The NCAA Tournament is one of the most exciting events of the year and things kick off on Thursday with the second round of games following the play-in games that are horribly named "the first round".
There are 32 games to be played in a span of 36 hours and there are a number of teams that should be on upset alert, including Oklahoma State, Butler and Michigan, while other teams like Louisville, Michigan State and Gonzaga should coast through to the next round. Syracuse should have no trouble with Montana, while VCU and Akron could have a heck of a game against each other.
Michigan could get surprise by South Dakota State, while Arizona and Belmont could surprise with some fireworks. Pittsburgh will win, but they might have more trouble against Wichita State than people think. UNLV and California will battle out West, while Oregon has the chance to pull the usual 12-5 upset against Oklahoma State.
Saint Louis is a sleeper pick for the Final Four, while New Mexico State should put up a good battle. Colorado State and Missouri could also be a surprise upset, while Butler will have to hold back a team that could put in a run like the Bulldogs did in Bucknell. Marquette and Davidson has potential as well, while Harvard could make waves for New Mexico on Thursday night in Salt Lake City.
Louisville vs. N.C. A&T: No number one seed has ever lost to a 16-seed and the Cardinals will not be the first. The Cardinals have momentum after winning the Big East tournament in emphatic style over Syracuse and senior Peyton Siva is playing out of his mind. Rick Pitino will make sure his team is prepared for N.C. A&T, who made it in after defeating Liberty, who had 20 losses.
Syracuse vs. Montana: The Orange might be a bit stung after blowing their final chance at winning the Big East against Louisville, but this is not Vermont from a few years ago when Syracuse lost in the first round. Montana is 25-6, but Jim Boeheim will have his team prepared and they will make it past them on Thursday.
Butler vs. Bucknell: Butler is the Cinderella story, but this time around they might be the team getting upset. They easily could win this game, but hey, Bucknell has some solid players and went 28-5 this season, including 12-2 in the conference. Butler went 26-8 and will use their defense to try and shut Bucknell down.
Saint Louis vs. New Mexico State: Saint Louis is a sleeper final four pick after going 27-6 on the season and 13-3 in the Atlantic 10. The team is ranked 138th in scoring but they can shoot the ball and they enter the tournament winning 15 of their past 16 games stretching back to January. New Mexico State will be no match for them in the opening round.