NCAA Tournament 2014 TV schedule: Who to watch Thursday
Some Americans consider the opening of the NCAA men's basketball tournament a national holiday. While neither President Obama nor Congress has made that decree, Thursday will be as they hit the hardwood in four different US cities as the second round of the NCAA tournament gets underway.
The afternoon session starts shortly after 12 p.m. Eastern with an all-Ohio affair - South region sixth-seed Ohio State meets 11th seed Dayton in Buffalo, New York. The game will be televised by CBS. There are a handful of other interesting matchups that day and at night.
Staying in the South region and tipping off around 1:30 p.m. in Orlando, eighth seed Colorado from the Pac-12 Conference takes on ninth seed Pittsburgh out of the ACC. Over the past 20 years, many of these 8th vs. 9th seed games have been close encounters and this game should be no exception. , all four No. 9 seeds in that year's tournament beat their eighth-seeded opponents.
in the Pac-12 regular season and reached the semifinals in the conference tournament. and lead the Buffaloes in scoring, each averaging 14 points per game.
in its first season in the Atlantic Coast Conference following 31 years in the Big East. The Panthers also reached the semifinal round of their conference tournament. and are the floor leaders for the Panthers, combining to average over 30 points per contest.
This contest will be televised on TBS.
Just after 3 p.m. Eastern in Milwaukee, tenth seed Brigham Young meets seventh seed Oregon in the West region.
is coming off a third place finish in the Pac-12. The in overtime earlier this season. paces Oregon with a scoring average of over 18 points per game.
tied for second place in the West Coast Conference in 2014. makes the Cougars go, leading the team in scoring at over 23 points per game. Haws earned WCC Player of the Year honors.
truTV will carry the Oregon-BYU game.
In the evening session Thursday, there are several more games including North Dakota State playing Oklahoma in the West region at Spokane, Wash.
, the fifth seed, ended the 2014 Big 12 season in second place. and are the Sooners' leading scorers, combining for an average of more than 30 points per game.
, seeded 12th, was both the Summit League's regular-season and tournament champion this year. The Bison have four players who average double figures in scoring, led by 's 18 points per game.
truTV will televise the game at 7:27 p.m. Eastern time.
In the Midwest region, defending national champion Louisville will play Manhattan in Orlando.
Louisville (29-5) is the region's fourth seed and in the American Athletic Conference. The Cardinals have four starters averaging double figures in scoring. leads the way with 18 points per game.
, seeded 13th, won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament last week to secure an NCAA bid. The Jaspers, , are led by 19 points-per-game average.
The contest will be televised on TNT with a tentative start time of 9:50 p.m. Eastern.
Finally Thursday night in the West region, fourth seed San Diego State will take on 13th seed New Mexico State in Spokane.
comes into the NCAA tournament as the Mountain West regular season champion. The Aztecs are led in scoring by , who averages almost 17 points per game.
is in the NCAA tourney by virtue of its Western Athletic Conference tournament championship. Four Aggies average double figures in scoring this season, led by Daniel Mullings' 16 points per game.
The game will be televised on truTV with a tentative start time of 9:57 p.m. Eastern.
