NCAA Tournament Schedule 2015: Key 2nd-Round Matchups to Watch

BYU and Ole Miss served up an incredible appetizer Tuesday, and there are two more First Four games on tap Wednesday, but the real fun in the 2015 NCAA tournament begins Thursday and Friday with the second round.

After all, that is when you can start following your bracket, establishing bragging rights around the water cooler and pulling for the massive upsets that make March Madness the most exciting three weeks on the sports calendar.

With that in mind, here is a look at a couple of key second-round matchups to watch as well as some of the essential bracket information before the round of 64 gets underway.

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Bracket

Schedule/Broadcast Information

Date	Round	TV
March 18	First Round (Dayton, Ohio)	TruTV
March 19 & 21	Second and Third Round (Jacksonville, Florida; Louisville, Kentucky; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Portland, Oregon)	CBS, TBS, TNT
March 20 & 22	Second and Third Round (Charlotte, North Carolina; Columbus, Ohio; Omaha, Nebraska; Seattle, Washington)	CBS, TBS, TNT

All games will be shown on March Madness Live.

Key Second-Round Matchups to Watch

Midwest Region: No. 7 Wichita State vs. No. 10 Indiana

There are a number of potential storylines with this game.

For one, it is a brand-name program from a power conference (Indiana from the Big Ten) facing off against what some still (unfairly) consider an upstart program from a smaller conference (Wichita State from the Missouri Valley). Sure, Wichita State is the better seed with the better record and resume, but beating the Hoosiers would be a feather in its cap.

However, this matchup goes beyond just that storyline. In fact, it goes exactly one round beyond that on the bracket.

Simply put, the Shockers would love an opportunity to play and beat Kansas. The Jayhawks are the powerhouse program in the middle region of America with championships, a storied tradition, one of the most daunting and famous arenas in the country and a raucous fanbase. 

Stephen Haas/Associated Press

Bill Self’s squad is a measuring stick for a number of teams, but Wichita State would revel in the chance to prove itself against mighty Kansas.

It seems like most of the discussion surrounding the Shockers heading into the tournament is about that potential round-of-32 showdown. Seth Davis of Sports Illustrated and Chad Ford of ESPN both remarked on it, while Nicole Auerbach of USA Today passed along a quote from Self:

The only problem is, Wichita State still has to get past a dangerous Indiana team.

The Hoosiers may not be the Hoosiers of the 1970s, but they can still light up the scoreboard and pose a problem for Wichita State. Yogi Ferrell, one of the most underrated players in America, averaged 16.1 points and 4.9 assists per game as the engine that runs the Indiana offense. He can pull up and hit from anywhere, knife through the defense with dribble penetration and set up his teammates for open looks when the defense collapses.

The Hoosiers also have James Blackmon Jr., who averaged 15.8 points per game as a walking highlight reel.

That combination helped Indiana finish ninth in the country in Ken Pomeroy’s pace-adjusted offensive efficiency rankings and 18th in the nation in points per game. Wichita State would be wise to not overlook this Indiana squad, especially considering it is battle-tested after squaring off with the likes of Wisconsin, Maryland and more in the Big Ten all year.

Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press

The good news for the Shockers is that Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet are both veteran leaders in the backcourt who have been through the NCAA tournament before. They will need to make sure their teammates understand that they cannot overlook Indiana simply because they cannot wait to get a crack at Kansas. 

Otherwise, that opportunity will never come.

South Region: No. 4 Georgetown vs. No. 13 Eastern Washington

If you are looking for an upset based on recent NCAA tournament history, look no further than Georgetown’s game against Eastern Washington.

After all, the Hoyas were stunned by Florida Gulf Coast in 2013, VCU in 2011 and Davidson in 2008. All of those were shocking upsets, and it is easy to remember those when picking in this year’s bracket. 

While that isn’t entirely fair to this season’s Georgetown team, Ryan Krasnoo of Sports Illustrated noted that many people think Eastern Washington can win, while Matt Langone of the Lowell Sun didn’t seem to think the Hoyas deserved such a favorable seed:

Georgetown did lose 10 games this season, although none of them can really be classified as bad losses (hence, the No. 4 seed).

This is an intriguing game more for the Hoyas’ opponent than anything else. Eastern Washington made a statement early in the season when it walked right into Assembly Hall and knocked off Indiana on the road. From there, it almost beat Washington and finished with a sparkling 14-4 regular-season record in the Big West and a conference tournament title.

The Eagles offense is third in the nation in points per game and has the country’s leading scorer in Tyler Harvey at 22.9 points a night.

Elsa/Getty Images

Harvey topped the 30-point mark in five different games and even scored 42 against Idaho in one of the best individual performances of the season for any player (he was 8-of-12 from three-point range and had one turnover).

If Harvey gets into a groove early, Georgetown could be in trouble of picking up yet another disappointing early loss in the NCAA tournament. Consider the Hoyas on high upset alert.

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