done against Ohio State in the final.

They're coming in hot, though, as they have wins over Michigan and Indiana from the conference tournament.

Ole Miss surprised many, playing its way into the tournament with a win over Florida in the SEC championship.

Watch out for Marshall Henderson. If he gets hot, Wisconsin could struggle to get back into the game with its slow-it-down approach.

1. No. 8 North Carolina vs. No. 9 Villanova

Basketball fans were salivating when they saw this matchup.

North Carolina and Villanova will meet for the right to face Kansas in the third round.

The Tar Heels fell short against Miami in the ACC tournament final and have an RPI of 16.

James Michael McAdoo, Reggie Bullock and P.J. Hairston are all averaging more than 13 points per game, which means one guy isn't depended on to carry the load.

For Villanova, the loss to Seton Hall late in the year didn't look good, but the win over Georgetown did.

The real story of this game will be guard play. The Tar Heels are more willing to dish the ball than the Wildcats, and that could play a big role in who comes out on top.