Day one of the 2017 NCAA Tournament is in the books and here’s who will be playing in the first day of round two Saturday.
Half of the first round is in the books and March Madness has been nothing short of exciting thus far. While the 2017 NCAA Tournament hasn’t been filled with upsets just yet, the games have been close and down to the wire.
Even though the upsets were few and far between on day one of the tourney, that doesn’t mean people’s brackets haven’t been busted. Picking the upset is one of the most coveted skills of a fan and those who chose teams like East Tennessee State over Florida and Princeton over Notre Dame were sadly left with red marks on their bracket.
So with one day in the books, who plays on Saturday in round two?
Let’s start with the East Region. Villanova survived somewhat of a scare to pull away from Mount St. Mary’s in the second half and the Wildcats will face off against No. 8 Wisconsin Saturday. That game will be closer than many expect.
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The other matchup from the East to take place on Saturday is No. 5 Virginia and No. 4 Florida. Both of those teams were popular upset picks in round one, but they survived and advanced.
The Midwest Region had just two contests. Red-hot Iowa State raced out to a big lead against Nevada, but almost blew it. Purdue struggled to put Vermont away all game long, but the Boilermakers closed the door in the final minutes. Both teams have a lot to prove in a No. 5 vs. No. 4 matchup.
Next, we have the South Region which also only had two games. Everyone’s favorite cinderella, Middle Tennessee, upset the fifth-seeded Golden Gophers of Minnesota, knocking a top-five seeded Big Ten team for the second straight year. The Blue Raiders will face off against No. 4 Butler.
Lastly, the West Region is all sewn up. No. 1 Gonzaga will play No. 8 Northwestern who earned its first ever NCAA Tournament win over Vanderbilt on Thursday. Notre Dame, a No. 5 seed, will take on No. 4 West Virginia as well.
At the bottom of the region, No. 11 Xavier will take on No. 3 Florida State after upsetting the sixth-seeded Maryland Terrapins. Saint Mary’s and Arizona will round out the region as the final game.
Check back for Sunday’s matchups tomorrow night.