March Madness: Best NCAA Tournament games to watch today, Friday, 22

South Region: No. 12 Oregon vs. No. 5 Wisconsin at 4:30 p.m. ET on TBS

The second game of the day from San Jose is another doozy between Oregon and Wisconsin. The Badgers had an excellent year in the Big Ten, going 23-10 and advancing to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals before falling to Michigan State.

The go-to-guy for Wisconsin has been senior forward Ethan Happ, who averages 17.5 ppg and 10.1 rpg to carry the Badgers’ offense. Wisconsin will go as far as Happ will take them, but even he might not be enough to cool off a red-hot Oregon squad.

The Ducks have been on fire for the past few weeks, winning eight games in a row to secure their spot in the NCAA Tournament by stealing the Pac-12’s automatic bid. Since losing top recruit Bol Bol in December, the Ducks have remade their team around perimeter players like Payton Pritchard.

Pritchard, who started for Oregon’s Final Four team two years ago, averaged 15.8 ppg during the winning streak. The oddsmakers have put the spread for this game at just two in favor of Wisconsin, so there’s a great chance it will go down to the wire.

Prediction: Oregon

Midwest Region: No. 9 Washington vs. No. 8 Utah State at 6:50 p.m. ET on TNT

We head back to Columbus for a great 8-9 game between two West Coast squads. Washington was the class of the Pac-12 during the regular season, winning the conference’s regular season title with ease, but lost in the Pac-12 tournament final to Oregon.

The Huskies feature three double-digit scorers in their starting lineup, including guard Jaylen Nowell, who averages 16.2 points a night and shoots 43.8% from beyond the arc. Washington wasn’t pushed too much in a down Pac-12 this season, and their matchup with Utah State should be fascinating.

The Aggies ended up with the Mountain West title after Nevada was upset in the conference tournament, but Utah State proved they were a tournament-worthy team long before then. One player to watch here could be junior guard Sam Merrill, who averages 21.2 ppg and has been the engine for the Utah State offense.

Whoever wins this game should get a date with North Carolina on Sunday, so expect Tar Heels’ coaches to be paying close attention to this one.

Prediction: Utah State

East Region: No. 9 UCF vs. No. 8 VCU at 9:40 p.m. ET on CBS

After Duke utterly demolishes North Dakota State in Columbia, the 8-9 matchup in the East Region will take center stage. It will be a battle of the acronyms as VCU and UCF square off for the right to try and stop Zion Williamson in the Round of 32.

VCU, which is synonymous with the Havoc defense, has lived up to that moniker this year. The Rams allowed just 61.2 ppg during the regular season, and their stingy D carried them to the Atlantic 10’s regular season title.

While VCU is a great team, the most intriguing player on the floor plays for UCF. The Knights start 7-6 Tacko Fall at the five, and he is an absolute beast on the glass, grabbing 7.3 rebounds a game and blocking 2.5 shots a night for good measure.

Fall should be a huge matchup problem for the Rams, and how they handle him will determine who wins this game.

Prediction: UCF