Just under 48 hours from now we will be neck deep into the NCAA tournament. Before we get to the madness, there are the play-in games that will take place over the next two days. The First Four is our amuse bouche to the main course of the big dance. Dayton, Ohio will once again play host to the first act of March Madness. So let’s dive into the games and get your ready the opening round of the NCAA tournament.

East Region: #16 Mount St. Mary’s vs. #16 New Orleans (6:40 p.m., truTV)

A pair of 16 seeds will provide us with the first game of the tournament when Mount St. Mary’s and New Orleans tip-off tonight. These teams are relative unknowns to the casual basketball fan, but this could turn into a solid game. The unfortunate part about this game is knowing that the winner moves on to face the defending national champion Villanova. Regardless of that small tidbit of information, I think the New Orleans Privateers will have a chance to shine in this matchup.

The player to watch is Privateers senior forward Erik Thomas, who averages 19.5 points per game and 7.8 rebounds. His work on the boards will be vital to New Orleans advancing in this tournament. The Privateers also feature some solid guard play, which might be the most important thing to have this time of year.

Mount St. Mary’s will need to work hard on the defensive end of the floor because this New Orleans team can get loose with the basketball at times. If the Mountaineers are able to keep the turnover ratio close to even or swing it in its favor, we could see a hotly contested game. If you are throwing down money on this game, take New Orleans -2.

South Region: #11 Kansas State vs. #11 Wake Forest (9:10 p.m., truTV)

Our nightcap tonight will feature two of the final four teams to make the tournament field. This Big 12-ACC battle could have some fireworks in store for us. Both teams scored a signature win within the last two weeks, which certainly swayed the committee to send a pair of invites their way. Kansas State scored a shocking win over Baylor in the Big 12 tournament. Wake Forest took down Louisville then went on the road to beat a tough Virginia Tech squad just before the ACC tournament.

The two players to watch in this game are Wake Forest sophomore John Collins and K-State senior Wesley Iwundu. Each man leads his team in both points and rebounds, and you may even see these two guys matchup during key stretches of the game.

K-State is being given a slight edge due to it prowess on the defensive end and the versatility in scoring. Wake Forest can get around that by trying to push the pace of this game. I’m giving the slight edge to the Demon Deacons here because I believe they will be able to dictate the tempo of the game. Plus if you saw the final possession in the K-State-WVU game over the weekend, you wouldn’t have much confidence in the Wildcats either. A very tough Cincinnati team awaits the winner of this game in a 6-11 matchup.

Midwest Region: #16 North Carolina Central vs. #16 UC Davis (Wed. 6:40 p.m., truTV)

Tomorrow night’s action starts with the second play-in game between 16 seeds. North Carolina Central and UC Davis will square off for the right to play the 1 seed in the Midwest Region, Kansas Jayhawks. Interestingly enough, the largest Las Vegas spread of the First Four come from this game.

The answer to why that is comes from the “best player” factor, and NCC clearly has the top player on the court in senior guard Patrick Cole. He is the engine that makes his team go, leading the Eagles in points, rebounds, and assists. Cole is primed to put on a show tomorrow night.

UC Davis will need to play a slow, methodical game to limit the amount of possessions that NCC gets in this game. Otherwise, it could be a long night and a quick trip back to California for the Aggies. If this game creeps into the 70’s, then the Eagles should come out of this with a victory.

East Region: #11 USC vs. #11 Providence (Wed. 9:10 p.m. truTV)

The final game of the first four features a fantastic matchup between foes from sides of the country. The Trojans of Southern California square off with the Friars of Providence on Wednesday night in a rematch from last year’s tournament. I think this game comes down to which USC team shows up tomorrow night.

USC has incredible length on the defensive end that can bother even the most elite offenses in the country, just ask Oregon and UCLA. The issue for the Trojans comes on the offensive end of the floor. Streaky shooting has often been a problem for USC this season. However, if Bennie Boatright has his shot going, the Trojans should be in good shape.

This is also not the same Providence team from a year ago after losing Kris Dunn to the NBA. While the Friars might have a chip on its shoulder due to being seed below Marquette and Xavier, both finished behind Providence in the Big East, I’ll give USC’s revenge factor the edge here. When all is said and done, I think USC will be moving on to face the 6 seed SMU in what could be one of the best games of the first round.

 

That’s it for me today. I’m off to record the first episode of the Shooting the Moon Podcast. I will have that up later tonight as soon as it is ready to publish. Follow me on Twitter @thereal_jmooney, on SoundCloud by searching James Mooney, and go like the Shooting the Moon page on Facebook.