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NCAA TOURNAMENT: SATURDAY GAMES OPEN THREAD

Sweet 16 spots are on the line.

Beth Hall-USA TODAY Sports

Seeing the second round games after a first round full of wild upsets always feels a bit like the hangover that comes after a particularly rough night out.  "Wait... UCLA and UAB?!  Georgia State?!"  There be dragons here, folks.  (Literally.) UCLA and UAB meeting in this round ensures that, once again, there will be a double-digit seed in the Sweet 16; I don't know how many years in a row that's happened now, but it certainly seems like quite a few.

The second round is also for enjoying fascinating match-ups between the good teams that did survive, though.  North Carolina and Arkansas hung on by the skin of their teeth against Harvard and Wofford, respectively, and there was much rooting for them to be felled in the first round.  But the fact that they survived and advanced sets up a really tasty-looking match-up here.  Arkansas likes to run (#17 in tempo, nationally).  North Carolina likes to run (#14 in tempo, nationally).  Gentlemen... start your engines.

Meanwhile, we've also got a kinda-sorta border battle between Cincinnati and Kentucky, an intra-state clash between Notre Dame and Butler, and a chance to see if D'Angelo Russell's brilliant one man show can help Ohio State overcome Arizona's all-around excellence.  It should be fun.

Here's your schedule (all times CT):

TEAM VS TEAM CHANNEL TIME
#11 UCLA VS #14 UAB CBS 11:10 AM
#1 Kentucky VS #8 Cincinnati CBS 1:45 PM
#2 Arizona VS #10 Ohio State CBS 4:15 PM
#6 Xavier VS #14 Georgia State TNT 5:10 PM
#1 Villanova VS #8 NC State TBS 6:10  PM
#4 Georgetown VS #5 Utah CBS 6:45 PM
#4 North Carolina VS #5 Arkansas TNT 7:40 PM
#3 Notre Dame VS #6 Butler TBS 8:40 PM

If you're not near a TV, you can stream the games through March Madness Live.

The usual rules apply.