One Thing to Watch Today - My Day 3 of NCAA Tournament

What I'm Watching on Day 3

Day 3 of the NCAA Tournament, or Day 2 if you don't consider the First Four part of "the tournament". I would normally agree with you, but since the First Four takes place in the same city/area with the field of 64 tournament and it starts one day before the opening round, this is my Day 3.

Let's recap from Day 2, the first 16 games.

• Biggest takeaway in my four bracket contest is I went 4-4 in the South region. I fared much better in the Midwest region.
• Best pick: Oral Roberts over Ohio State
• Worst pick: Purdue (loss to North Texas). Like the Oral Roberts game, it went to overtime, so I had a 50/50 shot at that point I guess. But, Purdue was my Survivor Contest pick in Day 1, so I feel some kind of way about that loss. Maybe it was my praise of their toughness in the paint in the second half of that game and wishing Indiana had guys like that is where it went wrong.  They were also one of two Sweet 16 teams I lost. Thanks for nothing Boilers.
• Dumbest pick: San Diego State over Syracuse.  I knew the Orange was going to create problem for San Diego State. I only picked Syracuse in 1 of my 4 pools.  I should have played that the other way around. Stupid, stupid me.
• Best ATS play:  North Texas - First Half, -1 vs Purdue.  Played this in-game. Thanks to guy Steve for turning me into a believer of North Texas.
• Worst ATS play:  North Carolina -2 vs Wisconsin. UNC was never in this game. NEVER. Unbelievable.

Let's look at today's 16 games and here's the one thing I want to see from this game or a team I picked.

12- Georgetown vs 5- Colorado (-5.5), 12:15 pm ET

• Will the Hoyas defend like they did in the Big East tournament? A scout that I trust told me it's the hardest they've seen a team defend in college this season. Go Hoyas!

13- UNC Greensboro vs 4- Florida State (-11), 12:45 pm ET

• FSU is one of my Final Four favorites. I need to see them play consistent for 40 minutes and not go to sleep. I'll be nervous if this is a 2-3 possession game by the under-8 minute mark of second half.

14- Eastern Washington vs 3- Kansas (-10.5), 1:15 pm ET

• I know little to nothing about EWU, should be able to jump on Kansas, who had to deal with quarantines last week.  Most teams coming off quarantine don't do very well in the first-half of their first game. There's no tomorrow if Kansas finds themselves in a dog fight with EWU. Will they be able to overcome?

9- St. Bonaventure vs 8- LSU (-1.5), 1:45 pm ET

• Will the LSU team that nearly beat Alabama in the SEC Championship show up? Or, will it be the LSU team seems to underachieve in the tournament?

16- Texas Southern vs 1- Michigan (-26), 3 pm ET

• I may want to see TSU win, but I want them to cover the 26-point spread even more. The Tigers are one of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the field, but shot well in the First Four. I want to see if they're going to use the advantage of having a game under their belt as an advantage.

12- UC Santa Barbara vs 5- Creighton (-7), 3:30 pm

• I think the controversy surrounding Creighton coach Greg McDermott is still handing around this team, and getting blown out by Georgetown was the proof I needed. Trust that there are still people in the ear of those players saying "how can you still play for THAT GUY?" I expect the Gauchos to win by 5 or more.

15- Iona vs 2- Alabama (-17), 4 pm ET

• Alabama lost as a 1-seed in the NIT the last time they were in a postseason tournament (2019, 8-seed Norfolk State) in Coach Nate Oats first year. I hope that experience still sits with him and the players that experienced that loss at home two years ago. Against Rick Pitino's Iona team, I want to see the Bama team that dominated the SEC and is a favorite in many brackets to make the Final Four. ROLL TIDE!

11- Drake vs 6- USC (-6.5), 4:30 pm ET

• I think USC is a dark horse Final Four team. They have the talent to make a run in the West region. However, their last game in the Pac-12 tournament was makes me question if they're going to come out and play sharp enough to beat a Drake team that seemed dead in the water in the First Four game for 2/3 of that contest. Will their USC's talent show up?

15- Grand Canyon vs 2- Iowa (-14.5), 6:25 pm ET

• Big Ten was the big loser in Day 2. Iowa shouldn't lose this game, but are you comfortable with them carrying the conference on Day 3.  I'm not.

10- Maryland vs 7- UConn (-2.5), 7:10 pm ET

• I haven't seen UConn play one game this year. But, basketball talking heads and voices seem to like the Huskies. I want to see why. They were on a nice run (won 7 of 8) prior to losing by 3 points to Creighton in the Big East semifinals. UConn should cover this one easily.

13- Ohio vs 4- Virginia (-7.5), 7:15 pm ET

• Seth Davis reported on Friday that Virginia had just arrived to Indianapolis and wouldn't have their first shootaround until Saturday morning. Will Virginia be worth a grain of salt in the first half? I don't know squat about the MAC champions but they better jump all over Virginia early and hope their lead holds late in the second half.

9- Missouri vs 8- Oklahoma (+1), 7:25 pm ET

• SEC vs Big 12 matchup. Two teams not many people picked to advance past the second round. Best we can hope for is a game that stays close and gives us a buzzer beating finish.

16- Norfolk State vs 1- Gonzaga (-33.5), 9:20 pm ET

• I want to see the Spartans play well. They aren't going to be intimated by Gonzaga. They can't shoot themselves out of the game, nor allow the Zags to shoot them out of the game either. 

11- UCLA vs 6- BYU (-3.5), 9:40 pm ET

• West Coast rock fight... Did playing tough games against Gonzaga prepare BYU for this moment against UCLA?  UCLA has the advantage of having a game under their belt, and they had to come back from a 14-point deficit. I hope I can stay up tonight to see this one.

14- Abilene Christian vs 3- Texas (-9), 9:50 pm ET

• I think Texas is one of the top 5 teams in this tournament. I want to see them come out strong and impose their will on ACU like a top-tier team should do.

10- VCU vs 7- Oregon (-5), 9:57 pm ET

• Oregon has a highly rated offense. VCU has a highly rated defense. I want to see if Oregon can overcome a defensive team like VCU because their half of the region is winnable over other potential finalists that have a higher seed - Iowa, Kansas and USC.

Biggest question I have is when when to find time to take 30-45 minute nap.