No. 8 BYU vs. No. 9 Texas A&M (Thursday)
The Mountain West was lobbying hard for more than two spots but that’s all the conference got. BYU (25-7) ended up the only at-large selection as San Diego State (23-9) was left out. The Cougars might be playing with a little chip on their shoulder.

Mark Turgeon’s A&M team could be a sleeper. The Aggies (23-9) will be looking to redeem themselves after blowing that lead to Texas Tech in the Big 12 tournament. Josh Carter is worth watching in this one.

No. 7 California vs No. 10 Maryland (Thursday)
The coaching matchup here is priceless.

Mike Montgomery, the former Stanford fixture, has overachieved in his first season at Cal. It was supposed to take three or four years to get the Bears back in the NCAA but Montgomery pushed all the right buttons.

On the other bench is Gary Williams, the hardest working coach on the bench, was under heavy criticism all season and his job appeared to be in jeopardy. Williams didn’t care. He just rolled it out and the Terps turned things around with that dramatic overtime win over North Carolina on Feb. 21.

No. 8 Oklahoma State vs. No. 9 Tennessee (Friday)

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Oklahoma State looked finished after losing four of five and collapsing against Texas 99-74 on Feb. 10. But that was the turning point for coach Travis Ford and the Cowboys beat Iowa State to become the hottest team in the Big 12. James Anderson has been a key to the perimeter attack and Byron Eaton is one of the toughest individual matchups around.

Tennessee has to be one of the most disappointing teams in the nation. Look for the Vols to make a quick exit this year.

No. 7 Clemson vs. No. 10 Michigan (Thursday)
Is there a team that dropped more than Clemson? It wasn’t that long ago the Tigers looked like a strong No. 2 or No. 3. They call this a new season and no one needs to start over more than Clemson.

John Beilein has everyone excited in Michigan, even if the Wolverines were one of the last to make the field of 65. The Wolverines are back to .500 in the Big Ten and headed for bigger things nationally. This might be a good place to start. Michigan looks to Manny Harris to get things started.

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