NCAA Bracket 2015: Updated Schedule and Predictions After Day 1 of 1st Round

The 2015 NCAA tournament started in style with two enticing first-round games in Dayton on St. Patrick's Day, but a couple of affairs remain before the field of 68 is trimmed down to 64.

Naysayers may claim that the Big Dance doesn't start until Thursday's 16-game slate that takes viewers by storm, but it's impossible to overlook the fact that a team from Dayton has advanced to the Sweet 16 in each of the last two years.

Last season, No. 11 seed Tennessee went from an overtime win over Iowa in Dayton to the doorstep of the Elite Eight. Ole Miss looks like it could be poised to do the same this year after overcoming a 17-point halftime deficit to beat BYU Tuesday night.

Result	Score
No. 16 Hampton def. No. 16 Manhattan	74-64
No. 11 Ole Miss def. No. 11 BYU	94-90

As exciting as Tuesday's action was, two more games in Dayton loom with the hometown team facing Boise State and No. 16 seeds Robert Morris and North Florida squaring off. Let's take a closer look at each of those games.

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2015 NCAA Tournament Schedule: First and Second Round

Approx. Time (ET)	Matchup	TV
Wed., March 18
6:40 p.m.	No. 16 North Florida vs. No. 16 Robert Morris	truTV
9:10 p.m.	No. 11 Boise State vs. No. 11 Dayton	truTV
Thurs., March 19
12:15 p.m.	No. 3 Notre Dame vs. No. 14 Northeastern	CBS
12:40 p.m.	No. 3 Iowa State vs. No. 14 UAB	truTV
1:40 p.m.	No. 3 Baylor vs. No. 14 Georgia State	TBS
2:10 p.m.	No. 2 Arizona vs. No. 15 Texas Southern	TNT
2:45 p.m.	No. 6 Butler vs. No. 11 Texas	CBS
3:10 p.m.	No. 6 SMU vs. No. 11 UCLA	truTV
4:10 p.m.	No. 6 Xavier vs. No. 11 Ole Miss	TBS
4:40 p.m.	No. 7 VCU vs. No. 10 Ohio State	TNT
6:50 p.m.	No. 1 Villanova vs. No. 16 Lafayette	TBS
7:10 p.m.	No. 8 Cincinnati vs. No. 9 Purdue	CBS
7:20 p.m.	No. 4 North Carolina vs. No. 13 Harvard	TNT
7:27 p.m.	No. 5 Utah vs. No. 12 Stephen F. Austin	truTV
9:20 p.m.	No. 8 N.C. State vs. No. 9 LSU	TBS
9:40 p.m.	No. 1 Kentucky vs. No. 16 Hampton	CBS
9:50 p.m.	No. 5 Arkansas vs. No. 12 Wofford	TNT
9:57 p.m.	No. 4 Georgetown vs. No. 13 Eastern Washington	truTV
Fri., March 20
12:15 p.m.	No. 2 Kansas vs. No. 15 New Mexico State	CBS
12:40 p.m.	No. 7 Michigan State vs. No. 10 Georgia	truTV
1:40 p.m.	No. 5 Northern Iowa vs. No. 12 Wyoming	TBS
2:10 p.m.	No. 5 West Virginia vs. No. 12 Buffalo	TNT
2:45 p.m.	No. 7 Wichita State vs. No. 10 Indiana	CBS
3:10 p.m.	No. 2 Virginia vs. No. 15 Belmont	truTV
4:10 p.m.	No. 4 Louisville vs. No. 13 UC Irvine	TBS
4:40 p.m.	No. 4 Maryland vs. No. 13 Valparaiso	TNT
6:50 p.m.	No. 8 Oregon vs. No. 9 Oklahoma State	TBS
7:10 p.m.	No. 1 Duke v s. No. 16 UNF/Robert Morris	CBS
7:20 p.m.	No. 7 Iowa vs. No. 10 Davidson	TNT
7:27 p.m.	No. 3 Oklahoma vs. No. 14 Albany	truTV
9:20 p.m.	No. 1 Wisconsin vs. No. 16 Coastal Carolina	TBS
9:40 p.m.	No. 8 San Diego State vs. No. 9 St. John's	CBS
9:50 p.m.	No. 2 Gonzaga vs. No. 15 North Dakota State	TNT
9:57 p.m.	No. 6 Providence vs. No. 11 Boise State/Dayton	truTV

Full tournament schedule can be found at NCAA.com.

Day 2 Predictions

No. 11 Dayton vs. No. 11 Boise State

Mike Stobe/Getty Images

The University of Dayton Arena can be an intimidating place to open up NCAA tournament play in, but the Dayton Flyers should feel right at home Wednesday night—because, well, they are.

Along with being able to face fellow No. 11 seed Boise State on its home court, Dayton also brings in an eye-popping home win streak of 21 games that dates back to Feb. 1, 2014. The Flyers are a perfect 16-0 at UD Arena this season.

Flyers fans typically pack the first-round games even when their team isn't playing, and USA Today's Nicole Auerbach has some inside info about Wednesday:

Dayton is down a few pieces from last year's Elite Eight team, but Jordan Sibert's emergence in leading the team with 16.5 points per game along with double-digit averages from Kendall Pollard and Dyshawn Pierre give the Flyers a plethora of scoring options.

Size will be an issue against large lineups, as Dayton doesn't boast a starter taller than 6'5", but Boise State is undersized, as well, with no rotation players taller than 6'8".

The Broncos lean too heavily upon Derrick Marks' star-caliber play in the backcourt, which opposing head coach Archie Miller will be intent on slowing down with Dayton's strong defense that held 12 opponents to 55 points or fewer this season.

Along with a big home-court advantage, the Flyers' superiority on the perimeter and a defensive edge will push them through.

Prediction: Dayton 71, Boise State 64

No. 16 Robert Morris vs. No. 16 North Florida

USA TODAY Sports

It will take a historic feat from either of these teams in order to advance past Friday, so Wednesday's meeting between No. 16 seeds Robert Morris and North Florida could be each program's best opportunity in a long time to notch an NCAA tournament win.

The Colonials beat the odds to win the Northeast Conference and notch an automatic bid, winning six straight games to close the season, including an upset over first-placed St. Francis Brooklyn in the conference-tournament final. However, they have head-scratching losses during the season to LIU Brooklyn (twice) and Bryant.

While Robert Morris enters the tournament just five games over .500, the Ospreys took both the Atlantic-Sun regular-season and conference titles en route to the Big Dance. The jitters are sure to be there with neither team boasting a player with NCAA tournament experience, but North Florida sounds ready, per Rusty Miller of The Associated Press, via the San Francisco Chronicle:

"It's human nature to have jitters," Ospreys forward Chris Davenport said. "After the first couple of minutes of the game, me and my teammates will just treat it as any other game."

Robert Morris boasts three players averaging 14 points or more per game, and two of them shoot over 42 percent from long range. But the Colonials' reliance upon deep shooting makes them an easy team to scheme against, especially with star guard Dallas Moore leading the charge for the Ospreys.

With the spotlight on, it will come down to which of these teams is more well-versed in big games this season, and there's no doubt that North Florida takes the nod there.

Prediction: North Florida 73, Robert Morris 66