March Madness is here and the 2023 NCAA Tournament first-round action is just days away. We’ll walk you through every region, the biggest names, the best matchups, and our best bets.
We started with the East Region, then headed West, so now we’ll look to the South region of the NCAA tournament.
South Region Schedule
First Four
Texas A&M-CC (23-10) vs. SE Missouri State (19-16)
- Date: Tuesday, March 14, 2023
- Time: 6:40 p.m. ET
- Location: UD Arena in Dayton, Ohio
- Channel: truTV
First Round
| Date | Time | Teams | Channel |
| Thu, March 16 | 12:15 p.m. ET |
No. 8 Maryland (21-12) vs. No. 9 West Virginia (19-14) |
CBS |
| Thu, March 16 | 12:40 p.m. ET | No. 4 Virginia (25-7) vs. No. 13 Furman (27-7) | TruTV |
| Thu, March 16 | 1:40 p.m. ET | No. 7 Missouri (24-9) vs. No. 10 Utah State (26-8) | CBS |
| Thu, March 16 | 2:45 p.m. ET | Play-in Winner vs. No. 1 Alabama (29-5) | CBS |
| Thu, March 16 | 3:10 p.m. ET |
No. 5 San Diego State (27-6) vs. No. 12 Charleston (31-3) |
TruTV |
| Thu, March 16 | 4:00 p.m. ET | No. 2 Arizona (28-6) vs. No. 15 Princeton (21-8) | TNT |
| Fri, March 17 | 1:30 p.m. ET | No. 3 Baylor (22-10) vs. No. 14 UC Santa Barbara (27-7) | TNT |
| Fri, March 17 | 4:00 p.m. ET | No. 6 Creighton (21-12) vs. No. 11 NC State (23-10) | TNT |
South Region Best Matchups
No. 7 Missouri vs No. 10 Utah State:
One of the most popular upset picks in the region, this game should be exciting and fast-paced. Missouri ranks 51st in KenPom ratings with an adjusted tempo of 92nd, while Utah State ranks 18th in KenPom with a 102 adjusted tempo. The Tigers are the more athletic team, but Utah State is a far better three-point shooting team. Utah State is a really well-balanced team and they boast KenPom’s 13th-ranked offense. Just for fun, Utah State coach Ryan Odom was the coach at UMBC when it pulled the historic 16-over-1 upset of Virginia in 2018.
No. 4 Virginia vs No. 13 Furman
It wasn’t long ago that Virginia was a national title contender, so this may seem crazy, but this is a bit of an overrated team. The Cavaliers still play a slow tempo (360th in the nation) and rely on their defense (25th in KenPom), but they also don’t really have any offensive threats and scored just 67.8 points per game this season, which was 253rd in the country. Meanwhile, Furman has KenPom’s 33rd-ranked offense in the country and averaged over 80 points and 16.4 assists per game, which were both top-15 in the country. If the Paladins are hitting their shots, I just don’t think Virginia can score with them.
South Region Best Players
Brandon Miller – Forward, Alabama
Obviously, everybody knows Millers because of his role in the murder committed by a former teammate in which Miller is now being interviewed as a witness. While we wait for more details to come out in regard to that case, we do know that Miller is one of the most talented freshman players in the country. He has eight double-doubles and has performed in big spots this year, like putting up 36 points against Gonzaga, so he won’t be fazed by the pressure of the NCAA tournament.
Azuolas Tubelis – Forward, Arizona
Tubelis is a semifinalist for the Naismith Player of the Year, which is no surprise since he averages 19.8 points and 9.1 rebounds a game while shooting 58.6% from the field and 33.3% from beyond the arc. He’s a matchup nightmare given his size (6’11” 245 pounds) and can absolutely take over a game.
Ryan Kalkbrenner – Center, Creighton
Kalkbrenner is huge at 7’1″ and 235 pounds and he led the entire nation in field goal percentage at 71.4%. So, you can tell he’s not really spacing the floor that much. Still, opponents have to game plan for him and he can erase offense at the other end as the Big East Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight season after posting 65 blocks this year.
South Region Pick to Advance
Alabama
For all of the off-court concerns, they are KenPoms third-ranked team in the country and led the nation in rebounds per game. They went 16-2 in the SEC and won every conference tournament game by double digits. They can glean the glass and score the rock and are going to be tough to stop in the NCAA tournament.
