Ad Disclosure
ESPN’s BPI predicts outcome of First Four games of NCAA Tournament
By Paul Harvey
Published:
After an up-and-down season that featured multiple pauses and an incomplete schedule for some teams, March Madness has finally arrived!
This year’s NCAA Tournament officially gets started Thursday night with the traditional First Four games. What is a bit different this time around is traditional blue bloods UCLA and Michigan State will face off in primetime with the winner advancing to a Round of 64 matchup against BYU.
The other games in the action on Thursday feature Texas Southern vs Mt. St. Mary’s, Drake vs Wichita State, and Appalachian State vs Norfolk State. Tip-off for the Texas Southern-Mt. St. Mary’s game will start the action at 5:10 pm EST on truTV.
As we get set for the action, ESPN’s BPI put out the predictions for the games. According to those predictions, we will be in for some tight contests, but the BPI does have Tom Izzo and Michigan State bowing out after a one-and-done appearance in March Madness this year.
Here are the predictions in terms of win probability:
- Texas Southern vs Mount St. Mary’s (51.8% chance of winning)
- Drake (65.4%) vs Wichita State
- Appalachian State (59.1%) vs Norfolk State
- UCLA (58.5%) vs Michigan State
Who do you have living to see another day of March Madness? Friday’s Round of 64 action will get started at 12:15 pm EST on CBS.
Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.