BRACKET BLOG: Third Round (NCAA Open Thread)

Holy. Crap. What was that?

With eight upsets, Friday was the single-most insane day of this tournament ever. A No. 15 seed had not beat a No. 2 seed in 11 years (and only four times overall), yet it happened twice in the span of a few hours.

Now it's time to pick up the pieces and deal with the fallout. When was the last time you saw a 7-15 or 10-15 match-up in the second round?

Either Xavier or Lehigh and either USF or Ohio will advance to the second weekend. That seemed unfathomable three days ago.

Even though the Cats are out of it, it should be a fun ride. After straight chalk advanced yesterday, we're guaranteed at least a few Cinderellas to root for today.

And, of course, Purdue will pick up a whole host of unexpected purple fans.

I'll skip the game-by-game previews because I frankly didn't feel like doing them. I would have had this published yesterday, but the Cats' loss and Jamargate really killed my will.

Complete game information, including tip-off times and channels, as well as game predictions for all as-yet-unplayed games, still follows after the jump, however.

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Previous Entries:

• First Four
• East Region
• Midwest Region
• South Region
• West Region

The Teams

• No. 1 seed Kentucky Wildcats
• No. 1 seed Michigan St. Spartans
• No. 1 seed North Carolina Tar Heels
• No. 1 seed Syracuse Orange
• No. 2 seed Kansas Jayhawks
• No. 2 seed Ohio St. Buckeyes
• No. 3 seed Baylor Bears
• No. 3 seed Florida St. Seminoles
• No. 3 seed Georgetown Hoyas
• No. 3 seed Marquette Golden Eagles
• No. 4 seed Indiana Hoosiers
• No. 4 seed Louisville Cardinals
• No. 4 seed Wisconsin Badgers
• No. 5 seed New Mexico Lobos
• No. 5 seed Vanderbilt Commodores
• No. 6 seed Cincinnati Bearcats
• No. 6 seed Murray St. Racers
• No. 7 seed Florida Gators
• No. 7 seed Gonzaga Bulldogs
• No. 8 seed Creighton Bluejays
• No. 8 seed Iowa St. Cyclones
• No. 8 seed Kansas St. Wildcats
• No. 9 seed Saint Louis Billikens
• No. 10 seed Purdue Boilermakers
• No. 10 seed Xavier Musketeers
• No. 11 seed Colorado Buffaloes
• No. 11 seed N.C. State Wolfpack
• No. 12 seed South Florida Bulls
• No. 12 seed Va. Commonwealth Rams
• No. 13 seed Ohio Bobcats
• No. 15 seed Lehigh Mountain Hawks
• No. 15 seed Norfolk St. Spartans

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East Region

No. 1 Syracuse (32-2) vs. No. 8 Kansas State (22-10)
March 17 | 11:15 a.m. CST | Pittsburgh | CBS
Kevin Harlan | Len Elmore | Reggie Miller

How They Got Here:
No. 1 Syracuse 72, No. 16 UNC Asheville 65
No. 8 Kansas State 70, No. 9 Southern Miss 64

Final Score: Cuse 75, KSU 59

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UPSET ALERT: No. 2 Ohio State (28-7) vs. No. 7 Gonzaga (26-6)
March 17 | 1:45 p.m. CST | Pittsburgh | CBS
Kevin Harlan | Len Elmore | Reggie Miller

How They Got Here:
No. 2 Ohio State 78, No. 15 Loyola 59
No. 7 Gonzaga 77, No. 10 West Virginia 54

Final Score: OSU 73, Zags 66

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No. 3 Florida State (25-9) vs. No. 6 Cincinnati (25-10)
March 18 | 8:40 p.m. CST | Nashville | TBS
Ian Eagle | Jim Spanarkel

How They Got Here:
No. 3 Florida State 66, No. 14 St. Bonaventure 63
No. 6 Cincinnati 65, No. 11 Texas 59

Pomeroy: FSU 64, Cincy 63
Sagarin: FSU 64, Cincy 63

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No. 4 Wisconsin (25-9) vs. No. 5 Vanderbilt (25-10)
March 17 | 5:10 p.m. CST | Albuquerque | TNT
Spero Dedes | Bob Wenzel

How They Got Here:
No. 4 Wisconsin 73, No. 13 Montana 49
No. 5 Vanderbilt 79, No. 12 Harvard 70

Final Score: Wisky 60, Vandy 57

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Midwest Region

No. 1 North Carolina (30-5) vs. No. 8 Creighton (29-5)
March 18 | 7:40 p.m. CST | Greensboro | TNT
Marv Albert | Steve Kerr

How They Got Here:
No. 1 North Carolina 77, No. 16 Vermont 58
No. 8 Creighton 58, No. 9 Alabama 57

Pomeroy: UNC 85, Creighton 76
Sagarin: UNC 83, Creigton 76

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No. 2 Kansas (28-6) vs. No. 10 Purdue (22-12)
March 18 | 7:40 p.m. CST | Omaha | TNT
Marv Albert | Steve Kerr

How They Got Here:
No. 2 Kansas 65, No. 15 Detroit 50
No. 10 Purdue 72, No. 7 Saint Mary's 69

Pomeroy: Kansas 75, Purdue 68
Sagarin: Kansas 74, Purdue 68

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No. 3 Georgetown (24-8) vs. No. 11 North Carolina State (23-12)
March 18 | 11:15 a.m. CST | Columbus | CBS
Tim Brando | Mike Gminski

How They Got Here:
No. 3 Georgetown 74, No. 14 Belmont 59
No. 11 N.C. State 79, No. 6 San Diego State 65

Pomeroy: Georgetown 69, NCSU 63
Sagarin: Georgetown 67, NCSU 62

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UPSET ALERT: No. 12 South Florida (22-13) vs. No. 13 Ohio (28-7)
March 18 | 6:10 p.m. CST | Nashvlle | TBS
Ian Eagle | Jim Spanarkel

How They Got Here:
No. 12 USF 58, No. 5 Temple 44
No. 13 Ohio 65, No. 4 Michigan 60

Pomeroy: USF 57, Ohio 55
Sagarin: USF 57, Ohio 56

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South Region

No. 1 Kentucky (33-2) vs. No. 8 Iowa State (23-10)
March 17 | 6:45 p.m. CST | Louisville | CBS
Verne Lundquist | Bill Raftery

How They Got Here:
No. 1 Kentucky 81, No. 16 Western Kentucky 66
No. 8 Iowa State 77, No. 9 Connecticut 64

Final Score: Kentucky 87, ISU 71

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No. 3 Baylor (28-7) vs. No. 11 Colorado (24-11)
March 17 | 7:40 p.m. CST | Albuquerque | TNT
Spero Dedes | Bob Wenzel

How They Got Here:
No. 3 Baylor 68, No. 14 South Dakota State 60
No. 11 Colorado 68, No. 6 UNLV 64

Final Score: Baylor 80, Colorado 63

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UPSET ALERT: No. 4 Indiana (26-8) vs. No. 12 Virginia Commonwealth (29-6)
March 17 | 6:10 p.m. CST | Portland | TBS
Brian Anderson | Dan Bonner

How They Got Here:
No. 4 Indiana 79, No. 13 New Mexico State 66
No. 12 VCU 62, No. 5 Wichita State 59

Final Score: Indiana 63, VCU 61

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UPSET ALERT: No. 10 Xavier (22-12) vs. No. 15 Lehigh (27-7)
March 18 | 6:45 p.m. CST | Greensboro | truTV
Jim Nantz | Clark Kellogg

How They Got Here:
No. 10 Xavier 67, No. 7 Notre Dame 63
No. 15 Lehigh 75, No. 2 Duke 70

Pomeroy: Xavier 72, Lehigh 71
Sagarin: Xavier 73, Lehigh 72

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West Region

No. 1 Michigan State (28-7) vs. No. 9 Saint Louis (26-7)
March 18 | 1:45 p.m. CST | Columbus | CBS
Tim Brando | Mike Gminski

How They Got Here:
No. 1 Michigan State 89, No. 16 Long Island 67
No. 9 Saint Louis 61, No. 8 Memphis 54

Pomeroy: MSU 63, SLU 58
Sagarin: MSU 65, SLU 62

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UPSET ALERT: No. 3 Marquette (26-7) vs. No. 6 Murray State (31-1)
March 17 | 4:15 p.m. CST | Louisville | CBS
Verne Lundquist | Bill Raftery

How They Got Here:
No. 3 Marquette 88, No. 14 BYU 68
No. 6 Murray State 58, Colorado State 41

Final Score: Marquette 62, MSU 53

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UPSET ALERT: No. 4 Louisville (27-9) vs. No. 5 New Mexico (28-6)
March 17 | 8:40 p.m. CST | Portland | TBS
Brian Anderson | Dan Bonner

How They Got Here:
No. 4 Louisville 69, No. 13 Davidson 13
No. 5 New Mexico 75, No. 12 Long Beach State 68

Final Score: L'ville 59, UNM 56

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UPSET ALERT: No. 7 Florida (24-10) vs. No. 15 Norfolk State (26-9)
March 18 | 5:10 p.m. CST | Omaha | TNT
Marv Albert | Steve Kerr

How They Got Here:
No. 7 Florida 71, No. 10 Virginia 45
No. 15 Norfolk State 86, No. 2 Missouri 84

Pomeroy: Florida 81, NSU 63
Sagarin: Florida 80, NSU 65