2017 NCAA Tournament First Round — Sunday Viewing Guide

Not near a TV? You can stream each game on NCAA March Madness Live.

All times are Eastern.

Indianapolis

CBS will air both games with Jim Nantz, Grant Hill and Bill Raftery, and Tracy Wolfson on the call.

Midwest Region

No. 7 Michigan Wolverines (25-11)* vs. No. 2 Louisville Cardinals (25-8), 12:10 p.m.

KenPom’s fourth-ranked offense, Michigan, meets the seventh-ranked defense, Louisville, that will attempt to cool it off. This is a rematch of the 2013 National Championship game, won by the Cardinals 82-76 in Atlanta.

South Region

No. 10 Wichita State Shockers (31-4)* vs. No. 2 Kentucky Wildcats (30-5)*, approx. 2:40 p.m.

This is a rematch of a 2014 Round of 32 game, won by the eighth-seeded Wildcats, who knocked the top-seeded and undefeated Shockers out in one of the worst matchups caused by mis-seeding in tournament history. And guess what, we might have another. This is the only second round matchup between KenPom top 10 teams: Kentucky is fifth, Wichita State seventh.

Tulsa

Kevin Harlan (play-by-play), Reggie Miller and Dan Bonner (commentary), and Dana Jacobson (reporting) will call both games, but there’s a network change.

Midwest Region

No. 9 Michigan State Spartans (20-14) vs. No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks (29-4), 5:15 p.m. (CBS)

Thanks to the Champions Classic, these two have been meeting at least once every three years of late. The Jayhawks are 0-2 in those meetings, with their last victory over the Spartans coming in the 2014 Orlando Classic final. The 2017 meeting pits Kansas’s veterans against a young, but inconsistent Michigan State squad.

East Region

No. 11 USC Trojans (26-9) vs. No. 3 Baylor Bears (26-7), approx. 7:45 p.m. (TruTV)

The Trojans, 55th in KenPom, are by far the worst team in those rankings that’s alive (Arkansas is 37th, by comparison). But they’ve also been dangerous in an elimination setting, pushing UCLA in the Pac-12 quarters and winning two NCAA games already. On the flip side, Baylor is looking for more, and will have the crowd behind it, now that the Bears have gotten past the First Round for the first time since 2014, when they happened to reach the Sweet 16.

Greenville

TNT will air both games with Brian Anderson, Chris Webber, and Lewis Johnson on the call.

South Region

No. 8 Arkansas Razorbacks (26-9) vs. No. 1 North Carolina Tar Heels (28-7), 6:10 p.m.

Considering the Razorbacks needed a controversial intentional foul call to claim a win over Seton Hall, I’m not sure the Tar Heels have all that much to worry about tonight.

East Region

No. 7 South Carolina Gamecocks (23-10) vs. No. 2 Duke Blue Devils (28-8)*, approx. 8:40 p.m.

Can the Gamecocks wrap up a second consecutive “home” win and blow up a whole lot of brackets by defeating the Blue Devils? You can bet the crowd will be even more on South Carolina’s side considering all of the UNC fans that will be in the building for the doubleheader. Still, Duke’s offense should be able to overpower the Gamecocks.

Sacramento

TBS will air both games with Spero Dedes, Steve Smith and Len Elmore, and Ros Gold-Onwude on the call.

Midwest Region

No. 11 Rhode Island Rams (25-9)* vs. No. 3 Oregon Ducks (30-5), 7:10 p.m.

On Friday afternoon, the Rams ruined a potential Creighton-Oregon Dana Altman reunion game by smoking the Bluejays. They’ll find the going a little bit tougher against a Duck team that is still playing good basketball without Chris Boucher in the middle.

South Region

No. 6 Cincinnati Bearcats (30-5) vs. No. 3 UCLA Bruins (30-4), approx. 9:40 p.m.

Curiously, this will be the third time the Bearcats feature in the final game of the Second Round since the Turner/CBS contract, with its later weekend tips, started in 2011. Even though these two teams are close in KenPom — UCLA is 18th and Cincinnati 21st — there’s a huge contrast in terms of their strengths. The Bruins’ naturally have the 2nd-ranked offense, while the Bearcats’ defense sits just outside of the Top 10 at 11th.

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