The NCAA Tournament begins Thursday afternoon, and every year the college basketball world is rocked by highly-seeded teams being upset by small schools or low seeds trying to become that year's Cinderella. This year is no exception, and there are several big-time schools ripe for the picking.

In the Midwest region, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, led by their precocious freshman guard Marcus Smart, could be little more than bread floating in a pond for the hungry Oregon Ducks. The Ducks were given a No. 12 seed, despite beating UNLV (a No. 5 seed in the tournament), Arizona (a No. 6 seed), and UCLA twice, the second victory coming in the Pac-12 championship game. UCLA is also a No. 6 seed in the tournament. NCAA selection committee chairman Mike Bobinski admitted that scheduling issues forced them to bump Oregon down to No. 12 from a No. 11 seed, but that still seems low for a team that was second in their conference during the regular season and won the conference tournament. Oklahoma State's Smart is averaging 15 points, six rebounds and nearly five assists per game but his Cowboys got the roughest draw among all the No. 12 seeds.

In the West region, the Kansas State Wildcats need to be on high alert should the Boise State Broncos win their play-in game against the La Salle Explorers Wednesday night at 9:00 p.m. on TruTV. Boise State is led by guard/forward Anthony Drmic (17 points per game) and guard Derrick Marks (16 points per game). That high-octane backcourt may be able to surpass the one-man wrecking crew of senior guard Rodney McGruder for Kansas State. The Broncos may have only finished 9-7 in the Mountain West, but the NCAA tournament is all about guard play.

In the South, the No. 3 seed Florida Gators need to be wary of the tiny No. 14 seed Northwestern State Demons, who just so happened to lead the nation in scoring. The Demons have four players averaging double figure scoring numbers, and have made noise in tournaments past. They upset No. 3 Iowa in the final seconds of a first-round game in 2006.

In the East, the Syracuse Orange may have their hands full with No. 13 seed Montana. Montana was dominant in the Big Sky conference, compiling a 19-1 record, and rosters five players who shoot 40 percent or more from the 3-point line. Syracuse runs a 2-3 zone on defense, which is sometimes susceptible to hot-shooting teams.

These are the times and dates of every game taking place in the round of 64, according to CBSSports.com.

DateMatchupTimeTVGm #
"FIRST FOUR"
Mar. 19(16) NC A&T vs. (16) Liberty6:40truTV1
Mar. 19(11) Mid. Tennessee St. vs. (11) Saint Mary's9:10truTV2
Mar. 20(16) LIU-Brooklyn vs. (16) James Madison6:40truTV3
Mar. 20(13) Boise St. vs. (13) La Salle9:10truTV4
SECOND ROUND
Mar. 21(14) Valparaiso vs. (3) Michigan St.12:15CBS5
Mar. 21(11) Bucknell vs. (6) Butler12:40truTV6
Mar. 21(9) Wichita St. vs. (8) Pittsburgh1:40TBS7
Mar. 21(13) New Mexico St. vs. (4) Saint Louis2:10TNT8
Mar. 21(6) Memphis vs. (11) MTSU/SMU2:45CBS9
Mar. 21(14) Davidson vs. (3) Marquette3:10truTV10
Mar. 21(16) Southern vs. (1) Gonzaga4:10TBS11
Mar. 21(12) Oregon vs. (5) Oklahoma St.4:40TNT12
Mar. 21(16) NC A&T/Lib. vs. (1) Louisville6:50TBS13
Mar. 21(13) South Dakota St. vs (4) Michigan7:15CBS14
Mar. 21(11) Belmont vs. (6) Arizona7:20TNT15
Mar. 21(12) California vs. (5) UNLV7:27truTV16
Mar. 21(9) Missouri vs. (8) Colorado St.9:20TBS17
Mar. 21(12) Akron vs. (5) VCU9:45CBS18
Mar. 21(14) Harvard vs. (3) New Mexico9:50TNT19
Mar. 21(13) Montana vs. (4) Syracuse9:57truTV20
Mar. 22(15) Albany (NY) vs. (2) Duke12:15CBS21
Mar. 22(12) Ole Miss vs. (5) Wisconsin12:40truTV22
Mar. 22(9) Temple vs. (8) North Carolina St.1:40TBS23
Mar. 22(15) Pacific vs. (2) Miami (FL)2:10TNT24
Mar. 22(10) Cincinnati vs. (7) Creighton2:45CBS25
Mar. 22(13) BSU/La Salle vs. (4) Kansas St.3:10truTV26
Mar. 22(16) LIU-Brooklyn/JMU vs. (1) Indiana4:10TBS27
Mar. 22(10) Colorado vs. (7) Illinois4:45TNT28
Mar. 22(15) Florida Gulf Coast vs. (2) Georgetown6:50TBS29
Mar. 22(15) Iona vs. (2) Ohio State7:15CBS30
Mar. 22(9) Villanova vs. (8) North Carolina7:20TNT31
Mar. 22(14) Northwestern St. vs. (3) Florida7:27truTV32
Mar. 22(10) Oklahoma vs. (7) San Diego St.9:20TBS33
Mar. 22(10) Iowa State vs. (7) Notre Dame9:45CBS34
Mar. 22(16) W. Kentucky vs. (1) Kansas9:50TNT35
Mar. 22(11) Minnesota vs. (6) UCLA9:57truTV36
NOTE: Third-Round Games and Beyond are Tentative
Mar. 23Third Round12:00CBS37
Mar. 23Third Round2:30CBS38
Mar. 23Third Round5:00CBS39
Mar. 23Third Round6:00TNT40
Mar. 23Third Round7:00TBS41
Mar. 23Third Round7:30CBS42
Mar. 23Third Round8:30TNT43
Mar. 23Third Round9:30CBS44
Mar. 24Third Round12:00CBS45
Mar. 24Third Round2:30CBS46
Mar. 24Third Round5:00CBS47
Mar. 24Third Round6:00TNT48
Mar. 24Third Round7:00TBS49
Mar. 24Third Round7:30truTV50
Mar. 24Third Round8:30TNT51
Mar. 24Third Round9:30TBS52
Mar. 28Sweet 167:00CBS53
Mar. 28Sweet 167:30TBS54
Mar. 28Sweet 169:30CBS55
Mar. 28Sweet 1610:00TBS56
Mar. 29Sweet 167:00CBS57
Mar. 29Sweet 167:30TBS58
Mar. 29Sweet 169:30CBS59
Mar. 29Sweet 1610:00TBS60
Mar. 30Elite Eight4:20CBS61
Mar. 30Elite Eight6:55CBS62
Mar. 31Elite Eight2:10CBS63
Mar. 31Elite Eight4:55CBS64
Apr. 6Final Four6:00CBS65
Apr. 6Final Four8:49CBS66
Apr. 82013 NCAA National Championship9:23CBS67
Tags
March madness