March Madness calmed down a bit Friday with higher seeds mostly taking care of business. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Miami Hurricanes and Iowa State Cyclones were the only double-digit-seeded teams to advance in the 2022 NCAA tournament on the second day of the tournament. The Auburn Tigers, Villanova Wildcats and Purdue Boilermakers, meanwhile, had big, statement wins.
Heading to the Round of 32 on Saturday, our two biggest Cinderellas will look to keep their tournament dreams alive. Saint Peter’s, which upset No. 2 seed Kentucky in the first round, faces Murray State. The winners of two 12-5 upsets, Richmond and New Mexico State, face Providence and Arkansas, respectively.
The best game of the day might be the first one. No. 1 seed Baylor, the reigning national champions, face No. 8 North Carolina. Caleb Love and Brady Manek each scored over 20 points for the Tar Heels in their first round rout of Marquette. According to ESPN Stats & Info., UNC is 8-5 all-time against No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tournament. However, the Heels are 0-3 in tournament games against reigning champs.
NCAA tournament schedule (all times ET)
12:10 p.m.: 8 North Carolina Tar Heels vs. 1 Baylor Bears
2:40 p.m.: 9 Creighton Bluejays vs. 1 Kansas Jayhawks
5:15 p.m.: 11 Michigan Wolverines vs. 3 Tennessee Volunteers
6:10 p.m.: 12 Richmond Spiders vs. 4 Providence Friars
7:10 p.m.: 5 Saint Mary’s Gaels vs. 4 UCLA Bruins
7:45 p.m.: 15 Saint Peter’s Peacocks vs. 7 Murray State Racers
8:40 p.m.: 12 New Mexico State Aggies vs. 4 Arkansas Razorbacks
9:40 p.m.: 9 Memphis Tigers vs. 1 Gonzaga Bulldogs
Peacocks have a fan club
Saint Peter’s wrecked a lot of brackets with its upset of Kentucky. It has gained a following and a fan in UMBC which, in 2018, became the only No. 16 seed to defeat a No. 1 seed in the tournament.
And, when you pull off a massive upset, you get verified on Twitter.
WELCOME TO THE CLUB @PeacocksMBB pic.twitter.com/Fy1qkeYKq3
— UMBC Athletics (@UMBCAthletics) March 18, 2022
Cinderella lives in Jersey City, New Jersey. #StrutUp #MarchMadness
— Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) March 18, 2022
Always been a fan of St. Peter’s
— Jack Harlow (@jackharlow) March 18, 2022
WE DID IT EVERYBODY!!! ☑️#StrutUp🦚 | #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/rrrFIGznVg
— Saint Peter’s Men’s Basketball (@PeacocksMBB) March 18, 2022
Cowboy up
When in Texas 🤠#CarolinaFamily | #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/PfAkliHsma
— Carolina Basketball (@UNC_Basketball) March 18, 2022