The best four days in the sports calendar are here.
From Thursday afternoon through Sunday evening, CBS and Turner Sports will televise 48 men’s NCAA tournament games. There’s no shortage of intrigue on opening day either.
Here’s a look at the roster of day one games as we announce March Madness (all times ET).
THURSDAY MORNING/AFTERNOON
(8) Maryland 67, (9) West Virginia 65
(13) Furman 68, (4) Virginia 67
(7) Missouri 76, (10) State of Utah 65
(1) Kansas 96, (16) Howard 68
(1) Alabama 96, (16) Texas A&M Corpus Christi 75
(5) San Diego State 63, (12) College of Charleston 57
(15) Princeton 59, (2) Arizona 55
(8) Arkansas 73, (9) Illinois 63
THURSDAY NIGHT
(5) Duke 74, (12) Oral Roberts 51
(9) Auburn 83, (8) Iowa 75
7:25 p.m. – No. 2 Texas vs. No. 15 Colgate (TBS)
7:35 p.m. – No. 7 Northwestern vs. No. 10 Boise State (truTV)
9:20 p.m. – #1 Houston vs. #16 Northern Kentucky (TNT)
9:40 p.m. – No. 4 Tennessee vs. No. 13 Louisiana (CBS)
9:55 p.m. – No. 7 Texas A&M vs. No. 10 Penn State (TBS)
10:05 p.m. – No. 2 UCLA vs. No. 15 UNC Asheville (truTV)
Worth seeing: Texas A&M-Penn State is a first-round matchup of shorthanded teams that feels like it should be a round or two later. The Aggies went 15-3 in the SEC and have played as the nation’s No. 6 team since Jan. 1, according to Bart Torvik’s T-Rankings. The Nittany Lions rose from the edges of the bubble by winning eight of their last 10 games, including upsets against Illinois, Indiana and Northwestern.