The 2024 NCAA Tournament moves into the second round on Saturday with eight matchups scheduled and the winning teams advancing to next week’s Sweet 16. Our experts at The Athletic have picked winners for every game, listed below in order of Saturday’s schedule.
We know that every game matters for your brackets, but here are a few additional notes on some of the matchups.
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No. 7 Dayton plays No. 2 Arizona in the first game of the day, which unfortunately starts at 10:45 a.m. local time in Salt Lake City.
No. 14 Oakland, the tournament’s Cinderella story, plays No. 11 NC State for the right to advance to the Sweet 16 at 7:10 p.m. ET. That matchup guarantees that at least one double-digit seed will advance to the Sweet 16.
A monster matchup between bluebloods Michigan State and North Carolina tips off at 5:30 p.m. ET in Charlotte.
And then there’s the awkward but nice-to-see-you matchups with coaches facing their former teams. Tennessee’s Rick Barnes plays the Texas team that he coached for 15 years at 8 p.m. ET, and then former Creighton coach Dana Altman and his Oregon Ducks take on the Bluejays in Saturday’s final game, tipping off at 9:40 p.m. ET.
Times, channels and picks for the winner of each Saturday game below.
No. 7 Dayton vs. No. 2 Arizona
12:45 p.m. ET on CBS
No. 4 Kansas vs. No. 5 Gonzaga
3:15 p.m. ET on CBS
No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 9 Michigan State
5:30 p.m. ET on CBS
No. 7 Washington State vs. No. 2 Iowa State
6:10 p.m. ET on TNT
No. 11 NC State vs. No. 14 Oakland
7:10 p.m. ET on TBS
No. 2 Tennessee vs. No. 7 Texas
8 p.m. ET on CBS
No. 3 Illinois vs. No. 11 Duquesne
8:40 p.m. ET on TNT
No. 3 Creighton vs. No. 11 Oregon
9:40 p.m. ET on TBS
(Photo of NC State’s Mohamed Diarra and DJ Horne: Joe Sargent / Getty Images)