The Madness Strikes Back: Round of 64, Friday, March 20, Front Eight

#10 Santa Clara Broncos v #7 Kentucky Wildcats

12:15 ET/11:15 GTZ. CBS.

MaximumSam: Remember, the Lord sent his only son to live and die rather than root for Kentucky.

BoilerUp89: I'm so happy Santa Clara is in the tournament field for the first time since 1996 (Steve Nash played for them back then). Meanwhile UK has joined the long line of teams to beat Purdue in a preseason exhibition and then play poorly in the actual season. Both teams failed to beat the #1 team in their conference, but hopefully the St. Mary's/A&M game wasn't a hint at what's to come.

AlmaOtter: A three-bid WCC! Nature might actually be healing. This is actually a hell of a toss-up, at least per advanced metrics. Santa Clara has a better offense, Kentucky has a better defense. If the Broncos' 3s drop, they're taking this one.

Kind of...: The performances of Saint Mary's and Gonzaga on Thursday do NOT inspire confidence, though...back in Nash's frosh season, '92-'93, Santa Clara became the second ever 15-seed to knock of a 2-seed (Lute Olson's Arizona, of course) and Nash was clutch from the line down the stretch...Kentucky is, as always, the worst. Check out this ESPN article. Keeping in mind how much SEC water ESPN carries, isn't it amazing that they all but say Pope is lying, errr, misrepresenting things RE: Lendeborg?

HoustonBoiler: IMHO, Pope was dodging the question, which to me, implies there's some truth to what Yaxel Lendeborg claims. In any event, I'm hoping that Kentucky goes down in flames.

#12 Akron Zips v #5 Texas Tech Red Raiders

12:40 ET/11:40 GTZ. truTV.

BoilerUp89: No J.T. Toppin for the Red Raiders. Christian Anderson & Donovan Atwell are still very good but Texas Tech doesn't have much depth and is very thin inside. Akron was the best team in the MAC. We all saw what Miami (the second best team in the MAC) did in the First Four. Can Akron one up them? Former Illini head coach John Groce is hoping so.

AlmaOtter: I was a senior in Champaign-Urbana when Groce got fired. But I really did like the guy. Good dude, well meaning, had his tiny little children stalking the sidelines with him (one of which has my name, but spelled incorrectly). I just saw that Conner Groce is a walk-on for the Zips. I am old and gray. Go Akron.

Stats stuff: TTU shoots the piss out of the ball, but Akron is actually even more akurate (that hurt to type.) I'm not guaranteeing a damn thing, but I love this as an upset.

Kind of...: Groce has a child names Ulma? Allma? AlmaOdder? Weird...Reminder that Grant McCasland and Ben McCollum are best buds and that, somehow, McCasland has a slow temp offense that isn't torturous to watch...Definitely a winnable game for Akron, but they'll probably have to win it at the Red Raiders's pace.

HoustonBoiler: Damn AlmaOtter, "akurate" hurt to read. That said, Akron is a solid team and capable of pulling the upset with Texas Tech missing J.T. Toppin.

#16 Long Island University Sharks v #1 Arizona Wildcats

1:35 ET/12:35 GTZ. TNT

BoilerUp89: Fins up! I've always been a huge fan of the Northeast Conference and Long Island University.

AlmaOtter: Fins to the left, fins to the right, Wildcats are gonna eat those fish.

Kind of...: Arizona's recent (and really, all-time) tournament history has featured plenty of "left shark" but they're not losing today.

HoustonBoiler: While I would love it, I just don't see LIU taking down Arizona. Then again, Siena was oooohhh sooooo close yesterday.

#14 Wright State Raiders v #3 Virginia Cavaliers

1:50 ET/12:50 GTZ.

BoilerUp89: Wright State is a decent team on offense but not a very good defense. Ryan Odom is too good of a coach to overlook the Raiders though and his defense should be able to smother them. If they aren't able to, UVA does play a slow enough pace to keep things interesting.

AlmaOtter: Stop me if you're heard this one: UVA is slow as molasses and efficient as hell on offense, but pairs it with a supernatural defense. I don't see this one being close at all.

Kind of...: It's a long season. Feels like just yesterday that Northwestern was giving UVA a helluva of a game in a West Virginia luxury ballroom (and Virginia DID lose in said ballroom to Butler)...The Horizon is not as bad of a conference as I sometimes think, but Wright State doesn't scream "giant slayer"...then again, neither did UMBC or FDU.

#15 Tennessee State Tigers v #2 Iowa State Cyclones

2:50 ET/1:50 GTZ. CBS.

BoilerUp89: First tournament game for the Tigers since 1994 and they are looking for their first NCAA tournament victory. The don't shoot very well and try to turn turnovers into points. Iowa State is a monster when they play their best. It shouldn't take their best to dispatch Tennessee State.

Kind of...: Yeah, Iowa State should be able to overwhelm the Tigers. Tough, tough draw for Tennessee State.

AlmaOtter: On their game, the 'clones stuff good teams into lockers and shove those lockers down the river. TN State is not a good team. But they have a cool vintage logo! Rawr.

HoustonBoiler: Very tough draw for TSU as Iowa State is a tough opponent and I expect them to be on their game.

#13 Hofstra Pride v #4 Alabama Crimson Tide

3:15 ET/2:15 GTZ. truTV.

BoilerUp89: The pride of Hofstra is dancing for the first time in 25 years! They face an Alabama team that shoots the most threes in the country. Hofstra will want to play slower than the Tide but while Bama like to take over half of their shots from behind the arc, Hofstra is actually the better shooting team.

AlmaOtter: So why were they raiding a student's housing for weed again? And separately, why does weed get weighed in imperial terms, while cocaine/heroin gets measured in metric? This is why I shouldn't do previews this late.

Kind of...: I'm old, so forgive the ignorance, but if one were to use marijuana for personal use, how long would it take to get through 2.1 lbs of the stuff? Continuing the "only seen this shit on TV" line of questioning, is possessing 2.1 lbs when 2.2 lbs (1 kg) becomes a trafficking charge ipso facto evidence of mens rea? Is it similar to making a lot of $9,000 deposits to avoid reporting requirements ("structuring") of did Law & Order ruin my brain in the 90's?...Sadly for SEC haters, this might be addition by subtraction. Holloway is good, but offense isn't Alabama's problem...Either way, GO HOFSTRA!...If you're open to things like waving away a five game losing streak Hofstra is on a 19-1 run and notably better than its advanced metrics indicate.

HoustonBoiler: Did Kind Of... stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night because it sure sounds like he did. Whomever makes more 3-point shots will likely win this one.

#9 Utah State Aggies v #8 Villanova Wildcats

4:10 ET/3:10 GTZ. TNT.

BoilerUp89: Name a better combo than Utah State and a coin flip Round of 64 game. This year's Aggies squad are pretty good at scoring at the rim. I've been operating under the theory that the Big East is really terrible this year and Villanova benefitted from being the best of the mudheap.

AlmaOtter: My best friend/hometown bud/bball stats buddy/OTR reader Verdauga is a proud Nova grad. I would never pick against him or them. But this is a shite draw for them and the Aggies could absolutely steal this one from Bearded and Evil Kevin Willard.

Kind of...: If Utah State wants me to treat them a separate entity than Saint Mary's, they need to show up today...With luck, Kevin Willard is currently negotiating his next job/an extension and Villanova will be distracted...All Villanova alums are proud Nova grads. I bet the Pope gets insufferable when college hoops comes up...That said, the Pavillion is a reasonably cool place to catch a game...Bolstering @BoilerUp89's theory, Nova was 0-4 vs. UConn/St. John's, 15-1 against everybody else in the Big East. Did beat Wisconsin in non-conference, but, well, what does that tell us now?

HoustonBoiler: As a Villanova alumnus, I will agree that they did not beat any top tier teams this season, but they did win most of the games they should have won, e.g., beating wisconsin by 10 in Madison. That said, I expect this to be a tough game, but Villanova to pull it out in the end. While we're discussing it, I'm not thrilled with Kevin Willard, but will admit that he's a big upgrade over Kyle Neptune. I would not be sad if he were negotiating his next job.

#11 Miami (OH) RedHawks v #6 Tennessee Volunteers

4:25 ET/3:25 GTZ. TBS.

BoilerUp89: Go Miami! Beat Tennessee!

AlmaOtter: Make the pundits smoke the entire pack, Hawks. Do the thing.

Kind of...: Oxford, OH and Knoxville, TN. Oh boy, the amount of ill-informed historical self-regard bubbling beneath the surface today will approach crisis levels...Oh, look! There's former Terp Ja'Kobi Gillespie!...He's also a former Belmont Bruin who just hired 31 year-old former play Evan Bradds to coach them...look for Michigan to hire Bradds in 8-10 years once flames engulf Dusty May's attic...Anyway, all sane people are rooting for the red-hued smugness today even if Travis Steele is the bent cop who doesn't just break up the party, he destroys the equipment...really deep draft coming up, give Nate Ament a look: he's 6'10" and oozes potential, but also may be slightly off in the Ace Bailey/Kevin Durant ratio...Great stylistic matchup; will probably feel like a slog, but if Miami values the ball, they'll have a really good chance of winning.

HoustonBoiler: Miami does value the ball and makes 3-point shots at a good clip, but they're not good at playing defense. This will catch up with them at some point, I'm just hoping that point is not today.