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Working Guide to March Madness Rd .2 - Prioritize Your Time

Working Guide to March Madness Rd. 2 – Prioritize Your Time

Not all of us are fortunate enough to watch every single game of March Madness. That’s what the working guide is for. How to prioritize your schedule for optimal viewing.

It’s finally the weekend. No work will keep you from taking in the beauty of March Madness. You’ve looked forward to this for months: it’s one of the best weekends of the year.

But your wife just reminded you that your daughter has a three hour dance recital tonight, and she volunteered you as a set designer for the show. Now, instead of watching some of the best dribble on the hardwood, you have to set up hardwood so you can watch a group of 4 year olds’ attempt to move in unison.


So, what do you do? Prioritize. Some games are probably going to be worth ensuring you watch than others. Sure, it’s March Madness, so who really knows what the hell is going to happen, but we can pretend to know, right? At least it’ll make the pain of knowing you’ll miss some of the greatest sporting event in America a little less.

For those of you who won’t be able to watch every second round game, here is a guide for you to know what games to sneak on your phone on your lap and which ones you can check the score of periodically.

DISCLAIMER: There will be big upsets, amazing finishes and classic moments, and they could come from any game. Last year, I lived out of the country and the tournament was in the middle of the night. When Virginia and UMBC were tipping off at 3:20 a.m. as the only game on for more than an hour, I decided the 1-16 matchup would be the time to take a nap and be up for the rest of the games. We all know what happened, and I missed it. The same can happen to you. Miss games at your own risk.

SATURDAY

High Priority

7 Wofford vs 2 Kentucky – 2:30 p.m., CBS

Wofford is one of the most prolific three-point shooting teams in the country, and Fletcher Magee is the most prolific three-pointer shooter in the history of the NCAA. Cameron Jackson is good enough inside to mitigate Kentucky’s size advantage, at least to a degree, and it could be enough for the Terriers to pull the upset if they can shoot well enough from outside. PJ Washinton’s availability is up in the air, making the Wildcats that much more vulnerable.

Something else to keep in mind for this one: the WIldcats are 220th in the NCAA in three-point field goal defense, allowing opponents to shoot 35 percent on them with 256 total makes. We’ve seen worse deep shooting teams than Wofford randomly light it up from distance and knock teams out.

6 Villanova vs 3 Purdue – 8:30 p.m., TNT

Purdue is the better team, but Villanova is still the reigning champs and won two of the last three national titles. Although the roster is different, there’s still some holdover from last year’s triumph, and Jay Wright is still patrolling the sideline, which means the Wildcats will be the best dressed, although it’s not difficult to top whatever suit Matt Painter will be swimming in.

Regardless, both teams are comfortable in a slower tempo, but Villanova really wants to slow the game down. Carsen Edwards will look to push the pace as much as possible, and if he becomes the more efficient player he was earlier in the season, everybody needs to watch out.

This is one of the bigger toss ups games in the second round in my opinion. I wouldn’t recommend missing it.

5 Auburn vs 4 Kansas – 9:30 p.m., TBS

Auburn survived New Mexico State in the first round through sheer ineptitude, but hey, whatever works. The point is, the Tigers survived and advanced, and now they face Kansas, who had zero issues handling Northeastern in its first game.

The Tigers have taken the second-most threes in the entire NCAA, throwing up 1083 of them and hitting on 37.7 percent. They play through their guards and focus on the perimeter. Kansas’s Devon Dotson tweaked his ankle Thursday but appears ready to go for Saturday, creating an enticing matchup with Auburn’s Jared Harper, one of the most slippery players in this tournament. For as important as Dedric Lawson is to Kansas, the winner of the Dotson-Harper showdown will likely be the difference in the game.

Medium Priority

6 Maryland vs 3 LSU – 12 p.m., CBS

12 Murray State vs 4 Florida State – 6 p.m., TNT

10 Florida vs 2 Michigan – 5 p.m., CBS

Low Priority

9 Baylor vs 1 Gonzaga – 7 p.m., TBS

10 Minnesota vs 2 Michigan State – 7:30 p.m., CBS

SUNDAY

High Priority

9 UCF vs 1 Duke – 5:15 p.m., CBS

The Knights appear outmatched in this one, but it’s the tournament, anything can happen. The biggest reason to tune into this one, and the biggest reason why UCF could pull off the upset, both literally and figuratively, is Tacko Fall. Whenever he is on the floor, his 7-foot-6 frame messes up the game. Zion Williamson has been the biggest name in college basketball all season long, but he hasn’t been faced with a challenge similar to this one before.

Duke is going to try to run UCF to death, especially when Fall is in the game. The Blue Devils always try to do that, as well as use their defense to lead to offense, but it’s going to be especially handy when going up against these Knights. I don’t think this one will be in question by the time the final few minutes roll around, but because of Fall and all the oddities he brings to the game, things could look different. Either way, I’m excited for this one.

6 Buffalo vs 3 Texas Tech – 6:10 p.m., TNT

Talk about a clash of styles. Buffalo is one of the fastest teams in the NCAA and wants to run up and down the court all game long, with an emphasis on its offensive production (although this team can defend very well, too). Texas Tech wants to grind you down, eat shot clock, let its defense to the dirty work, then have Jarrett Culver and company get enough buckets on the other end to get the W.

After watching both of these teams all season long, both are Sweet 16-caliber, but only one will make the trip. I’m most interested to see who can dictate the pace of the game, which was probably determine the winner, and I want to see how Buffalo’s offense does in a half-court setting against Tech. The Bulls have so many different players who can score, and the Red Raiders play immaculate team defense. I expect this to be one of the best battles of the second round.

Medium Priority

10 Iowa vs 2 Tennessee – 12:10 p.m., CBS

9 Washington vs 1 North Carolina – 2:30 p.m., CBS

11 Ohio State vs 3 Houston – 8:30 p.m., TNT

13 UC Irvine vs 12 Oregon – 9:30 p.m., TBS

Low Priority

12 Liberty vs 4 Virginia Tech – 7:10 p.m., TBS

9 Oklahoma vs 1 Virginia – 7:30 p.m., TruTV

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Working Guide to March Madness Rd .1 - Prioritize Your Time

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