2017 NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen Friday Viewing Guide

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

All times are Eastern.

South Regional

CBS will air both games with Jim Nantz (play-by-play), Grant Hill and Bill Raftery (commentary), and Tracy Wolfson (reporting) on the call.

No. 4 Butler Bulldogs (25-8) vs. No. 1 North Carolina Tar Heels (29-7), 7:09 p.m.
No. 3 UCLA Bruins (31-4) vs. No. 2 Kentucky Wildcats (31-5), approx. 9:39 p.m.

The South Regional in Memphis is the chalkiest of the four quartets, as all four protected seeds advanced to FedEx Forum. However, the top two seeds faced the stiffest challenges last weekend, with North Carolina needing a late rally to eliminate Arkansas and Kentucky requiring a couple of late blocks to see off Wichita State. Might those close wins have given the Tar Heels and Wildcats the confidence needed to get through tonight?

Butler will feel confident about its chances against the region’s top seed, thanks to a pair of wins over now-eliminated No. 1 overall seed Villanova. But the Tar Heels are a bigger, more athletic squad than the Wildcats, and that changes the equation considerably. As for UCLA, the Bruins went into Rupp Arena on December 3rd and left with a seismic 97-92 victory. The Wildcats might need a big night from Malik Monk, who’s only scored 26 total points in two NCAA games so far, but his 24 points didn’t save UK on that December Saturday afternoon.

East Regional

TBS will air both games with Verne Lundquist (play-by-play), Jim Spanarkel (commentary), and Allie LaForce (reporting) on the call.

No. 7 South Carolina Gamecocks (24-10) vs. No. 3 Baylor Bears (27-7), 7:29 p.m.
No. 8 Wisconsin Badgers (27-9) vs. No. 4 Florida Gators (26-8), approx. 9:59 p.m.

In contrast to the group gathered in the Mid-South, the quartet playing at Madison Square Garden is an unexpected one — with the two teams wearing the dark jerseys tonight responsible for knocking out two of the most popular National Championship picks from Selection Sunday. While South Carolina’s defense is likely to give Baylor some trouble, the Bears’ zone, with plenty of length, will likely restrict the Gamecocks to fewer than the 88 points they scored against Duke on Sunday. As for Wisconsin, the Badgers are likely to have the most fan support in New York, which could rattle a Florida squad that played in a very friendly environment in Orlando last weekend. Plus, the Badger frontcourt could create trouble for a Gator group that’s struggled a bit without John Egbunu. However, if all of Florida’s offensive weapons — yes, I’m looking at you, KeVaughn Allen (11 points in two games), Canyon Barry (7 points in each win last weekend), and Kasey Hill (3 points against Virginia) — get going tonight, the Gators will be hard to top.

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