The NCAA Tournament kicks off on Tuesday night with the first two opening round games in Dayton, Ohio, labeled the First Four. Instead of the traditional play-in game in Dayton, the expansion to 68 forced three more opening round games — two between No. 16 seeds and two between No. 12 seeds. On Tuesday night, UNC-Asheville and Arkansas-Little Rock get the action started with a chance to face Pittsburgh on the line. Clemson and UAB follow it up in a matchup of No. 12 seeds, with a shot to play West Virginia on the line.
Looking for last-minute predictions to fill out those First Four in your NCAA Tournament brackets? We’ve got you covered.
First Four – Tuesday night
UNC-Asheville def. Arkansas-Little Rock. To be honest, this game doesn’t matter much. With Pittsburgh waiting and the history of No. 16 seeds vs. No. 1 seeds, whichever team wins this will likely have a short tournament life-span. But we’ll take Asheville to win in the opening round before Pittsburgh rolls in the regional.
Clemson def. UAB. Clemson, ranked No. 24 by Ken Pomeroy, probably shouldn’t even be in this game. UAB, on the other hand, should be a significant underdog, ranked No. 56 by Pomeroy. Clemson should not only win this, but also has a good chance of getting through to the round of 32 later this week.
The action begins at 3:30 p.m. on truTV. Not sure if you have truTV or where to find it? Check out our quick First Four guide, with listings for truTV in Seattle.
For more on the bracket predictions, check out the rest of our NCAA Tournament predictions StoryStream. Grab a printable bracket and get to work filling out your own while you’re at it.