NCAA Tournament 2023: Bracket, schedule, TV info for Thursday, March 16

The 2023 NCAA Tournament is finally here!

The round of 64 begins on Thursday afternoon with Maryland vs. West Virginia being the 1st game to tipoff. In total, 16 games will be played on Thursday.

Day 1 of the NCAA Tournament includes 3 No. 1 seeds in action — Kansas, Alabama and Houston. Purdue, the No. 1 seed in the East region, will play its opening round game on Friday.

Here’s the full schedule (with TV information) for Thursday, March 16 at the NCAA Tournament:

Schedule for Thursday, March 16 (Day 1)

• No. 9 West Virginia vs. No. 8 Maryland | 12:15 p.m. | CBS
• No. 13 Furman vs. No. 4 Virginia  | 12:40 p.m. | truTV
• No. 10 Utah St. vs. No. 7 Missouri  |1:40 p.m. | TNT
• No. 16 Howard vs. No. 1 Kansas  | 2 p.m. | TBS
• No. 16 Texas A&M CC vs. No. 1 Alabama | 2:45 p.m. | CBS
• No. 12 College of Charleston vs. No. 5 San Diego St. | 3:10 p.m. | truTV
• No. 15 Princeton vs. No. 2 Arizona | 4:10 p.m. | TNT
• No. 9 Illinois vs. No. 8 Arkansas | 4:30 p.m. | TBS
• No. 9 Auburn vs. No. 8 Iowa | 6:50 p.m. | TNT
• No. 12 Oral Roberts vs. No. 5 Duke | 7:10 p.m. | CBS
• No. 15 Colgate vs.  No. 2 Texas | 7:25 p.m. | TBS
• No. 10 Boise St. vs. No. 7 Northwestern | 7:35 p.m. | truTV
• No. 16 Northern Kentucky vs. No. 1 Houston | 9:20 p.m. | TNT
• No. 13 Louisiana vs. No. 4 Tennessee | 9:40 p.m. | CBS
• No. 10 Penn State vs. No. 7 Texas A&M | 9:55 p.m. | TBS
• No. 15 UNC Asheville vs. No. 2 UCLA | 10:05 p.m. | truTV

NCAA Tournament bracket

Here’s a look at the NCAA Tournament bracket prior to the round of 64:

THE BRACKET ?#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/HZYnwD3s3x

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 12, 2023

Upset-minded teams on Thursday

There are always upsets at the NCAA Tournament, especially in the early rounds. That figures to be true again on Thursday as several upset-minded teams are set to take the court.

No. 12-seeded Oral Roberts made it all the way to the Sweet 16 a couple of years ago. The Golden Eagles are even better this year and still have star guard Max Abmas leading the way. ORU faces No. 5-seeded Duke in the opening round.

No. 12-seeded Charleston has been making headlines all year as it appears in its 1st NCAA Tournament since 2018. The Cougars are 31-3 this year and they feature an offense that’s heavily dependent on 3-point shooting. San Diego State could have its hands full in round 1.

No. 4-seeded Tennessee has been great all season, but the Vols are still reeling from a season-ending injury to point guard Zakai Zeigler. No. 13-seeded Louisiana could be there to take advantage of Tennessee’s misfortune.

Spenser Davis

Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.