NCAA Bracket 2017: Picks and Updated Odds Ahead of Tuesday's 1st-Round Schedule

The first four games of the NCAA tournament may not be what college basketball fans have in mind when they think of March Madness, but these are the type of games that truly symbolize the emotion and passion of the tournament.

Win and advance, or lose and go home.

The first four games of the tournament begin Tuesday and carry over into Wednesday. It's possible that brackets have already been filled and fans have quickly overlooked the lower seeds in the first round, but it would be wise to hold off on the temptation of filling out the perfect bracket until Wednesday is over.

This is March Madness and as we all know by now, anything can happen. So put the pen and your printed bracket down, turn on your TV and study up. Because this year's tournament is more wide-open than it's been in a very long time.

Date	Matchup	Time (ET)	TV
March 14	No. 16 Mount St. Mary’s vs. No. 16 New Orleans	6:30 p.m.	truTV
March 14	No. 11 Kansas State vs. No. 11 Wake Forest	9:00 p.m.	truTV
March 15	North Carolina Central vs. No. 16 UC Davis	6:30 p.m.	truTV
March 15	No. 11 Providence vs. No. 11 USC	9:00 p.m.	truTV

Picks (Spread info via OddsShark)

No. 16 New Orleans (-2.5) over No. 16 Mount St. Mary’s 

Leon Bennett/Getty Images

Whoever wins this game won't have much time to celebrate as either New Orleans or Mount St. Mary's will advance to take on the No. 1 seed Villanova Wildcats.

But let's not be pessimistic here—this is supposed to be exciting! New Orleans come into the tournament fresh off a Southland Conference title. And while Mount St. Mary's won their conference title too (Northeast), the similarities between the teams end there.

The Privateers are dancing for the first time since 1996 and won't be stopped until they face Villanova. New Orleans has the Southland Conference Player of the Year on its roster in forward Erik Thomas, who is averaging 19.5 points and 7.8 rebounds per game this season.

Mount St. Mary's simply does not have the firepower to match that type of production, even though they have three players who average double-digit scoring. Look for Thomas to dominate the boards and lead New Orleans to victory and on to Villanova. 

No. 11 Wake Forest (-1) over No. 11 Kansas State

Lance King/Getty Images

This might sound crazy, but watch out for Wake Forest this year.

Wake Forest are entering March Madness after finishing the regular season with three straight wins before beating Boston College in the ACC tournament. While the Demon Deacons did go on to lose against a formidable opponent in Virginia Tech, there is a lot to like about this team. 

Don't get me wrong, Kansas State a tough matchup and will make this an interesting ballgame, but that shouldn't stop Wake Forest from moving on in the tournament. It's here to make up for lost time after missing out on the tournament for six consecutive seasons.

Even though they fell out of the ACC tournament against Virginia Tech, the Deacons have shown that they don't get walked over by big-time programs. In two games against Duke this season, Wake Forest lost on both occasions by a combined total of seven points. Against North Carolina? The Deacons lost by just six points.

I'm not saying Wake Forest will make a deep run by any means, but it could make things interesting this March.

No. 16 North Carolina Central (-3) over No. 16 UC Davis

"

For the second time ever, North Carolina Central is headed to the Big Dance!

The Eagles took down Norfolk St. 67-59 in the MEAC title game. pic.twitter.com/jsPDSk9QrQ

— ESPN College BBall (@ESPNCBB) March 11, 2017"

Similar to the New Orleans vs. Mount St. Mary's matchup, the winner of this game will go on to face a No. 1 seed (Kansas) next.

No pressure, right?

UC Davis is, to be brutally honest, a mediocre team. The Aggies don't do anything terrible, but they don't excel in any one area, which can be a big problem at this point of the season. While North Carolina Central don't shoot the ball very efficiently from the floor (29.1 percent from long-range), they still average 75.1 points per game, more than 4.5 points than the Aggies have this season.

While they are an average team, the Aggies do have three players who can score the ball, including Chima Moneke, who puts up 14.5 points and 9.4 boards per game.

The Eagles are favored in this matchup for the reason: They're just a better team than UC Davis. Plain and simple. It's time for North Carolina Central to book their tickets to play Kansas next. 

No. 11 USC (Even) over No. 11 Providence 

Ethan Miller/Getty Images

This is the matchup of the first four in this year's tournament hands-down.

It's bittersweet to have this type of fixture so soon as both teams could legitimately make a run into the round of 32, but at the same time, it's always a good thing to have entertaining games as soon and as often as possible.

The Trojans have had an up-and-down season this campaign, but they will be up for this battle as they look to avenge their 70-69 loss in last season's tournament to Providence. The Friars are on a bit of a hot streak after winning six of their last seven games before the tournament and have done an excellent job of replacing Kris Dunn this season, who was drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves with the No. 4 overall pick last summer in the NBA draft.

While Providence has earned its way to the Big Dance and are deserving of advancing, it's hard to imagine the Friars beating USC. OddsShark has this fixture dead even at -110 apiece, so it's anyone's game. But since Providence got the better of the Trojans last year, it's revenge time. USC will keep on dancin'.