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NCAA Bracket 2019: Picks, Updated Odds Ahead of Friday's 1st-Round Schedule
March 22, 2019
Thursday was filled with exciting college basketball action. Expect more of the same on Friday.
The NCAA tournament continues Friday with another full slate of 16 first-round matchups. After Thursday's 16 games, the field is down to 48 teams. It will be at 32 entering second-round games on Saturday.
Thursday featured four games in which the higher seed won—No. 9 seed Baylor, No. 10 seeds Minnesota and Florida and No. 12 seed Murray State were the victors in those matchups. Gonzaga was the only No. 1 seed to play, as it beat Fairleigh Dickinson, while three No. 2 seeds—Kentucky, Michigan and Michigan State—all won to advance to the second round.
Bracket
Friday Schedule, Odds (Picks in Bold, All Times ET)
No. 10 Iowa vs. No. 7 Cincinnati (-4), 12:15 p.m., CBS
No. 9 Oklahoma vs. No. 8 Ole Miss (-1.5), 12:40 p.m., truTV
No. 14 Northern Kentucky vs. No. 3 Texas Tech (-13.5), 1:30 p.m., TNT
No. 13 UC Irvine vs. No. 4 Kansas State (-4.5), 2 p.m., TBS
No. 15 Colgate vs. No. 2 Tennessee (-17.5), 2:45 p.m., CBS
No. 16 Gardner-Webb vs. No. 1 Virginia (-22), 3:10 p.m., truTV
No. 11 Arizona State vs. No. 6 Buffalo (-5), 4 p.m., TNT
No. 12 Oregon vs. No. 5 Wisconsin (-2), 4:30 p.m., TBS
No. 9 Washington vs. No. 8 Utah State (-3), 6:50 p.m., TNT
No. 16 North Dakota State vs. No. 1 Duke (-27), 7:10 p.m., CBS
No. 14 Georgia State vs. No. 3 Houston (-12), 7:20 p.m., TBS
No. 12 Liberty vs. No. 5 Mississippi State (-6.5), 7:27 p.m., truTV
No. 16 Iona vs. No. 1 North Carolina (-23), 9:20 p.m., TNT
No. 9 UCF (-1) vs. No. 8 VCU, 9:40 p.m., CBS
No. 11 Ohio State vs. No. 6 Iowa State (-5.5), 9:50 p.m., TBS
No. 13 Saint Louis vs. No. 4 Virginia Tech (-10.5), 9:57 p.m., truTV
Friday Preview
Three No. 1 seeds, all from the ACC, will begin their NCAA tournament runs on Friday, as Virginia, North Carolina and Duke, the No. 1 overall seed, will all be in action against No. 16 seeds.
Don't expect to see any of these ACC powerhouses upset, however.
Virginia will be looking to avenge last year's team, which was the first No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16 seed when it fell to UMBC. The Cavaliers are looking to keep that from happening again when they face Gardner-Webb.
Duke enters March Madness with a lot of momentum. After star freshman forward Zion Williamson missed the final five games of the regular season, he returned to lead the Blue Devils to the ACC tournament championship and the No. 1 overall seed. They'll play North Dakota State, which was one of the four schools to win a game in the First Four round.
North Carolina may have lost in the ACC tournament semifinals—just like Virginia—but it will have a good opportunity to get back on track when it plays Iona.
Although several higher seeds notched upset wins on Thursday, Friday's schedule doesn't have as many appealing upset picks as the first day of the round.
Among the schools that are seeded No. 11 and higher, No. 11 seed Arizona State appears to be the team most likely to win on Friday. The Sun Devils beat St. John's in the First Four round and now will take on Buffalo, the winner of the Mid-American Conference tournament.
Buffalo may have only three losses, but its schedule was less difficult than Arizona State's. Also, the Sun Devils could be building momentum after their First Four victory.
"I'm going to say we didn't pack for just one game," Arizona State senior forward Zylan Cheatham said, according to the Associated Press (h/t ESPN.com). "We're really locked in. We're really focused. And obviously this is a big step in the right direction. But we're not content by any means. We're hungry for more. We want to take this season as far as it can go."