NCAA Tournament First Round Friday Open Thread

Obviously you’re anxiously awaiting the only NCAA Tournament game that matters: the Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team facing off against the San Diego State Aztecs. But since the powers-that-be made it a pretty late game (9:40 p.m. ET), you’ll need to do something else with the rest of your day.

Might we recommend watching other NCAA Tournament games here with us?

Below is your schedule for the day, plus info on how to watch every matchup (which you can also do on March Madness Live). After some great games in the First Four on Thursday night, hopefully we’re in for more quality basketball before the main event begins.

(all times ET)

7-seed Florida Gators vs. 10-seed Virginia Tech Hokies, 12:15 p.m. (CBS)

The day starts with a game between two football schools. We also beat Virginia Tech earlier this year, in case you forgot. Still, #goacc?

3-seed Arkansas Razorbacks vs. 14-seed Colgate Raiders, 12:45 p.m. (truTV)

Could hoodoo strike the Razorbacks in round one? Colgate’s a tough team to figure because of the weird Patriot League schedule, but they’ve been very good according to NET ratings. We’re rivals, of course. But I’m sure most of us wouldn’t mind seeing ‘Gate nab a win here.

1-seed Illinois Fighting Illini vs. 16-seed Drexel Dragons, 1:15 p.m. (TBS)

Dragons are an underutilized mascot. Enjoy watching Illinois drop 100 here.

6-seed Texas Tech Red Raiders vs. 11-seed Utah State Aggies, 1:45 p.m. (TNT)

Texas Tech played in the most recent national championship game. Easy to forget that now given (gestures in no specific direction).

2-seed Ohio State Buckeyes vs. 15-seed Oral Roberts Golden Eagles, 3 p.m. (CBS)

Admittedly had to look up the Oral Roberts’s mascot. Ohio State is likely to make quick work of the Golden Eagles.

1-seed Baylor Bears vs. 16-seed Hartford Hawks, 3:30 p.m. (truTV)

Would love to watch Baylor lose. They won’t, but it’s a fun idea.

8-seed Loyola-Chicago Ramblers vs. 9-seed Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, 4 p.m. (TBS)

#RAMBLERSHIVE... Georgia Tech had a much better chance in this one with ACC Player of the Year Moses Wright. Without him, it’s tough to be overly optimistic.

5-seed Tennessee Volunteers vs. 12-seed Oregon State Beavers, 4:30 p.m. (TNT)

Fun fact: This is only the second NCAA Tournament trip for Oregon State since 1991.

4-seed Oklahoma State Cowboys vs. 13-seed Liberty Flames, 6:25 p.m. (TBS)

On top of all of the other reasons to want to see Liberty lose, just watching Cade Cunningham for more games in this tournamen is another good one.

8-seed North Carolina Tar Heels vs. 9-seed Wisconsin Badgers, 7:10 p.m. (CBS)

One of these teams is a potential fraud. Maybe this game exposes who. UNC seemed to figure something out near the end of the year... even if they still lost to Syracuse during that stretch.

2-seed Houston Cougars vs. 15-seed Cleveland State Vikings, 7:15 p.m. (truTV)

I, for one, still haven’t forgiven Cleveland State for beating Syracuse over a decade ago.

4-seed Purdue Boilermakers vs. 13-seed North Texas Mean Green, 7:25 p.m. (TNT)

Feel like UNT deserves some more upset buzz... and not just because I have them covering as part of a five-team parlay.

7-seed Clemson Tigers vs. 10-seed Rutgers Scarlet Knights, 9:20 p.m. (TBS)

You’re not watching this game for various reasons.

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While the Orange face off with San Diego State, two other games will also start — West Virginia vs. Morehead State and Villanova vs. Winthrop — but you don’t need an open thread to watch those.

Enjoy the games today!