The NCAA Tournament’s 32-game feast across Thursday and Friday is one of the most highly anticipated TV stretches of the sports year. You should watch as many games as you can, but if you need to prioritize, here are the “can’t-miss” ones to watch, informed by full-bracket predictions from The Athletic’s Brendan Marks, C.J. Moore and Lindsay Schnell.
THURSDAY
The best game
(7) Missouri at (10) Drake
7:35 p.m. ET, truTV
Missouri made it through the gauntlet of the SEC schedule, but Drake — led by a former DII coaching legend and a couple of up-transfers he brought with him — has the official “Team Nobody Wants To Play” label. A fascinating game on every level.
CJ Moore: Drake will be a trendy upset pick, and for good reason. The Bulldogs are 3-0 against high-major teams this year, Ben McCollum is one of the best coaches in college basketball, and he has Bennett Stirtz, whom a rival Missouri Valley coach recently told me is the best guard in the country.
Making things even more complicated, the other two games in that early-evening Thursday block are outstanding: No. 13 seed Yale in an Upset Special vs. No. 4 seed Texas A&M (7:25 p.m. ET, TBS) and a Hall of Fame coaching matchup between John Calipari (No. 10 seed Arkansas) and Bill Self (No. 7 seed Kansas) at 7:10 p.m. ET on CBS.
Blow off work for…
(4) Purdue vs. (13) High Point
12:40 p.m. ET, truTV
Another possible Upset Special! High Point will have most of America saying “Who?” But also: “Who cares, upsets are amazing!” If High Point keeps it close (which it can through its high-octane offense and personnel tailor-made to match up well with Purdue), this will be the game your group chat is texting about.
Brendan Marks: Purdue has lost six of its past nine games, with its interior defense being exposed. Over those last nine games? A horrid 196th nationally in adjusted efficiency, per Torvik; opponents are making 63.3 percent of their 2s during that stretch, which is second worst in all of DI. No, thank you! High Point is dancing for the first time in program history because of Alan Huss’ top-25 offense, which just so happens to be the ninth-best 2-point shooting team in the field. Smells like a mismatch. High Point is the easiest upset pick in the region.
Blow off work for…
(5) Clemson vs. (12) McNeese
3:15 p.m. ET, truTV
(6) BYU vs. (11) VCU
4:05 p.m. ET, TNT
(8) Gonzaga vs. (9) Georgia
4:35 p.m. ET, TBS
Settle in, because the late-afternoon window is the best string of games of the entire first round.
The late-afternoon window is the best string of games of the entire first round.
Worth staying up late
(5) Michigan vs. (12) UC San Diego
10 p.m. ET, TBS
Part of the fun of these first few days of the tournament is sitting glued to the TV after midnight, catching an upset by a team few know over a school everyone knows, then enjoying the bleary-eyed feeling when the morning alarm goes off, knowing you caught a classic.
Every “12-5” game is self-recommending for its potential to be an upset (or “upset,” because at this point, a No. 12 seed beating a No. 5 seed is considered normal). UC San Diego has every characteristic of the classic 12-seed.
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