The first day of the first round of the NCAA Tournament offered a number of surprises, including Yale taking down Baylor and Arkansas-Little Rock stunning Purdue.
Day two of the big dance offers a number of other intriguing matchups. Who will move on and who will go home?
Here are our predictions (with the betting lines) for Friday's games.
No. 2 Villanova vs. No. 15 UNC Asheville (12:40 p.m. ET on TRUTV)
Villanova (29-5) hasn't been great against the spread (15-17-1), but that's likely because it was heavily favorited all year (a lot of the spread being double-digit). The Wildcats be a double-digit favorite on Friday against UNC Asheville (22-11), but that shouldn't be a problem for 'Nova.
The Bulldogs are 6-0 against the spread, but those matchups were against opponents that were far more inferior compared to teams faced by Villanova all year. After its loss to Seton Hall in the Big East Tournament final, Jay Wright's team will be ready to go.
Villanova should cover the 17.5-point spread.
No. 7 Oregon State vs. No. 10 VCU (1:30 p.m. ET on TNT)
Oregon State's seeding was another head-scratcher from the committee, but at least it'll have no gimme matchup in the first round against the VCU Rams (24-10). The Beavers (19-12) actually come in as four-point underdogs, which definitely makes sense.
The Rams have crushed it against the spread this year (20-9), including being 15-6 as the favorite. Oregon State wasn't bad ATS (16-13-1) and were decent as an underdog (9-7-1). The Beavers have a number of quality wins (Utah, USC and Oregon), but those were all at home.
VCU has a good balance on offense (77.3 points per game) and defense (66.7 points allowed per game), which is superior to Oregon State's (72.1, 70).
Take VCU -4 (even though it's the favorite, it'll be considered an upset because of the seeding).
No. 7 Iowa vs. No. 10 Temple (3:10 p.m. ET on TRUTV)
I know Iowa (21-10) laid an egg in the Big 10 Tournament and lost to Illinois in the first round, but the Hawkeyes are a scary team. They've hung with some of the top teams in the nation despite some questionable losses, and their team stats are solid all around.
They're 14-14 ATS and are 7.5-point favorites in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
However, they won't have an easy matchup against Temple (21-11), who finished as the regular-season champs in the American Athletic Conference before falling to Connecticut in the conference tourney semifinal. The Owls challenged themselves with their non-conference schedule and finished 17-13 ATS and 9-5 as an underdog, but I expect Iowa to come out angry after the way it ended its season.
It sure sounds like Temple is getting a lot of points, but Iowa should pull away and cover.
No. 5 Maryland vs. No. 12 South Dakota State (4:30 p.m. ET on TBS)
This was the one No. 12 over No. 5 pick I thought was going to happen, but Yale and Arkansas-Little Rock made me eat my words.
With that being said, Maryland (25-8) is an overrated team. The Terps finished 15-16-1 ATS and 14-13 as a favorite, which isn't bad, but they ended the year playing their worst basketball.
They dropped five of their last eight, including a road loss to Minnesota and a home loss to Wisconsin.
On the other hand, the South Dakota State Jackrabbits (25-7) are on a six-game winning streak, which earned them the Summit League title. Their top three scorers average over 14 points per game, which could be a threat to the Terps.
I'm not going to back off my original pick of an SDSU upset, so at least take them with the points (+9.5). I think that'll be enough.
No. 3 Texas A&M vs. No. 14 Green Bay (7:20 p.m. ET on TBS)
Here's my biggest upset of the NCAA Tournament. That's right. The Green Bay Phoenix (23-12) are going to take down the Texas A&M Aggies (26-8). Why? I don't know, I just have that feeling.
Green Bay averages 84.2 points per game (sixth in NCAA), which will be a test of the solid Aggies' defense.
The Phoenix, who come into this matchup as 13.5-underdogs, had a solid year in the Horizon League, which is up and coming. They finished the year 20-12-2 ATS and 10-5 as the underdog while the Aggies went 15-12-2 ATS and 13-9-2 as a favorite.
A&M was the regular season SEC champs, but fell to Kentucky in the conference tourney final. The Aggies also endured a big slide earlier in the year, which could be a sign for things to come heading into the big dance.
If Green Bay comes out hot, I think the Aggies are done for. If you're too skeptical of this big upset, Green Bay +13.5 should do the trick.
No. 1 Oregon vs. No. 16 Holy Cross (7:27 p.m. ET on TRUTV)
Not much to assess here. Another No. 1 vs. a No. 16 seed. It's actually an interesting matchup since the Ducks (28-6) are over-seeded as a No. 1 and the Crusaders (15-19) enter the tournament with a losing record.
Still, this is a significant mismatch. Oregon is favored by 23 and it should take care of business because it's on an eight-game win streak and has defeated its opponents by an average of 12.3 points over that span.
And none of those opponents were as nearly as bad as Holy Cross.
No. 6 Texas vs. No. 11 Northern Iowa (9:50 p.m. ET on TBS)
The Longhorns (20-12) were very up-and-down this season, especially toward the end when they dropped five of their final nine games. Yes, most of them were against ranked Big 12 opponents, but a 30-point home loss to Kansas and two 14-point losses to Baylor are nothing to be psyched about heading into the NCAA Tournament.
They're also just 16-15 ATS this year and 8-9 as a favorite while Northern Iowa is 19-13-1 ATS, athough just 5-6 as an underdog. However, the Panthers are 8-1-1 ATS in their last 10 games and are 9-1 over that span.
With quality wins over North Carolina, Iowa State and Wichita State earlier this year, Northern Iowa is certainly ready for Texas, which is a 4.5-point favorite in this one.
I think Northern Iowa takes this game outright, but if not, it'll definitely be close enough for it to cover that spread.
No. 8 Saint Joseph's vs. No. 9 Cincinnati (9:57 p.m. ET on TRUTV)
Cincinnati (22-10) limps into Friday after suffering one of the most disheartening defeats of the 2015-2016 NCAA season at the hands of Connecticut. The Bearcats were 0.8 seconds away from advancing to the next round of the AAC Tournament, but a three-quarter court buzzer beater sent the game into overtime and UConn outlasted Cincinnati in four OTs.
On the other hand, St. Joes (27-7) is coming off a good stretch of wins against George Washington, Dayton and VCU, which won it the Atlantic-10 Conference Tournament. The Hawks are also an astonishing 22-10-1 ATS and 8-1-1 as an underdog while the Bearcats are just 12-16 and 10-14 as a favorite.
Cincinnati is a 2.5-point favorite in this one, but St. Joe's should win and cover to become the first No. 8 seed to capture a win in the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
