March Madness is now only a couple of days away, and the bracket has been set for the field of 68 vying for the national championship. So let’s take a look at some of the best games of the first round of play.

          The first game we will look at is eighth seed Boise State vs. ninth seed Memphis. Boise State went 27-7 in the regular season and was the number one seed in the MWC (Mountain West Conference) tournament. In that tournament, they put their one seed to good use winning the conference title against San Diego State. Meanwhile, Memphis went 21-10 this season and were the three seed in the AAC (American Athletic Conference) tournament. Memphis would lose in their conference title game against Houston by 18 points, and they look to rebound in this game. Boise State’s leading scorer is forward Abu Kigbab who is averaging 14.7 points per game. Memphis’s leading scorer is center Jalen Duren who is averaging 12.2 points per game. 

          The second game we will cover is sixth seed Texas vs. eleventh seed Virginia Tech. Texas went 21-11 on the season and was the fourth seed in the Big 12 Conference tournament losing to TCU. Virginia Tech went 23-12 on the season, getting the seventh seed in the ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference) tournament. Virginia Tech went on a magical run defeating Duke soundly in the conference title game, looking to keep up their momentum in March Madness. Texas’s leading scorer is forward Timmy Allen, who averages 12.3 points per game. Virginia Tech’s leading scorer is Keve Aluma who averaged 15.8 points per game on the season.

          The third and final game we will overview is sixth seed LSU vs. eleventh seed Iowa State. LSU went 22-11 on the year getting the fifth seed in the SEC (Southeastern Conference) tournament losing to Arkansas. An interesting note is LSU’s head coach Will Wade was let go days before the tournament leaving interim coach Kevin Nickelberry at the helm. Iowa State went 20-12 on the season being the sixth seed, but in the Big 12 tournament, they were destroyed by Texas Tech and didn’t look anywhere near up to par. LSU’s leading scorer is Tari Eason who averaged 16.9 points per game. Iowa State’s leading scorer this season was Izaiah Brockington who averaged 17.2 points per game.