NCAA Tournament 2019: Updated Bracket and Matchups to Watch in Final Four

There are some fresh faces in this year's Final Four, which begins with the national semifinals at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Saturday night.

No. 3 seed Texas Tech and No. 5 seed Auburn are each making the first Final Four appearance in program history, while No. 1 seed Virginia will be there for the first time since 1984. No. 2 seed Michigan State is in the Final Four for the first time since 2015.

The Spartans are the only one of the four teams to have ever won an men's NCAA tournament national championship, as they did it in 1979 and 2000. That means there's a solid chance this season will end with a first-time champion being crowned.

Bracket

Final Four Schedule

Saturday

No. 5 Auburn vs. No. 1 Virginia, 6:09 p.m., CBS

No. 3 Texas Tech vs. No. 2 Michigan State, 8:49 p.m., CBS

Matchups to Watch

Bryce Brown vs. Virginia's perimeter defenders

Charlie Riedel/Associated Press

Virginia is a tough team to beat, as it plays a slow-tempo, defense-first style of basketball. That's why the Cavaliers have only lost six games over the past two seasons.

But if Auburn can learn anything from studying film from Virginia's rare losses, it's that three-point shooting could be the key to beating the Cavs.

It's tough to score in the paint against Virginia, and its defenders will often let opposing teams shoot from long range. Knock down those shots, and Auburn could not only be in the game, but also pull off an upset win in the Final Four.

That's why senior guard Bryce Brown will be important to the Tigers' game plan. Brown is the team's leading scorer at 15.8 points per game, and he's also made the most three-pointers, shooting 137-of-334 (41 percent) from behind the arc.

Brown has been a key part of Auburn's March Madness success. He scored 25 points and shot 7-of-11 from three-point range in the second-round win over No. 4 Kansas. On Sunday, Brown tallied 24 points in an overtime win over No. 2 seed Kentucky in the Elite Eight.

Auburn will need to execute its game plan near perfectly in order to topple Virginia, and Brown knocking down some key outside shots should be a big part of that.

Cassius Winston vs. Jarrett Culver

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It's no secret who the offensive leaders are for No. 2 Michigan State and No. 3 Texas Tech. And it will be exciting to see Spartans guard Cassius Winston and Red Raiders guard Jarrett Culver on the same court on Saturday night.

Winston leads Michigan State in points per game (18.8), assists per game (7.5) and three-pointers made (82). Culver leads Texas Tech in points (18.9), rebounds (6.4) and assists (3.8) per game.

Winston is a prolific ball-handler who excels at driving inside, then either scoring, drawing a foul or dishing the ball to one of his teammates. He had 20 points and 10 assists in Michigan State's Elite Eight win over No. 1 seed Duke.

The key to beating Texas Tech is stopping Culver and preventing him from executing the Red Raiders' game plan. 

If both Winston and Culver play at the level they're capable of, this could be an exciting, back-and-forth matchup between these two teams.