March Madness Bracket 2017: Complete 1st-Round Picks for Your Printable Sheet

The first round of the men's Division I college basketball tournament always feels like every major holiday rolled into one for fans, as people take time off work due to a magical flu or otherwise watch games on their phone all day.

With great players and teams packing this college basketball season, this year's first round should be no exception.

Take a look below at some first-round picks if you still need to fill out a bracket (here is a printable version if you're looking for one). We'll also take a deeper dive for three of the games with the closest spreads.

NCAA Tournament Bracket

Ultimate March Madness Bracket Video

Complete First-Round Picks

Thursday Games

Games	Regional	Odds	Time (ET)	Pick
No. 5 Notre Dame vs. No. 12 Princeton	East	Notre Dame (-6.5)	12:15 p.m.	ND
No. 5 Virginia vs. No. 12 UNC-Wilmington	East	Virginia (-7.5)	12:40 p.m.	UVA
No. 4 Butler vs. No. 13 Winthrop	Midwest	Butler (-11)	1:30 p.m.	BUTLER
No. 1 Gonzaga vs. No. 16 South Dakota St.	West	Gonzaga (-22.5)	2 p.m.	ZAGS
No. 4 West Virginia vs. No. 13 Bucknell	East	West Virginia (-13.5)	2:45 p.m.	WV
No. 4 Florida vs. No. 13 East Tennessee St.	East	Florida (10)	3:10 p.m.	UF
No. 5 Minnesota vs. No. 12 Middle Tennessee St.	Midwest	Middle Tennessee (-1)	4 p.m.	MINN
No. 8 Northwestern vs. No. 9 Vanderbilt	West	Vanderbilt (-1)	4:30 p.m.	VANDY
No. 6 Maryland vs. No. 11 Xavier	West	Maryland (-2)	6:50 p.m.	MD
No. 1 Villanova vs. No. 16 Mount St Mary's	East	Villanova (-26.5)	7:10 p.m.	NOVA
No. 7 Saint Mary's vs. No. 10 VCU	West	St. Mary's (-4.5)	7:20 p.m.	SMC
No. 4 Purdue vs. No. 13 Vermont	Midwest	Purdue (-9)	7:27 p.m.	PUR
No. 3 Florida State vs. No. 14 Florida Gulf Coast	West	Florida State (-12)	9:20 p.m.	FSU
No. 8 Wisconsin vs. No. 9 Virginia Tech	East	Wisconsin (-5.5)	9:40 p.m.	WIS
No. 2 Arizona vs. No. 15 North Dakota	West	Arizona (-16.5)	9:50 p.m.	ZONA
No. 5 Iowa State vs. No. 12 Nevada	Midwest	Iowa State (-6)	9:57 p.m	ISU

Odds via OddsShark. Schedule via ncaa.com.

No. 5 Minnesota vs. No. 12 Middle Tennessee St.

It's times like these when it would be helpful to have Elias Sports Bureau on speed dial, as one can't help but wonder how many times a No. 12 seed was actually favored over a No. 5 seed in the NCAA tournament.

The Blue Raiders are a strong No. 12 seed, and they rank in the top 60 of the Ken Pomeroy ratings (No. 46), Sagarin ratings (No. 58) and RPI (No. 35). They also won 30 games, beat two SEC teams (Ole Miss and Vanderbilt) in out-of-conference play and cruised to a Conference-USA title, only losing one league game in the conference all season (a 57-54 loss to UTEP).

Middle Tennessee beat Michigan State, who was a trendy pick to win it all, in the first round of last year's tournament, and one has to wonder if that is factoring into the spread being in the Blue Raiders' favor in addition to their solid resume.

That all being said, Minnesota isn't a pushover team. The Golden Gophers won 24 games and finished fourth in the Big Ten. They are ranked 17th in adjusted defensive efficiency in the Ken Pomeroy Ratings and finished the season winning nine of their last 11 games.

The Golden Gophers were also only one of two teams to beat Big Ten regular-season champion Purdue on the road this year, with the one team being defending champion and No. 1 overall seed Villanova.

Middle Tennessee is a strong team, but it shouldn't be favored in this game. Minnesota will win a close one.

Pick: Minnesota

No. 8 Northwestern vs. No. 9 Vanderbilt

The Wildcats are making their first-ever NCAA tournament appearance. Junior point guard Bryant McIntosh (14.4 points, 5.2 assists) leads the team in those two categories. Junior guard Scottie Lindsey (14.2 points) and sophomore forward Vic Law (12.4 points, 5.7 rebounds) help with the scoring punch, and sophomore center Derek Pardon is the main man on the boards, averaging 8.0 per game to go along with 8.5 points.

The Commodores looked destined to sit the postseason out at home on February 11 after it lost to Missouri, which went 2-16 in SEC play. That loss left Vanderbilt sitting at 12-13 overall and 5-7 in the conference. However, the Commodores finished the season 7-2, including two wins over Florida, a victory over South Carolina and a near-win over Kentucky on the road in Lexington.

Four players average 10.5 points or more per game for Vandy, led by junior guard Matthew Fisher-Davis with 13.6.

This will be a closely contested battle that goes down to the final minute (something both teams are used to recently). It looks like a 50-50 game, hence the one-point spread, but give the edge to the hotter team in Vandy.

Pick: Vanderbilt

Friday Games

Games	Regional	Odds	Time (ET)	Pick
No. 7 Michigan vs. No. 10 Oklahoma State	Midwest	Michigan (-2.5)	12:15 p.m.	MICH
No. 3 Baylor vs. No. 14 New Mexico State	East	Baylor (-12.5)	12:40 p.m.	BAYLOR
No. 9 Seton Hall vs. No. 8 Arkansas	South	Arkansas (-1)	1:30 p.m.	HALL
No. 14 Iona vs. No. 3 Oregon	Midwest	Oregon (-15)	2 p.m.	DUCKS
No. 15 Jacksonville State vs. No. 2 Louisville	Midwest	Louisville (-20)	2:45 p.m.	L'VILLE
No. 11 USC or Providence vs. No. 6 SMU	East	N/A	3:10 p.m.	SMU
No. 16 Texas Southern vs. No. 1 North Carolina	South	North Carolina (-27)	4 p.m.	UNC
No. 11 Rhode Island vs. No. 6 Creighton	Midwest	EVEN	4:30 p.m.	URI
No. 16 UC Davis or NC Central vs. No. 1 Kansas	Midwest	N/A	6:50 p.m.	KU
No. 10 Wichita State vs. No. 7 Dayton	South	Wichita State (-6)	7:10 p.m.	WSU
No. 15 Troy vs. No. 2 Duke	East	Duke (-19)	7:20 p.m.	DUKE
No. 11 Kansas State vs. No. 6 Cincinnati	South	Cincinnati (-3)	7:27 p.m.	KSU
No. 9 Michigan State vs. No. 8 Miami	Midwest	Miami (-2)	9:20 p.m.	THE U
No. 15 Northern Kentucky vs. No. 2 Kentucky	South	Kentucky (-20)	9:40 p.m.	UK
No. 10 Marquette vs. No. 7 South Carolina	East	South Carolina (-1.5)	9:50 p.m.	SC
No. 14 Kent State vs. No. 3 UCLA	South	UCLA (-18)	9:57 p.m	UCLA

Odds via OddsShark. Schedule via ncaa.com.

No. 9 Seton Hall vs. No. 8 Arkansas

Like another No. 9 seed (Vanderbilt), the Pirates' NCAA tournament chances weren't looking great earlier in the conference season, especially after a loss to St. John's.

But the Pirates finished the season by winning six of their last eight games, with their two defeats coming at the hands of Villanova. Most impressively, Seton Hall beat Butler in Indianapolis during that stretch.

The Razorbacks made the SEC title game, losing to Kentucky. Four players carry the scoring load for the Hogs, led by senior guard Dusty Hannahs with 14.6. The Razorbacks score 80 points per game and have a deep rotation, as nine men play at least 11 minutes per game.

This game will come down to the battle down low between Pirates big man Angel Delgado, the leading rebounder in Division I, and Arkansas' Moses Kingsley, who averages 7.8 boards per game. Kingsley needs to keep Delgado off the glass, as he is capable of dominating a game down low. Delgado has accumulated 20 or more rebounds in a game twice this season.

Kingsley is a solid player, but Delgado is playing like one of the top 15 or so players in the country right now. He's hard to neutralize.

The Pirates should win a close contest behind a big game from their leader.

Pick: Seton Hall