NCAA Bracket 2018: Schedule, Updated Predictions Before Thursday 1st-Round Games

The 2018 NCAA tournament is finally here.

OK, technically it's been rolling for the last two nights during the First Four contests in Dayton, Ohio. But the real first round tips off Thursday, with seventh-seeded Rhode Island and 10th-seeded Oklahoma opening the 16-game slate at 12:15 p.m. ET (on CBS).

By night's end, your bracket could wind up in the recycling bin. It is, after all, dubbed March Madness for a reason.

But this is one of the best times all year on the hoops calendar, and this guide will get you ready for all the chalk-prevailing or Cinderella-making action ahead.

View Bleacher Report's Printable Bracket here

Predictions

Game of the Day: No. 7 Rhode Island vs. No. 10 Oklahoma

Alex Brandon/Associated Press

The basketball gods won't make fans wait for a doozy.

Thursday's first tip looks like its best with the Rams and Sooners opening at even odds (per OddsShark) and only slightly increasing to favor Rhode Island by two points. KenPom.com ranks Oklahoma 48th overall and puts Rhode Island in the next spot.

These are two of the least predictable teams in the tourney.

At one point, Rhode Island stampeded into the Top 20 with a 16-game winning streak, but it ended the campaign by splitting its last eight contests. Oklahoma's well-documented roller-coaster ride included both a Top Five ranking and a season-ending skid in which it dropped eight of its final 10 outings.

Both squads also have star guards anxious to get bad tastes out of their mouths.

The Sooners' all-world freshman Trae Young led the country in both points (27.4) and assists (8.8), but his efficiency torpedoed late. He went from shooting 45.8 percent from the field and 40.7 percent from distance in his first 16 games to hitting just 38.1 and 31.1, respectively, the rest of the way.

The Rams, though, aren't overlooking the likely lottery pick.

"He really has no weakness in his game," Rhode Island coach Dan Hurley said, per Mark Berman of the Roanoke Times.

The Rams follow the lead of senior Jared Terrell, a nightly supplier of 17.2 points (41.5 percent three-point shooting), 3.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists. But he disappointed in each of their three Atlantic 10 tournament games, averaging just 11.3 points on 25.7 percent shooting.

Oklahoma is considerably better on offense than defense. The opposite is true of Rhode Island.

In other words, this is strength vs. strength—a common recipe in classic clashes.

Upset Special: No. 11 Loyola-Chicago Over No. 6 Miami

Loren Orr/Getty Images

Despite the five seed-line difference, KenPom only puts the Hurricanes three spots over the Ramblers (37th to 40th). That explains why this 3:10 p.m. ET tilt (on truTV) only has Miami favored by 1.5 or two points.

Miami hasn't been the same without injured sophomore Bruce Brown Jr., who averaged team-highs in rebounds (7.1) and assists (4.0). The Hurricanes, who went just 4-4 over their last eight games, don't have a 12-points-per-game scorer on the roster. That's an issue the Ramblers' 26th-ranked defense can exploit.

Loyola-Chicago also potentially has the weapons to combat Miami's 45th-ranked stoppers. Clayton Custer, an Iowa State transfer and the Missouri Valley Conference player of the year, leads five double-digit scorers with 13.4 points per game. The Ramblers can stretch out opposing defenses, as their 39.8 three-point percentage tied for 20th in the country.

Miami has the advantages in size and athleticism. It also put together an impressive 11-7 record in a conference that sent nine different schools to the Big Dance.

But Loyola-Chicago has won 17 of its last 18 games and claimed a non-conference road victory over Florida. Forget what the seedings say, the Ramblers are less of a sleeper than they are an outright threat to advance.

"BPI gives Loyola-Chicago a 43 percent chance of knocking off the Hurricanes," ESPN's Jake Trotter wrote. "That's the highest rate of any team seeded at least five spots lower than its opponents."

Most Outstanding Individual Performance: Collin Sexton, Alabama

Jeff Roberson/Associated Press

NBA scouts and basketball junkies alike should have a field day with the level of star power on the docket. From household names like DeAndre Ayton (Arizona) and Young to lesser-known players who could soon become ones like Mike Daum (South Dakota State) and Rob Gray (Houston), the individual pedigree for Thursday is incredible.

That said, Alabama's Collin Sexton could produce the strongest effort of all.

Ayton, Marvin Bagley III (Duke) and Devonte' Graham (Kansas) might not see their teams tested enough to have their box scores go bananas. There's no guarantee the tourney can halt Young's skid. Daum hasn't faced a team as talented as Ohio State in months.

Sexton, though, will take the floor in a typically tight 8-9 matchup (with Virginia Tech at 9:20 p.m. ET on TNT), and the star point guard is coming in boiling hot. He has scored 21-plus points in each of his last four contests and torched the SEC tournament for 79 points on 54.3 percent shooting over three games.

"He's a top-10 pick, a player capable of stringing together six 30-point efforts over the next three weeks and leading Alabama to a championship in basketball," ESPN.com's Myron Medcalf wrote.

Virginia Tech counters with a strong point guard in junior Justin Robinson, who paced the team in points (13.8), assists (5.6) and steals (1.2).

Maybe that's enough to keep Sexton in check. But our hunch says the stiff competition will bring out his best—a level only a handful of players in the country can reach.

Unless otherwise noted, statistics used courtesy of KenPom.com and ESPN.com. Odds obtained via OddsShark.