NCAA Tournament 2023: 10 biggest storylines to watch for 1st day of games

It’s the first day of the NCAA Tournament and there are 32 teams set to play, starting at noon. By the end of the day, only 16 programs will get to advance to the Round of 32. There are plenty of storylines to watch for among both the favorites and the underdogs.

Here are 10 specific storylines among all of the matchups.

1. Virginia looks to avoid an upset

The past few years for the Cavaliers have been very interesting when it comes to the postseason. They made history as a 1 seed in 2018, losing to 16-seed UMBC. It was followed up by winning a national championship in 2019. Last season, they lost in the first round in an upset to 13-seed Ohio, before missing out on the Big Dance altogether a year ago.

Because of how they play with its slow-paced offense, Virginia is vulnerable to losing games, including mid-majors. And they have a tough opponent in the first round in Furman, which ended a 40+ year NCAA Tournament drought.

The Paladins are one of the top offenses in all of college basketball, averaging 82.1 ppg. They’re a top-20 shooting team in terms of attempts and rank No. 1 with 60% shooting from inside the arc. They have two studs in Mike Bothwell and Jalen Slawson that can have a nice game and with Ben Vander Plas out for the season, Virginia’s depth is in question.

The Cavaliers have lost to mid-majors before and they could lose again. If that happens, Coach Tony Bennett will have to answer for it and the offensive scheme is going to be questioned.