NCAA Brackets 2019: Updated Schedule and Predictions for Friday's Round 1 Games

The first day of the NCAA tournament saw the Big Ten register a 5-0 performance, a brilliant show by Murray State's Ja Morant and the favored teams win the majority of the games.

Perhaps Morant put on the most impressive show of all, as he recorded a triple-double with 17 points, 11 rebounds and 16 assists as the Racers ran by Marquette 83-64.

The second day of the tournament should be renamed ACC day, as the conference's three No. 1 seeds are all in action.

Duke will open its tournament run against First Four winner North Dakota State, North Carolina will meet Iona and Virginia ventures back into the arena against Gardner Webb.

The Cavaliers are obviously trying to avoid another ignominious first-round upset after becoming the first No. 1 seed to drop a game to a No. 16 seed last year when they fell to UMBC.

Will Friday's opening-round games deliver upsets, buzzer beaters and a slew of exciting games? 

Friday's NCAA schedule, odds and selections

(all point spread information courtesy of VegasInsider.com)

No. 7 Cincinnati vs. No. 10 Iowa, 12:15 p.m. (CBS), Cincinnati -3.5; Iowa 72, Cincinnati 67

No. 8 Ole Miss vs. No. 9 Oklahoma, 12:40 p.m. (truTV), Ole Miss -1; Ole Miss 71, Oklahoma 68

No. 3 Texas Tech vs. No. 14 Northern Kentucky, 1:30 p.m. (TNT), Texas Tech -13.5; Texas Tech 87, Northern Kentucky 65

No. 4 Kansas State vs. No. 13 UC Irvine, 2 p.m. (TBS), Kansas State -4.5; Kansas State 73, UC Irvine 65

No. 2 Tennessee vs. No. 15 Colgate, 2:45 p.m. ET (CBS), Tennessee -17.5; Tennessee 91, Colgate 67

No. 1 Virginia vs. No. 16 Gardner-Webb, 3:10 p.m., (truTV), Virginia -22; Virginia 69, Gardner-Webb 49

No. 6 Buffalo vs. No. 11 Arizona State, 4 p.m. (TNT), Buffalo -4.5; Buffalo 77, Arizona State 70

No. 5 Wisconsin vs. No. 12 Oregon, 4:30 p.m. (TBS), Wisconsin -2, Oregon 61, Wisconsin 57

No. 8 Utah State vs. No. 9 Washington, 6:50 p.m. (TNT), Utah State -3; Utah State 71, Washington 64

No. 1 Duke vs. No. 16 North Dakota State, 7:10 p.m. (CBS), Duke -27; Duke 86, ND State 51

No. 3 Houston vs. No. 14 Georgia State, 7:20 p.m. (TBS), Houston -12; Houston 88, Georgia State 69

No. 5 Mississippi State vs. No. 12 Liberty, 7:27 p.m. (truTV), Mississippi State -6.5; Mississippi State 70, Liberty 59

No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 16 Iona, 9:20 p.m. (TNT), North Carolina -23; North Carolina 90, Iona 66

No. 8 VCU vs. No. 9 UCF, 9:40 p.m. (CBS), UCF -1; VCU 70, UCF 66

No. 6 Iowa State vs. No. 11 Ohio State, 9:50 p.m. (TBS), Iowa State -5.5; Ohio State 88, Iowa State 75

No. 4 Virginia Tech vs. No. 13 Saint Louis, 9:57 p.m. (truTV), Virginia Tech -10.5; Virginia Tech 82, Saint Louis 70

Ole Miss vs. Oklahoma

This has a chance to be the tightest game of the day as it features two evenly matched teams.

However, eighth seed Ole Miss comes limping into the tournament having lost four of the last five games, including an awful defeat at the hands of Alabama in the SEC conference tournament.

Ninth seed Oklahoma was just a seventh-place team in the Big 12, but the Sooners had an impressive win over Kansas during the year, and they can be tough when their offensive effort matches their defense and rebounding.

Mississippi is vulnerable to teams that shoot the three-pointer well. This has not been Oklahoma to this point in the year. However, the Sooners should have hope. Minnesota was not a good three-point shooting team this year (32.1 percent), but they connected on 11 three-pointers in their first-round victory over Louisville.

Ole Miss is led by guard Breein Tyree, who is scoring 18.2 points per game and connecting on 46.5 percent of his shots from the field. He is getting support from guard Terence Davis, who is averaging 15.1 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.

Ole Miss ranks 44th in the KenPom rankings, and their adjusted offense is 36th while their adjusted defense ranks 64th.

Oklahoma will try to counter with guard Christian James leading the attack. James averages 14.4 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, and he is joined by Brady Manek, who scores 12.0 points and 6.1 rebounds per night.

The Sooners also get a lift from Kristian Doolittle, who leads the team with 7.0 rebounds per game and is also a double-digit scorer.

The Sooners rank 37th in the KenPom rankings, with an adjusted offense of 71st and an adjusted defense of 22nd.

This should be tight all way with Ole Miss pulling out the narrow victory.

Texas Tech vs. Northern Kentucky

The first day of the tournament belonged to Murray State's Morant, and Texas Tech's Jarrett Culver has the opportunity to do the same on the second day.

While he may have to share the spotlight with Zion Williamson of Duke, he is in a similar category to Morant because he is going to get a chance to show off his skills and abilities on the national stage.

Texas Tech certainly has more opportunities to do that than Murray State, but non-hardcore fans have not seen much of Culver to this point.

He is a brilliant all-around player who leads the Red Raiders in scoring, rebounding and assists, and the 6'5", 195-pound sophomore from Lubbock, Texas, has an excellent chance of becoming a top-10 draft pick in the NBA. Culver is averaging per-game averages of 18.5 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists.

The Red Raiders tied for first in the Big 12 with Kansas State, but they lost to West Virginia in the Big 12 tournament—although the result can be thrown out because Texas Tech won nine in a row prior to that game.

Northern Kentucky finished first in the Horizon League and comes into the tournament having won five games in a row. 

The Norse are led by forward Drew McDonald, who is averaging 19.1 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. He is also connecting on 48.2 percent of his shots from the field and better than 40 percent of his three-point shots.

Guards Tyler Sharpe and Jalen Tate combine to average 28.1 points per game, and those two could cause problems for Texas Tech.

However, this game is an opportunity for Culver to show off his awesome skills. Look for Texas Tech to roll.