We’re knee deep into the madness as the second day of the First Round continues to rage on. We’ve seen the dramatic upsets, we’ve seen the No. 16 Cinderella come oh-so-close to that massive upset. The buzzer beaters, the half court shots. The joy of victory, the agony of defeat. We’ve seen the final Power 4 school finally notch that victory. Fathers and sons on both sides of these games. There’s plenty of more madness left to go, and next up is Saturday’s Second Round games. Let’s take a look at all eight games of the Second Round and make our March Madness picks for Saturday, March 21st.
No. 12 High Point highlighted the madness as they took down No. 5 Wisconsin in the classic 12-seed over 5-seed upset. Nebraska picked up their first ever tournament win. Duke and Louisville survived potential upset bids. VCU took down the mighty North Carolina Tar Heels, and Texas upset BYU. All those teams that played Thursday, turn around and play again Saturday with hopes of punching their ticket to the Sweet 16.
*All times Eastern
No. 9 St Louis vs No. 1 Michigan 12:10
The Billikens blew out the Georgia Bulldogs who had no shot against them on Thursday. It was a little different story for Michigan who played with their food a little. They were down to Howard in the second half, but as soon as they stepped on the gas, they were gone. St Louis showed they are a team to be taken seriously, and while Michigan’s talent is elite, the Billikens should be able to hang with the Wolverines. I really like taking St Louis to cover the first half of this game, and I’ll take them to keep it close all the way through as well.
Pick: St Louis +12.5
No. 6 Louisville vs No. 3 Michigan State 2:45
Louisville survived a potential upset bid by South Florida on Thursday. While Michigan State breezed past North Dakota State with relative ease. In this matchup, the Spartans will have a huge advantage, both figuratively and literally. Michigan State should look to dominate with their bigs and take advantage of a smaller Cardinals team. Michigan State is also easily the more physical team, giving them a huge advantage. Louisville will also once again be without Mikel Brown Jr. Michigan State should roll in this one.
Pick: Michigan State -4.5
No. 9 TCU vs No. 1 Duke 4:15
The Horned Frogs pulled the mini upset over No. 8 Ohio State in a tough, fought-back-and-forth game. Duke really put on a scare as the No. 1 seed in the entire tournament, being held on the ropes by No. 16 Sienna until the bitter end. Duke’s talent outlasted Sienna’s heart in the end. This game will likely come down to how prepared the Blue Devils are at tip-off. They weren’t prepared for the “cake walk” against Sienna, and it showed. Was that the wake-up call they needed? I think it was, and the real Duke team will show up. TCU’s inability to hit free throws Thursday almost cost them, and it will this time.
Pick: Duke -11.5
No. 10 Texas A&M vs No. 2 Houston 6:10
The Texas A&M Aggies pulled off the 10-7 seed upset over the Saint Mary’s Gales. A game in which they never trailed. While Houston dismantled the Vandals of Idaho as expected for a No. 2 vs No. 15 matchup. This game pits two teams with two entirely different styles on Saturday. Texas A&M is high-flying and fast-paced. Houston, on the other hand, likes to slow the game down and control the pace. Who plays to their speed could be the difference in this one. I think Texas A&M will push the pace and force Houston to keep up. The Aggies are live dogs in this one.
Pick: Texas A&M +11
No. 11 Texas vs No. 3 Gonzaga 7:10
The Texas Longhorns won their way into the field of 64 via the play-in game, then upset BYU in the First Round. Now, they’ll face the Gonzaga Bulldogs, who struggled in the First Round with the Kennesaw State Owls. Texas can’t be discounted after winning back-to-back games and seeing Gonzaga struggle. But it’s the perfect time to jump on the Bulldogs wagon. Mark Few will get things fixed, and this Zags defense is elite. That’ll be enough to end the potential Cinderella run of the Longhorns.
Pick: Gonzaga -5.5
No. 11 VCU vs No. 3 Illinois 7:50
The Rams of Virginia Commonwealth needed overtime, but it was enough to upset the North Carolina Tarheels. Now they’ll look to play Cinderella against the Big Ten’s Illinois, who let Penn hang around in the first half and then easily put them away down the stretch. VCU looked good against North Carolina, but North Carolina was a bit of a fraud. Illinois isn’t a fraud, and this is a solid team from the best conference in the country. I’m a bit shocked this lube is so short; Illinois rolls in this game.
Pick: Illinois -10.5
No. 5 Vanderbilt vs No. 4 Nebraska 8:45
Vanderbilt held on to avoid the upset after McNeese State kept the game close until the end. Their opponent Nebraska finally got the monkey off their back and got that first win in the NCAA Tournament. After never winning a game prior to this year, can they make it two wins and their first ever berth in the Sweet 16? These teams are evenly matched, and this should be a great game. They might be a No. 4 seed, but Nebraska could be considered a Cinderella story after being picked 14th in the Big Ten. They’ll once again have the home crowd here, and the Huskers make it not one, but two wins.
Pick: Nebraska +2
No. 12 High Point vs No. 4 Arkansas 9:45
High Point pulled off the big upset over Wisconsin in the First Round, and they’ll look to keep it rolling in round two. They’ll take on the Arkansas Razorbacks who easily destroyed the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors. I wrote about the Panthers in my Cinderella article for 2026. This team has all the makes of 2026’s Cinderella team, so I’m going to keep riding with them.
Pick: High Point +11.5
