2013 NCAA Tournament Round of 64, Day 1: Preview, Game Times and Odds

Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

And, away they go in the race to Atlanta, along the road to the Final Four. Today kicks off the most exciting and exhausting two days in all of sports, with the NCAA Tournament kicking March Madness into high gear with the first day of the Round of 64, beginning at noon on CBS.

Most Intriguing Matchups:

No. 6 Butler vs. No. 11 Bucknell: If there’s a host arena to be at this week, it’s Rupp Arena in Lexington. Not only is Kentucky’s historic venue hosting top-seeded and arch rival Louisville, but it plays host to a four-team group in the East Region that is wide open, with Butler-Bucknell and Marquette-Davidson. Butler had an interesting go of it in their first season in a true basketball conference, as they found out quickly that the Atlantic-10 is not Horizon League. Since stunning top seed Gonzaga back on January 19th at Hinkle Fieldhouse, the Bulldogs have seemingly been ho-hum in the A-10. They were blown out by VCU and lost three times to a spirited Saint Louis squad, combining to go just 2-5 against teams that finished in the top five of the conference. Standing in Butler’s way is a Bucknell team that romped through the Colonial, narrowly lost to Missouri in Columbia, has had decent wins over Purdue, La Salle and Kent State. The Bison aren’t world beaters and Butler has a knack for beating the teams they’re supposed to beat, but Bucknell’s Mike Muscala will give Butler all they can handle in the paint.

No. 5 Oklahoma State vs. No. 12 Oregon: Both Oregon and Oklahoma State were robbed by the selection committee on Selection Sunday. The Ducks were unjustifiably given a 12-seed in the tournament after winning the Pac-12 Tournament, suggesting that an automatic berth may have kept the Ducks afloat, despite experts, pundits and featured columnists all having Oregon in good standing a week ago. Because of the sandbagging that the NCAA gave Oregon, Oklahoma State is now forced to play what should be a 6-seed or 7-seed, and face them not only in the first round, but in a notorious 5 vs. 12 game. That’s a rough ride for the Cowboys. Oregon started the Pac-12 season with seven straight wins for the first time in school history, only to limp to the finish line with six losses in 11 games, including a pair of stumbles to both Cal and Colorado. Winning the Pac-12 Tournament has to have head coach Dana Altman feeling good, and with a balanced offense led by E.J. ‘Don’t Call Me Kyle’s Brother’ Singler, the Ducks have the makeup to control the tempo and a glass against anyone. That said, Oklahoma State is averaging 36 boards per game, and have a potent trio of scorers that include Marcus Smart, Markel Brown and Le’Bryan Nash. This one’s a toss-up.

No. 5 UNLV vs. No. 12 California: These teams met back in December at Haas Pavilion, when the Rebels hung on long enough for a 76-75 win over the Bears. Today, they’ll meet again, just 45-minutes down 880 in San Jose, in what should be a very pro-Cal crowd. UNLV is the favorite, as they’ve been fueled by freshman phenom Anthony Bennett, who is averaging 16.1 points per game. But don’t sleep on Cal, who in the periodic instances when they’re clicking on all cylinders, just might be the best team in the Pac-12. Armed with the west’s best pure scorer in Allen Crabbe, and man-to-man defensive specialist Mike Montgomery at the helm, Cal has to be a sleeper to get to the Sweet Sixteen, as they’re better than their 12th seed indicates. Having said that, Cal is extremely streaky and hasn’t won a game in three weeks. They looked awfully bad in their regular season finale to Stanford, before succumbing to 10th place Utah in the Pac-12 Tournament. So which Cal shows up? The good Cal beats UNLV, but the bad Cal likely gets shipwrecked in their own bay.

Upset Special: South Dakota State

Although Michigan is practically playing at home in Auburn Hills, the Wolverines know all too well that teams lucky enough to be seeded 13th can play well enough to shoot out the lights and bounce a No. 4 seed. That was the case last year, when lowly Ohio ousted Michigan by shooting 51 percent from the floor. This year, Trey Burke and company face a South Dakota State squad with a serious three-point fetish. The Jackrabbits are 10th in the nation in three-point shooting, making them at a 39.4 percent clip, while averaging just under eight triples per game. Guard Nate Wolters is fourth in the nation in scoring with 22.7 points per game, while forward Jordan Dykstra has had nine double-doubles to give SDSU a sound inside-outside game on the both ends of the floor. Oh, and they’ve also got one of the most valuable wins of all of the teams in the tournament’s field, a 70-65 win over New Mexico, which came at The Pit. Only Illinois gave up more three-pointers than Michigan in the Big Ten this season, an issue that was exploited by Penn State in UM’s catastrophic loss to the Nittany Lions last month. If they can’t stop South Dakota State from behind the arc, John Beilein’s Wolverines just might make a B-line towards yet another early tournament exit.

Game times and Odds*

#3 Michigan State(-10.5) vs. #14 Valparaiso, 12:15PM ET (CBS)
#6 Butler(-3) vs. #11 Bucknell, 12:40PM ET (truTV)
#8 Pittsburgh(-4.5) vs. #9 Wichita State, 1:40PM ET (TBS)
#4 Saint Louis(-9) vs. #13 New Mexico State, 2:10PM ET (TNT)
#6 Memphis(-1.5) vs. #11 Saint Mary’s, 2:45PM ET (CBS)
#3 Marquette(-4) vs. #14 Davidson, 3:10PM ET (truTV)
#1 Gonzaga(-21.5) vs. #16 Southern, 4:10PM ET (TBS)
#5 Oklahoma State(-3) vs. #12 Oregon, 4:40PM ET (TNT)
#1 Louisville(-25) vs. #16 North Carolina A&T, 6:50PM ET (TBS)
#4 Michigan(-11) vs. #13 South Dakota State, 7:15PM ET (CBS)
#6 Arizona(-4.5) vs. #11 Belmont, 7:20PM ET (TNT)
#5 UNLV(-3) vs. #12 California, 7:27PM ET (truTV)
#8 Colorado State(+3) vs. #9 Missouri, 9:20PM ET (TBS)
#5 VCU(-7) vs. #12 Akron, 9:45PM ET (CBS)
#3 New Mexico(-11) vs. #14 Harvard, 9:50PM ET (TNT)
#4 Syracuse(-13.5) vs. #13 Montana, 9:57PM ET (truTV)
*Betting lines provided by OddsShark.com

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