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The Breakfast Buffet: March Madness Edition

Who’s hungry for college basketball?

Here’s today’s installment of “The Breakfast Buffet”, a daily column that can be found here every single morning getting you caught up to date on everything that’s happened from the day/night before and everything that’s going to happen in the next 24 hours.

Mangia!

Things To Sample

Texas has a quick turnaround
The Longhorns’ 68-66 win over NC State on Tuesday night in the First Four in Dayton was a terrific start to March Madness, but what lies ahead is one difficult task. On the heels of Tramon Mark’s go ahead shot with a second left against the Wolfpack was a cross country flight to Portland to face BYU on Thursday night. That’s not an easy trip after finishing a game around Midnight ET. It will be interesting to see how the Longhorns respond tomorrow in the Pacific Time Zone.

Boopie Miller comes to the forefront
Not familiar with Miller’s work? You will be after tonight. One of the ACC’s top guards this season, the 6-foot Miller averages 19.2 points, 6.4 assists, and 3.9 rebounds entering this evening’s matchup between SMU and Miami (OH) in the First Four in Dayton. Miller is a major reason why the Ponies earned their first at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1993. Tip off for tonight’s game is at 9:10 PM ET on TRUTV.

I feel for North Carolina and Texas Tech
I know injuries are part of sports. I know that adversity is part of life. But that doesn’t mean that I can’t feel bad for both of the these programs at the start of the NCAA Tournament. Both the Tar Heels and Red Raiders had the requisites to play deep into March Madness had they each not lost an All-American to a season-ending injury. North Carolina must now soldier on without Caleb Wilson (thumb) and Texas Tech now must soldier on without JT Toppin (ACL). Without these stars on the floor, I’d be very surprised if either of these teams is playing during the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. This is the dark side of March.

On The Side

  • Michigan State’s Tom Izzo is 21-6 in first round NCAA Tournament games. This includes a loss to UCLA in the First Four in 2021.
  • Virginia hasn’t won a game in the NCAA Tournament since it beat Texas Tech in the 2019 national title game.
  • Ohio State’s Round of 64 tilt with TCU on Thursday is its first appearance in March Madness since March 20, 2022.
  • 14 years after upsetting Duke, Lehigh is back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2012. The Mountain Hawks will face Prairie View A&M tonight in the First Four in Dayton. Tip off is at 6:40 PM ET on TRUTV.
  • Prediction: The ACC won’t have more than two teams in the Sweet 16.

Leftovers