3 best games on Friday's March Madness schedule
Day 2 of the NCAA Tournament will supply plenty of enticing, bracket-busting matchups.
Here are three games worth watching on Friday.
3:10 p.m. ET - Gardner-Webb (16) vs. Virginia (1) - South Region
Virginia suffered one of the most devastating upsets of all time last season when it became the first No. 1 seed to fall in Round 1 of the NCAA Tournament. The 20-point loss to UMBC ranks among the most unpredictable defeats in sports, as the Cavaliers kicked off the tournament with a nation-best 31 wins and an ACC Tournament title.
There's no legitimate excuse for the blunder, although the Cavaliers were without their sixth man De'Andre Hunter. Hunter has since developed into one of the most talented two-way players in the country and will be worth watching if Virginia doesn't stumble out of the gates for a second straight season.
Gardner-Webb is making its first-ever appearance in the Big Dance after winning the Big South Tournament title. The Bulldogs will rely on their elite 3-point shooting (39.1 percent this season) as they hope to pull off a Retriever-level upset.
4:30 p.m. ET - Oregon (12) vs. Wisconsin (5) - South Region
The 12-seed always makes for a terrific upset pick.
Dana Altman has the Ducks playing at an elite level as Oregon is riding an eight-game winning streak heading into their Round 1 matchup.
However, they're running into a Wisconsin squad that has one of the most talented players in the nation in Ethan Happ, who's averaging 17.5 points, 10.1 rebounds, and 4.6 assists. After missing out on the tournament last year for the first time since 1998, the Badgers are looking for a strong showing.
The deciding factor could boil down to Happ versus Oregon's junior point guard Payton Pritchard - who led the Ducks to a surprising Pac-12 Tournament championship while averaging a steady 19.3 points and 6.7 assists over his last three appearances.
6:50 p.m. ET - Washington (9) vs. Utah State (8) - Midwest Region
The spotlight will shine on a battle between two bright stars when the Aggies face the Huskies.
Utah State guard Sam Merrill has been terrific in his junior season, averaging 21.2 points, four rebounds, and 4.2 assists in 34 games. The 6-foot-5 scorer led the unheralded program to the MWC Tournament championship and had a 29-point performance against in-conference rival Nevada earlier this month.
On the other end, the Huskies' most promising star isn't an elite offensive talent, but Matisse Thybulle is one of the most gifted defensive players in college basketball history. The 6-foot-5 guard averaged an astounding 3.4 steals and 2.2 blocks per contest, and will likely draw the assignment of shutting down Merrill.
The outcome of this head-to-head matchup will be among the most intriguing of the first 32 tournament games, even if it's strictly played on one end of the floor.