On Thursday, the real 2011 NCAA tournament bracket tips off. We've had the "First Four", previously known as the play-in games, and they've been considered a dud. On Thursday, the rest of the NCAA tournament gets going so we're entering the fun part of March Madness.
Before you get going, here's your printable NCAA bracket.
The first two days of the tourney are the best and you can make a strong argument it's the best two days on the sports calendar. We will have 16 total games today -- eight early games starting at 11:00 a.m. (CT) and eight evening games starting at 5:30 p.m. (CT).
The local games include Missouri vs. Cincinnati and Kansas State vs. Utah State which will both take place Thursday night. Mizzou-Cincinnati is expected to be a very close game with some college basketball odds putting the game as a pick 'em and others putting it at Cincy with a one-point advantage. Kansas State is a slight favorite over Utah State but we expect that one to be close as well.
The first day of the tourney is here. Finally. Here's Thursday's full schedule:
THURSDAY AFTERNOON, MARCH 17 (12:00 Noon - 5, ET)
12:15, CBS, Tampa -- West Virginia vs. UAB/Clemson (Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel)
12:40, truTV, Wash. D.C. -- Butler vs. Old Dominion (Tim Brando/Mike Gminski)
1:40, TBS, Denver--Louisville vs. Morehead St. (Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery)
2:10, TNT, Tucson -- Temple vs. Penn St. (Kevin Harlan/Reggie Miller/Dan Bonner)
2:45, CBS, Tampa -- Kentucky vs. Princeton (Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel)
3:10, truTV, Wash. D.C. -- Pittsburgh vs. Asheville/Ark-LR (Tim Brando/Mike Gminski)
4:10, TBS, Denver -- Vanderbilt vs. Richmond (Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery)
4:40, TNT, Tucson -- San Diego St. vs. Northern Colorado (Kevin Harlan/Reggie Miller/Dan Bonner)
THURSDAY EVENING, MARCH 17 (6:30 - Midnight, ET)
6:50, TBS, Tampa -- Florida vs. UC Santa Barbara (Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel)
7:15, CBS, Denver -- BYU vs. Wofford (Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery)
7:20, TNT, Wash D.C. -- Connecticut vs. Bucknell (Tim Brando/Mike Gminski)
7:27, truTV, Tucson -- Wisconsin vs. Belmont (Kevin Harlan/Reggie Miller/Dan Bonner)
9:20, TBS, Tampa -- UCLA vs. Michigan St. (Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel)
9:45, CBS, Denver -- St. John's vs. Gonzaga (Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery)
9:45, TNT, Wash. D.C. -- Cincinnati vs. Missouri (Tim Brando/Mike Gminski)
9:57, truTV, Tucson -- Kansas St. vs. Utah St. (Kevin Harlan/Reggie Miller/Dan Bonner)
Be sure to grab a printable bracket as you settle in for Thursday's March Madness experience. Swing by our NCAA Tournament hub and check out the NCAA Tournament Predictions, region previews and more.