The first day of March Madness did not disappoint as is usually the case. We got a glorious 4/13 upset of Furman over Virginia, a major 2/15 upset in Princeton over Arizona, and a few scares along the way. As a result of those games, here are going to be a few of the best to watch for Saturday in the round of 32.
March Madness Games to Watch
No. 5 San Diego State vs No. 13 Furman
- When: Saturday, March 18th, 2023
- Start Time: 12:10 PM ET
- Location: Amway Center – Orlando, Florida
- How to watch: CBS
San Diego State vs Furman Preview
This game suddenly became a lot more fun as the Furman Paladins pulled off a miraculous comeback against Virginia on Thursday.
Are you serious ? Furman with the steal and 3 to take the lead with 2.2 seconds remaining #furmanbasketball #marchmadness #furmanuniversity #basketballtiktok #basketballcoaching #ncaabasketball pic.twitter.com/Lxid9LV09h
— Scott Peterman (@coachpeterman) March 17, 2023
We’ll see if they can keep the magic going with Jalen Slawson and Mike Bothwell leading the charge for Furman. They are definitely going to be riding some nerves and excitement coming off the school’s first NCAA Tournament win since 1974. If they can contain Matt Bradley, they have a real shot at winning this game.
San Diego State got a sloppy win against College of Charleston and you could argue that they got some ref help in that one. They will have to overcome their poor shooting from the last game, especially from beyond the arc as they hit only a quarter of their shots from there.
No. 7 Missouri vs No. 15 Princeton
- When: Saturday, March 18th, 2023
- Start Time: 6:10 PM ET
- Location: Golden 1 Center – Sacramento, California
- How to watch: TNT
Missouri vs Princeton Preview
This might be the most surprising matchup as most people had Arizona going to the Final Four if not at least the Elite Eight. Princeton shot absolutely horrifically but somehow made Arizona shoot even worse despite being the clearly more talented team. It will be difficult to pull off that feat twice albeit against a lesser talented team in Missouri.
The Tigers shot the ball pretty well at 47.4% from the floor overall and 36.2% from beyond the arc. Princeton being able to stymy either of those percentages could lead to yet another upset and this year’s version of St. Peter’s potentially advancing to the Sweet 16.
No. 1 Houston vs No. 9 Auburn
- When: Saturday, March 18th, 2023
- Start Time: 7:10 PM ET
- Location: Legacy Arena – Birmingham, Alabama
- How to watch: TBS
Houston vs Auburn Preview
This would normally not be a very exciting game, but this case has a couple of exceptions. Auburn is playing in front of what should basically be a home crowd in Birmingham and Houston is hobbled right now. Marcus Sasser may not play and now Jamal Shead is questionable as well.
If Auburn’s guards don’t play abysmally and frankly, at even a mediocre level, they could very well win this game. Jarace Walker will still be a load to deal with, but without those guards to relieve some pressure, this could be a much closer game for the Cougars than they were anticipating. Auburn will still have to punch above its weight class, but the difficulty level definitely decreased after Thursday’s results.
Stay tuned to Project Spurs for more March Madness games coverage.
