NCAA tournament Friday open thread

A huge day of hoops lies ahead with the men’s tourney resuming and the women’s tourney getting underway. (Reminder that the Wolfpack ladies are up at 10 p.m. tonight.)

We didn’t get as much drama as one would like on Thursday—Northern Kentucky kept it close with Houston for a while, but otherwise the night session was a snoozer. Of course, there was more than enough drama if you’re a Virginia fan.

With Duke through and UVA gone, the rest of the ACC is up today, beginning with Pittsburgh, which was extremely fortunate to beat Mississippi State in Dayton. They have anything in the tank for Iowa State? And how vulnerable is Miami if Norchad Omier can’t play? I won’t be surprised if Drake wins that one.

And of course there’s NC State in the second session, in what has the potential to be a highly entertaining game. Make sure the beer is cold, everybody!

Friday, March 17 (Round of 64. All times Eastern)

• No. 10 USC vs. No. 7 Michigan State | 12:15 p.m. |CBS
• No. 14 Kennesaw St. vs. No. 3 Xavier | 12:40 p.m. | truTV
• No. 14 UC Santa Barbara vs. No. 3 Baylor | 1:30 p.m. | TNT
• No. 12 VCU vs. No. 5 Saint Mary’s | 2 p.m. | TBS
• No. 15 Vermont vs. No. 2 Marquette| 2:45 p.m. | CBS
• No. 11 Pitt vs. No. 6 Iowa State | 3:10 p.m. | truTV
• No. 11 NC State vs. No. 6 Creighton| 4 p.m. | TNT
• No. 13 Iona vs. No. 4 UConn | 4:30 p.m. | TBS
• No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson vs. No. 1 Purdue| 6:50 p.m. | TNT
• No. 11 Providence vs. No. 6 Kentucky | 7:10 p.m. | CBS
• No. 12 Drake vs. No. 5 Miami | 7:25 p.m | TBS
• No. 14 Grand Canyon vs. No. 3 Gonzaga| 7:35 p.m. | truTV
• No. 9 Florida Atlantic vs. No. 8 Memphis | 9:20 p.m.| TNT
• No. 14 Montana St. vs. No. 3 Kansas St. | 9:40 p.m. | CBS
• No. 13 Kent State vs. No. 4 Indiana | 9:55 p.m. | TBS
• No. 11 Arizona State vs. No. 6 TCU | 10:05 p.m. | truTV