The first round of the tournament is probably one of the most exciting, usually setting the tempo for the whole tournament. If you see a bunch of early upsets you can rest assured that the whole tournament will be turned on its head and the latter rounds will be nothing short of fantastic. Below are some interesting first round games that could make the tournament even more exciting.

The East

#8 Indiana vs #9 Arkansas

Why Watch? This game is interesting for IU. IU had been a top 25, heck top 15 team, almost all year. It wasn’t until Kelvin Sampson was fired and took a buy out after NCAA infractions surfaced, that this team seemed to have the heart taken out of them. IU has probably two of the best players in the NCAA’s in Center, DJ White and Guard, Eric Gordon. If IU can find the heart and the offense they had earlier in the year they can make it past Arkansas and meet up with North Carolina for a very compelling round two match up.

Midwest

#6 USC vs. #11 Kansas State

Why Watch? Two players will make this game great. Michael Beasley and OJ Mayo are two of the Nation’s most prolific freshman. While Beasley is probably the better of the two, both average over 20 points a game and both have lead their teams to very good seasons. USC has played in the very tough Pac 10 and split their season series with conference stalwart UCLA, while KSU played inconsistent but had key victories over Pitt and Kansas. The buzz will most certainly be over Beasley and Mayo but the game will be a good one all around.

South

#6 Marquette vs. #11 Kentucky

Why Watch? Kentucky is a team that was pretty much a bubble team all year. They started off poorly before putting together a good run in the middle of the SEC season. They only lost to the SEC leader Tennessee by 3 in Knoxville and are a solid Big East team that went to the semifinals in the conference tournament. They have beaten Kentucky the last two times they’ve met in the NCAA’s and are lead by veteran coach Tom Crean who knows how to get his teams ready to play. Marquette beat #3 seeded Wisconsin and split their season series with both Pitt and Notre Dame.

The winner of this game will most likely have a tough next game against #3 Stanford.

West

#3 Xavier vs #14 Georgia

Why Watch? Normally a 3 vs 14 isn’t too exciting, however Georgia is probably the best story coming into the tournament. They put together an unlikely run in the SEC tournament playing four games in three days because of weather issues in and around Atlanta, to win the SEC. They weren’t even a thought for the tournament heading into their conference tourney with a 4-12 conference record. Xavier should win this…but, if Georgia still has any magic left in their slippers they could be one of the best Cinderella stories in the history of the tournament.