Everything You Need to Know About March Madness Day 4

The reigning national champions have been ousted, but the NCAA tournament must go on!

Following a first round with almost no upsets whatsoever, March finally got mad during Saturday's slate of games. No. 1 Villanova lost to No. 8 Wisconsin. No. 1 Gonzaga nearly blew a 20-point lead against No. 8 Northwestern. And No. 11 Xavier kept its dream alive with a 25-point shellacking of No. 3 Florida State.

Will Sunday bring a return to normalcy or an even deeper dive into chaos?

Most Likely Upsets

No. 11 Rhode Island over No. 3 Oregon: For the second straight round, Rhode Island—which had its 2015-16 season marred by an E.C. Matthews torn ACL—benefits from facing a higher-seeded team that isn't quite the same after a key player tore an ACL. First, the Rams comfortably took care of business against the No. 6 Creighton Bluejays sans Maurice Watson Jr. Now, they get to face an Oregon Ducks team trying to figure out life without shot-blocking and three-point shooting-unicorn Chris Boucher.

Since Boucher went down, Oregon has struggled to defend the paint. Arizona shot nearly 70 percent from two-point range in the Pac-12 tournament against the Ducks, and Iona Gaels big man Jordan Washington had 22 points and 12 rebounds in a first-round loss to Oregon.

As a scorer, rebounder and defender, Rhode Island's Hassan Martin could have a field day. One of the nation's premier shot-blockers, Martin has also averaged 15.4 points and 10.1 rebounds over the past seven games. His individual battle with Jordan Bell could determine who wins this one.

No. 7 Michigan over No. 2 Louisville: For the record, if we were nominating three candidates as likely upsets, the third would be No. 9 Michigan State over No. 1 Kansas. Don't be surprised if the second-round action in the Midwest Region produces enough chaos to make up for the lack of upsets Thursday and Friday.

Thus far in this tournament, when a team with a great offense and a lackluster defense goes up against one with an OK offense and a stout defense, the better D has typically won. (See: Kansas State over Wake Forest; Virginia over UNC-Wilmington; South Carolina over Marquette; and Wisconsin over Virginia Tech.)

Michigan isn't abiding by any of the rules in the proverbial book, though. The Wolverines were supposed to lose to Illinois in their first Big Ten tournament game when they had to play in practice jerseys after a plane crash.

They weren't supposed to have the energy to win four games in four days. Their magic was supposed to run out during the five-day layoff before they started playing again. Yet, here they still are, playing their best basketball of the season and shooting lights-out from three-point range (55.2 percent vs. the Oklahoma State Cowboys in the first round).  

Moreover, Louisville's defense isn't what it used to be. The Cardinals have given up at least 81 points in three of their last seven games, allowing a worrisome 111.4 points per 100 possessions during that stretch. Michigan can and will score in what could be the most entertaining game of the second round.

Biggest Stars in Action

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Sindarius Thornwell, South Carolina: On Friday, we gave you Jayson Tatum (Duke), Josh Jackson (Kansas) and Lonzo Ball (UCLA) as the three biggest stars to watch. Those freshman phenoms are all in action again Sunday and deserve your attention. But rather than rewriting reasons to watch those guys, check them out while also paying some mind to these veteran studs.

South Carolina doesn't get much national attention, but Thornwell had a sensational senior year on both ends of the floor, anchoring one of the best defenses in the country while also serving as the only reliable scorer for the Gamecocks.

In his NCAA tournament debut against the Marquette Golden Eagles, it was just another night in the box score-stuffing office for Thornwell. He finished with 29 points, 11 rebounds, three steals, two blocks and two assists. And in the second round, he will be the guy primarily responsible for trying to keep Duke's Tatum from taking over the game.

Jordan Bell, Oregon: Dillon Brooks is the household name for the Ducks, and Boucher is a name many have heard in the past week since he tore his ACL in the Pac-12 tournament. But Bell has been the silent superstar for Oregon, dominating with defense and rebounding while rarely getting the chance to put points on the board.

Sean M. Haffey / Getty

With Boucher out, though, the Ducks have been running more of the offense through Bell. He had 16 points and 10 rebounds in the Pac-12 Championship Game against the Arizona Wildcats and accounted for 17 points and 12 rebounds in Friday's win over Iona. Against a Rhode Island team with a stingy frontcourt defense, Bell could be Sunday's most important player in the country.

Derrick Walton Jr., Michigan: Many are crediting a plane crash for Michigan's incredible run to win the Big Ten tournament before winning its first game of the NCAA tourney, but that's just disrespectful to the team's senior point guard. Walton has averaged 21.0 points and 8.7 assists during Michigan's current six-game winning streak.

Walton was the no-brainer MVP of Friday's 92-91 offensive slugfest between Michigan and Oklahoma State at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, pacing an offense that tallied 16 made three-pointers against just four turnovers. The Wolverines will need to play some defense in order to upset Louisville, but it's nice to know Walton will be putting in work on offense.

Game Most Likely to Produce a Buzzer-Beater

No. 3 Baylor vs. No. 11 USC: The Baylor Bears have made a habit of storming back from big deficits. In all three games in the November Battle 4 Atlantis, they trailed by at least eight points before fighting back to win, including being down 32-10 in the first half against Louisville. The Bears also rallied from a 15-point deficit to win a game against Ole Miss and went on a late 23-4 tear in a comeback win over West Virginia.

But that's nothing compared to USC. In 15 of their 26 wins, the Trojans trailed by at least nine points at some juncture in the game, including both of their NCAA tournament wins over Providence and SMU. For some bizarre reason, they have a tendency to sleepwalk through the first half before waking up for the second.

One way or the other, this game figures to include a frantic second-half comeback. Maybe it doesn't result in a buzzer-beater, but in a battle between teams you can never count out of a contest, there's a good chance of a last-second bucket.

1 Player You Should Be Rooting for: Shaquille Morris, Wichita State

Cleanthony Early and Ron Baker vs. Andrew and Aaron Harrison was one of the greatest NCAA tournament games ever played. But everyone who participated in that 2014 rendition of Kentucky vs. Wichita State has since moved on with their lives.

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There is one Shocker, though, who had a front-row seat for that heartbreaking finish to an undefeated regular season. Shaquille Morris was redshirting that year, but that didn't protect him from the agony of defeat.

"What I remember is how bad I felt when we lost," Morris told Mark Story of the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Basketball fans outside of Kentucky's Big Blue Nation rarely need an excuse to cheer against the Wildcats. And if you're among the throngs pulling for an upset in this rematch, make sure to root a little extra for Morris. He'll be the one playing with a chip on his 265-pound shoulder.

Prop Bet of the Day: Games in Which a Freshman Is the Leading Scorer

Despite giving you two seniors and a junior on the list of the biggest stars to watch this time around, Sunday is one heck of a day for superstar freshmen. The NBA draft gurus at DraftExpress project 14 freshmen as first-round draft picks June 22, and nine of those diaper dandies are playing today.

Kentucky has three of them in Malik Monk, De'Aaron Fox and Edrice "Bam" Adebayo, and any one of them could be the leading scorer against Wichita State.

Duke (Jayson Tatum and Harry Giles) and UCLA (Lonzo Ball and TJ Leaf) both have a pair of first-year players who could light up the scoreboard in the two late games. And the head-to-head showdown of Josh Jackson (Kansas) and Miles Bridges (Michigan State) should be one of the best individual battles since Andrew Wiggins vs. Jabari Parker went at it in the 2013 Champions Classic.   

But the tricky part of this prop bet is the lesser-known freshmen. Rhode Island's Jeff Dowtin had a career-high (and game-high) 23 points in Friday's win over Creighton. USC's De'Anthony Melton and Jonah Mathews have shown they can score in bunches. And there's no telling when a future star like Louisville's V.J. King or North Carolina's Tony Bradley could have a breakout game.

We're setting the over/under at 3.5, but it's possible a freshman takes over all eight games.

Day Four's Games

No. 2 Louisville vs. No. 7 Michigan, 12:10 p.m. ET on CBS

No. 2 Kentucky vs. No. 10 Wichita State, 2:40 p.m. ET on CBS

No. 1 Kansas vs. No. 9 Michigan State, 5:15 p.m. ET on CBS

No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 8 Arkansas, 6:10 p.m. ET on TNT

No. 3 Oregon vs. No. 11 Rhode Island, 7:10 p.m. ET on TBS

No. 3 Baylor vs. No. 11 USC, 7:45 p.m. ET on truTV

No. 2 Duke vs. No. 7 South Carolina, 8:40 p.m. ET on TNT

No. 3 UCLA vs. No. 6 Cincinnati, 9:40 p.m. ET on TBS

Live streams for all games available at NCAA.com. 

Stats courtesy of WarrenNolan.com, KenPom.com and Sports-Reference.com.

Kerry Miller covers college basketball for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter: @kerrancejames.