The most intriguing 2024 NCAA Tournament Round of 32 games

The first day was filled with chaos, from 14-seed Oakland knocking off three-seed Kentucky, to the 11-seeds, Duquesne, NC State, and Oregon all winning. This resulted in a 3-0 day for the eleven-seeded teams vs six seeds. We saw a total of five lower-seeded teams string together victories on Thursday and advance to the Round of 32. 

Now, we head to the second round of matchups, where the excitement grows and the stakes are raised even higher. Saturday is filled with some intriguing matchups, and here are three must-watch games this weekend. 

3 most intriguing games Saturday 

SOUTH REGION: NC State vs Oakland

One of the most interesting games of the weekend will be two double-digit seeds battling it out for a trip to the Sweet 16. Oakland pulled off a thrilling upset over Kentucky, led by catalyst Trey Townsend and an unprecedented hero, Jack Gohlke, who nearly tied an NCAA tournament record with ten three-pointers made. He scored 32 points, with every field goal attempt coming from behind the arc. On the season, Gohlke has only attempted eight shots inside the three-point line, while he shot over 350 of his attempts from three. An eye-opening statistic. 

NC State, on the other hand, has been the hottest team in all of college basketball over the last two weeks. After beating Duke and North Carolina on their way to an ACC Championship, the Wolfpack handled Texas Tech in the first round, led by Ben Middlebrooks, who came off the bench and scored 21 points, leading all scorers. Mohamed Diarra was also a key piece in the win, posting a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds. 

Now, we'll see an Oakland, NC State matchup where Oakland will have their hands full with the amount of options that the Wolfpack present. The most interesting development in this game will be how Oakland intends to guard DJ Burns, while still getting out of key shooters like DJ Horne and Casey Morsell. Burnes thrives in one-on-one matchups in the post, and when he gets doubled, he has a great feel for kickouts and finding open shooters. Oakland will surely have their hands full if they want to turn their first upset into a Cinderella run.