NCAA Bracket 2019: Schedule, Updated Predictions Before Thursday 1st Round Games

The play-in game winners have claimed their places in the March Madness bracket, and now the 2019 NCAA tournament is set to begin in earnest with the opening 16 games of the first round taking place Thursday at host sites around the country.

Few things in sports can match the entertainment value of the first two days of the Big Dance. It's nonstop college basketball action for 12 hours straight, and you're almost guaranteed to see buzzer-beating shots, highlight-reel plays and some stunning upsets along the way.

Let's check out the complete schedule for Thursday's Round 1 games, with predictions for which team will advance from each matchup for those still making final decisions for their bracket pool.

That's followed by a look at the entire field and a breakdown of the highest-seed team on upset alert for Day 1.

Thursday Schedule and Predictions

All Times Eastern. Predicted Winners in Bold.

12:15 p.m. (CBS): No. 7 Louisville vs. No. 10 Minnesota (East)

12:40 p.m. (TruTV): No. 3 LSU vs. No. 14 Yale (East)

1:30 p.m. (TNT): No. 5 Auburn vs. No. 12 New Mexico State (Midwest)

2 p.m. (TBS): No. 4 Florida State vs. No. 13 Vermont (West)

2:45 p.m. (CBS): No. 2 Michigan State vs. No. 15 Bradley (East)

3:10 p.m. (TruTV): No. 6 Maryland vs. No. 11 Belmont (East)

4 p.m. (TNT): No. 4 Kansas vs. No. 13 Northeastern (Midwest)

4:30 p.m. (TBS): No. 5 Marquette vs. No. 12 Murray State (West)

6:50 p.m. (TNT): No. 7 Nevada vs. No. 10 Florida (West)

7:10 p.m. (CBS): No. 2 Kentucky vs. No. 15 Abilene Christian (Midwest)

7:20 p.m. (TBS): No. 6 Villanova vs. No. 11 Saint Mary's (South)

7:27 p.m. (TruTV): No. 1 Gonzaga vs. No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson (West)

9:20 p.m. (TNT): No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 15 Montana (West)

9:40 p.m. (CBS): No. 7 Wofford vs. No. 10 Seton Hall (Midwest)

9:50 p.m. (TBS): No. 3 Purdue vs. No. 14 Old Dominion (South)

9:57 p.m. (TruTV): No. 8 Syracuse vs. No. 9 Baylor (West)

2019 NCAA Tournament Bracket

Notable Upset Alert: Kansas (vs. Northeastern)

Kansas looked like a national championship contender in the season's early months. It started the campaign with 10 consecutive victories, including wins over Michigan State, Tennessee, Marquette, Villanova and Wofford, and held a 15-2 mark through 17 games.

The Jayhawks lost four of their next six contests, however, as they hit an offensive slump, failing to score more than 70 points in any of those defeats.

After they appeared to right the ship with three straight high-scoring wins, they closed with a mediocre 5-3 record over their last eight games covering the end of the regular season and the Big 12 tournament, which saw KU suffer a 78-66 loss to Iowa State in the final.

The lack of offensive consistency wasn't a shock after the team lost guard Lagerald Vick (leave of absence) and center Udoka Azubuike (hand surgery) for the remainder of the season.

Their absence has forced Kansas to seek out new secondary scoring threats to provide support for Dedric Lawson and Devon Dotson, the only players averaging over nine points.

A sluggish offense isn't ideal heading into a meeting with Northeastern, which captured the Colonial Athletic Association's automatic bid with a win over top-seeded Hofstra in the championship game.

The Huskies shot 48.2 percent from the field (tied for 21st in the nation), 38.8 percent from three (T-14) and 75.1 percent from the free-throw line (T-33) during the regular season. They ranked fifth in the country in effective field goal percentage, per KenPom.

Vasa Pusica leads the way at 17.9 points per game for Northeastern, which features four players shooting better than 40 percent from three-point range and one other player, Donnell Gresham Jr., just shy of that mark (39.3 percent). Seven players are averaging at least eight points.

Kansas head coach Bill Self said Monday the Huskies, who dealt with injuries to Pusica, Shawn Occeus and a few role players during the season, are peaking at the perfect time.

"Certainly we know we are playing a hot team," he told reporters. "We know we are playing a team that is at full strength. They obviously had injuries early on that kept them from being full strength. We know they are playing their best ball. We know it's going to be a hard game and certainly a challenge."

Unless the Jayhawks' offense enjoys a sudden March resurgence, their March Madness stay could be a short one, especially with the sharpshooting Huskies on tap in the first round.