NCAA Tournament 2023: 10 biggest storylines to watch for 1st day of games
10. Mountain West (Boise State) and Big Ten (Northwestern) battle for respect
There are a few narratives that have been developing in the NCAA Tournament. One is the Big Ten, which hasn’t had a national champion since 2000. The other is Nevada, who hasn’t even had a single win in the Big Dance since 2018, a drought that continues after Nevada was blown out by Arizona State in Wednesday’s First Four battle.
That’s what makes this 7 vs 10 battle more interesting than expected on paper. Northwestern had one of the more surprising seasons overall, tied for second place in the Big Ten standings after being picked to finish in the bottom-4. Boise State has flown under the radar once again in the Mountain West, winning 24 games and tying for second in the standings.
The Broncos’ entire starting lineup all are double-digit scorers while having plenty of size and length to be disruptive defensively. On the other side, the Wildcats have two guards that are capable of going nuclear on any given night in Chase Augide and Boo Buie. If either of them goes off, Northwestern can take this one.
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It’s an important game on both sides, as the Mountain West needs to get on the board and the Big Ten needs to get some teams at least into the Round of 32 to avoid more scrutiny. And with an injured UCLA on deck, maybe the winner of this matchup could actually have a shot to go further.