What happened in Thursday and Friday's first round

East: UConn

West: Arizona

South: Kentucky

Midwest: Creighton

Championship: Creighton over UConn

After seeing the Big East get hosed with three NCAA Tournament bids, the gods will collude to assure a Big East vs. Big East national title game against two teams that split their season series. Then the gods will decide the universe can’t handle Dan Hurley having two national titles under his belt, and will decide instead to crown a first Jesuit national championship since 1984.

SALT LAKE CITY — Kansas star Hunter Dickinson says his shoulder feels “good” and is set to help carry his shorthanded Jayhawks in their opening NCAA Tournament matchup on Thursday.

Dickinson dislocated his shoulder in a regular season-ending March 9 loss to Houston. After original concerns he may have torn his labrum, the 7-foot-2 center ended up not needing surgery and was instead rested for the Jayhawks’ trip to last week’s Big 12 tournament.

“The shoulder feels good, good enough to be out there with my teammates,” Dickinson said Wednesday in a pre-NCAA Tournament press conference.

Kansas coach Bill Self said Dickinson isn’t playing with any limitations and will be full-go on Thursday.

Kansas, the No. 4 seed in the West Regional, is a trendy pick as a potential upset victim in a first-round game against 13th-seeded Samford.

The Jayhawks are without star Kevin McCullar Jr., who coach Bill Self announced Tuesday will miss the entire NCAA Tournament with a knee injury that has not improved.

With the injuries to McCullar and Dickinson, the Jayhawks skid down the stretch, losing four of their final five games, including a one-and-done loss to Cincinnati in the Big 12 tournament.

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It doesn’t matter if you’re a fan of the sport and watch a handful of games a week or if you haven’t watched a second of college basketball this season and are just looking for a little action during March Madness. Either way, there are some simple steps to maximize your chances of winning your bracket pool.

My bracket strategy tends to follow my college basketball model, which simulates the entire tournament 1,000,000 times (yes, a projection for every game will be made) but going off which team has the highest win probability in each game isn’t necessarily the best strategy, especially if the pool is quite large (more than 50 people). In my opinion, the size pool you’re entering is the most important thing when determining your bracket strategy. You’ll want to take fewer risks if you are in a smaller pool. You’ll want to increase risk if you’re in a larger pool. Medium-sized pool? Somewhere in the middle.

Remember, the goal isn’t to win these pools while splitting or chopping winnings with many other winners who all picked the 1-seeds to make the Final Four. Instead, you want a unique bracket that gives you the best chance to be the sole winner.

Every pool has its own unique set of rules. Some value upsets more than others, and you need to know that going in when looking at your strategy.

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The NCAA Tournament is a blur. The madness kicks off this week on the men’s side with 68 teams from 33 states (and Washington, D.C.) playing a total of 36 games in nine cities.

Some of the schools involved make it obvious where they hail from — like title contenders Connecticut, Houston and North Carolina, for example. Others might make you wonder — where is Stetson? Or Longwood?

The Athletic decided to map out (literally) the 68-team field, from top overall seed UConn (Storrs, Conn.) to No. 68, Wagner (Staten Island, N.Y.). And we took a look at how far these teams must travel this week, too.

Forgotten amid the busy week are the travel itineraries loaded on the backs of college students. While the rest of the nation scribbles away at their brackets and roots on Cinderella, the players and coaches load fly, sometimes cross-country, for a trip that could end after just one game.

A handful of teams this year are journeying over 2,000 miles away from their home arena, including one underdog who will have to voyage 2,204 miles. On the other side, a heavyweight favorite has a driveable 61-mile trip for its first- and second-round games.

Here are all 68 teams plotted. Continue reading for a further breakdown.

No. 10 Colorado defeated fellow No. 10 seed Boise State 60-53 in the NCAA Tourmanent’s First Four on Wednesday in Dayton, Ohio.

The Buffaloes dominated down the stretch, finishing on a 15-4 run, and were particularly impressive on defense. After the Broncos’ Chibuzo Agbo hit a jumper with 4:32 remaining in the game, they would not add another point for more than four minutes.

“We finally played with unbelievable toughness,” Colorado coach Tad Boyle said. “We really started playing tougher on the glass. Boise State is a physical team, they keep coming at you. We made just enough plays down the stretch. Our defense was great all night.”

Colorado seized control for good with 32.8 seconds remaining. Eddie Lampkin Jr. hit a put-back as the shot clock expired to put his team up five points. Boise State’s Roddie Anderson III accidentally dribbled the ball off his foot and out of bounds on the next play. The Buffaloes closed it out at the free-throw line.

Buffaloes forward Tristan da Silva led all scorers with 20 points. Guard KJ Simpson added 19 points and 11 rebounds.

Boyle’s squad has won nine of its last 10 games and will face No. 7 Florida on Friday. It marks his second NCAA Tournament in the last four years.

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East: UConn

West: Saint Mary's

South: Marquette

Midwest: Purdue

Championship: UConn over Purdue

UConn and Purdue are the most complete teams in the country. I know the Boilermakers just stumbled in the Big Ten tournament semifinals, but based on their vibe in the locker room, they had their eyes on a bigger prize anyway. I don’t trust Houston to last through the various health issues and Marquette with a healthy Tyler Kolek has always been a Final Four contender. As for the Saint Mary’s flyer? This is a burly, experienced top-20 KenPom team that is really hard to play against. Everyone in the West Region is flawed. Why not go with the Gaels-force pick? And it’s not easy to repeat. It’s also not easy to be potentially better than the national championship group that preceded you. UConn managed it. Why can’t it hoist the trophy again?

Sakima Walker hated wearing pants designed for boys.

As the only daughter in a family with four sons, she constantly heard how much she resembled her older brother, how they looked like twins despite their 3-year age gap. She didn’t want the comparisons to extend to their outfits too. But Walker was always tall for her age — she wore a size 9 in women’s shoes as a fifth grader and hit 6 feet entering her sophomore year of high school — so it was either wear pants like her brother’s or don an ankle-exposing style that might be considered a fashion faux pas.

Walker, now a 6-foot-6 senior playing for No. 1 South Carolina, grew to embrace the latter.

“Still to this day, I love my high waters,” she said. “I learned to love my high waters because I knew that’s as good as it’s gonna get for me.”

When Walker takes the court with the Gamecocks in the Women’s NCAA Tournament, she’ll stand out for her height — a natural advantage that can make the game look easy.

But the players who tower a few inches over their tall teammates and competitors, who are already well above average height, face a different challenge outside of the gym: finding clothes that fit their exceptional height or extraordinary wingspan.

Just ask Alec Puffenberger, an associate director of equipment at Purdue who is tasked with ordering team apparel for Zach Edey, the 7-foot-4 center who is literally and figuratively a large reason why the top-seeded Boilermakers are among the favorites to cut down the nets in the Men’s NCAA Tournament.

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“Jerry, I can’t get fired,” George Costanza bemoaned to Jerry Seinfeld while trying to lose his job with the New York Yankees.

Long Beach State coach Dan Monson — who was indeed fired on March 11 — quoted Costanza and referenced that 154th episode of “Seinfeld” on Wednesday when talking with reporters ahead of Long Beach State’s first-round game against Arizona on Thursday in the NCAA Tournament.

“Did you see the Seinfeld when George was trying to get fired and couldn’t lose his job, still going to work every day? That’s me. I’m a Seinfeld episode going on right now in real life,” Monson said with a smile.

Monson, who led his upstart team to an unexpected Big West tournament title and automatic bid into the tournament just six days after Long Beach State parted ways with him, opened the news conference by jokingly telling the media, “I don’t have to answer anything I don’t want to because I’m working for free today.”

The coach’s 17th year with the Beach appeared to be over in that Big West tournament, but then the team went on an improbable run to earn the conference’s bid, winning three games in three days.

Making it to the Big Dance isn’t new for Monson, as the coach led Long Beach State here in 2012 along with Minnesota in 2005 and Gonzaga in 1999. But making it under these circumstances is certainly new for Monson. And the 62-year-old is soaking up the fun of the strangeness.

“I keep using the word ‘surreal.’ Twilight zone might be part true. It’s been awesome. I mean, the Monday of the decision was the hardest thing professionally you go through,” Monson said regarding the decision to split ways.

“Those guys showed me they loved me that day. I’ll never forget it. That’s all you need. I’ve reflected this week that I don’t have a job, but I don’t need one. I got everything I got with my family, with my players, with my friends. It’s been a life-changing week in a good way.”

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PITTSBURGH – John Calipari broke out some local vernacular in his homecoming for the NCAA Tournament on Wednesday. He grew up in neighboring Moon Township, Pa., and therefore speaks the language. “Yinz don’t play very good defense,” he said. “That will be your question to me: At times, yinz do play good defense, and there are other times you’re like what are you thinking?” Humor is a coping mechanism.

You see, Kentucky’s kryptonite is not a well-kept secret. It is not a barely noticeable blemish. It is a giant, gnarly wart right in the middle of the Wildcat mascot’s forehead. The defense stinks, and now here comes an underdog that’ll launch a bunch of 3-pointers and hope enough go in to eliminate Calipari’s team early. Again.

No. 3 seed Kentucky’s top-five offense is a good reason to believe that won’t happen, but its 110th-ranked defense — second worst among high-major teams in the tournament field – justifies some legitimate concern that it might. And even if not in a first-round matchup against 14-seed Oakland, at some point sooner than later. Because after a few games of improved defense to end the regular season, the Wildcats gave up 97 points in an SEC quarterfinal loss to Texas A&M last week. It was the 12th time UK allowed 85-plus points, and the team went 6-6 in those games.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a question mark,” point guard DJ Wagner said Wednesday. “I’m confident in my teammates. I’m confident in my guys that we can do it, that we can play defense. We showed it before, so that’s what we’ve got to do in this tournament, because it’s win or go home. So now we got no choice, and I feel like we’ll do it.”

Late-season wins at Auburn and Tennessee and at home against Ole Miss proved the Cats are capable of defending. Those were among the eight games — all wins, not surprisingly — in which UK held an opponent below 40 percent shooting from the field.

“It’s really just grit and wanting to do it,” said Rob Dillingham, one of the most electric scorers in the country and a … less-than-stellar defender most nights. “If we don’t play defense, we’re not going to win. I know I’m ready to play defense. I’m pretty sure my teammates, they’re ready to play. It’s just us bringing up our intensity and want-to and not just thinking it’s going to be handed to us. It’s the end of the season now, so you should want to give it your all.”

Fifth-year senior star Antonio Reeves said Wednesday that he is “very confident in our defense” after spending the last few days focused on attacking ball screens and being more physical in the paint. But Oakland is going to test this newfound discipline.

The Golden Grizzlies attempt 40 percent of their shots from 3-point range, average 24.4 attempts and make almost nine 3s per game. Jake Gohlke’s 121 made 3s are the most by any player in this year’s NCAA Tournament and teammate Blake Lampman has made 83. Oakland made 14 3s in a six-point loss at Ohio State this season.

“We will either play defense,” sophomore center Ugonna Onyenso said, “or we lose.”

East: UConn

West: North Carolina

South: Kentucky

Midwest: Purdue

Championship: Purdue over UConn

There’s a reason no one has repeated as national champion since 2007: It’s really hard. Admittedly, UConn is really hard to pick against, but I’ve said Purdue since the start of the season and I’m not changing my mind. Everyone is reading disaster into the Boilermakers’ loss to Wisconsin in the Big Ten tournament; they said the same when Virginia lost in its conference semifinals in 2019. The Cavaliers went on to win it all.

CHARLOTTE — Tom Izzo got social media fired up over comments that appeared to give at least tacit support to SEC commissioner Greg Sankey’s push for more power-league opportunities in the NCAA Tournament.

He said those comments were misconstrued.

“I’m for the little guy,” Izzo told The Athletic after he was reached to clarify comments from an earlier Wednesday news conference. “I’m always for the little guy. I just think there are better ways we can do some things.”

Primarily, more coaching voices on the NCAA Tournament’s selection committee, he said. Izzo talked about that and his distaste for conference tournaments — a long-held belief of his — on the eve of Thursday’s game against Mississippi State to start his record 26th straight NCAA Tournament.

The Sankey-related response, though, got the most attention. Asked specifically about Sankey’s recent suggestions that schools in power leagues should have more opportunities at the expense of one-bid leagues, Izzo said: “I’m a Division II guy, you know, so I’m always looking for the little guys. I’m not very big myself, so I always have an appreciation, and maybe that would be a reason to expand. I just think what’s happening now, everybody likes the upsets in the first weekend, but I’m not sure moving on that’s what’s best for the game. I think it’s got to be looked at seriously.”

Sankey recently told ESPN of potential tournament expansion and changes: “We are giving away highly competitive opportunities for automatic qualifiers (from smaller leagues), and I think that pressure is going to rise as we have more competitive basketball leagues at the top end because of (conference) expansion.”

Sankey clarified to The Athletic on Saturday at the SEC tournament that he doesn’t envision a tournament of all schools from power leagues, but reiterated: “I understand access, I understand the special nature (of Cinderellas) and certainly respect that, but right now in college athletics, nothing is static.”

Izzo told The Athletic he hadn’t read Sankey’s specific comments. He was aware, though, of St. John’s coach Rick Pitino’s recent comments on the need for more coaching voices on the committee, which is made up of athletic directors and conference commissioners.

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The year is 1995 and the Villanova men’s basketball team is feeling pretty good about itself. The Wildcats have won 17 of 19, are coming off a rout of top-seeded Connecticut in the Big East Conference championship game, and have received a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The question entering their first-round game against 14th-seeded Old Dominion is not whether they will win, but by how much.

“We had a really good basketball team, we were the heavy favorites, and the next thing you know we find ourselves in triple overtime,” Paul Hewitt, an assistant with the team, recalls from the 89-81 loss. ”The dynamic shifted so quickly. All of a sudden there’s just so much stress on every pass and every shot.”

Fast forward to 2004. Hewitt is now at the other end of the spectrum as Georgia Tech’s head coach. After losing three of seven to end the regular season, the Yellow Jackets were bounced from the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament in the second round and trending in the wrong direction despite receiving a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament, where they will open against Northern Iowa.

“You walk in and no one expects anything out of us but we get on a run,” said Hewitt, whose squad advanced to the championship game before falling to Connecticut. “We were considered probably the last of the three seeds. But after the first game, I thought we were playing with house money. We had a talented group, but the fun of the tournament is the unpredictable nature of it and how stories can change between first half and second half.”

The capricious nature of March Madness is not only what makes it the most eagerly anticipated month on the sporting calendar, but also the reason NCAA officials should leave the tournament alone. There is talk they are considering expanding the field and possibly doing away with automatic bids, all in the name of increased revenue, presumably. But all money is not good money, particularly if it diminishes the core of what makes something special, and in the case of the NCAA men’s tournament, that remains its unpredictability.

Some argue that gambling is what drives interest, and to some degree, that’s true, as the American Gaming Association estimates that $2.7 billion will be bet this year on the men’s and women’s tournaments through legal sports books. But the stronger gravitational pull is chaos and the upheaval that comes from David slaying Goliath.

“You look at the Purdue game last year,” said Hewitt, currently the head coach of the San Diego Clippers of the G League. “Before the game, nobody even thought Fairleigh Dickinson had a chance. Next thing you know, in the middle of it, everybody is getting text messages — turn on the Purdue game.”

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Bracket season is finally upon us. It’s that time of year when we all put on our thinking caps and attempt to crack an unbreakable code by guessing how the field will shake out. While perfection is next to unobtainable, that’s hardly the goal here. The real glory is in bragging rights over your friends, family and co-workers in your bracket pools.

Here at The Athletic, we’re covering brackets from multiple angles, with plenty of analysis and expert breakdowns to help you fill out your brackets. But if you’ve clicked this link it means you want help on something else: What to call your bracket.

Congratulations, we’ve got you covered. In fact, in honor of the 68 teams in the field for each tournament (men’s and women’s), we’ve concocted 68 names to choose from for your bracket pool entry.

This way, even if you lose to Cheryl from H.R. who just built a bracket based on her favorite mascots, you can walk away proud, knowing you at least had a better bracket name.

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Since Florida repeated as national champs in 2007, no defending champion has advanced past the Sweet 16. That ends this year.

Connecticut is the most complete team in college basketball, and it’s going to end that streak and repeat as national champions. That was my pre-bracket prediction and I’m sticking with it, but the selection committee really has me uneasy about that prediction. The Huskies received no favors as the top overall seed. You could argue that UConn has the toughest path to Phoenix as any of the top seeds. Iowa State has the best defense in college basketball. Illinois has one of the best offenses and was a team pre-bracket that I was pretty sure I would push through to the Final Four, and Auburn is the candidate to be this season’s UConn.

My other pre-bracket rule: Fade the Big 12. The league is the most physical in the country and its teams, outside of Iowa State, are entering the NCAA Tournament bruised and battered. And if you look through the all-conference teams in the Big 12, the talent is not comparable to past years. There aren’t a lot of pros, and the talent is down. There are still a lot of good teams, but for most of the year it felt like Houston was the only great one. And Houston is a shell of itself right now.

Sometimes it’s a curse to watch a lot of college basketball because it leads to going too chalky. Last season, that would have gotten you in real trouble. This year the top is stronger. It’s not just the eye test. Adjusted efficiency margins at KenPom.com suggest this as well. For instance, last season’s No. 1 entering the tournament (Houston) would be this season’s No. 3. Last season’s No. 2 (UCLA) would fall to No. 6 this year. The numbers a year ago were hinting at possible chaos. This year we could get a more chalky Final Four.

Now, maybe you’ve come here for help with your bracket. My advice: If you’re convinced that UConn is the best team, then pick the Huskies. But if you’re not, there’s a lot of value in picking Purdue. The Boilermakers have been one of the best two teams in the country all season, but a lot of people are going to pick an early upset because Matt Painter’s team has lost in the first round in two of the last three tournaments — including No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson last year. This is not the same Purdue team. That one featured freshmen guards who were wearing down. Now Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer are sophomores, and Smith, in particular, has made a big leap and is one of the best point guards in the country. He also has playmaking help in Southern Illinois transfer guard Lance Jones.

I’m sticking with UConn, but I’ve got Purdue in the championship game.

Let’s get to the nitty gritty now. Here is a region-by-region breakdown.