DAYTON — We now know who will start this year’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament in the First Four here in Dayton and when the games will start.
>>PHOTOS: Airmen from WPAFB attend previous First Four
The match-ups for this year’s First Four are:
- No. 16 Texas A&M Corpus Christi vs No .16 Southeast Missouri State, 6:40 p.m. Tuesday
- No. 11 Mississippi State vs No. 11 Pittsburgh, 9:10 p.m. Tuesday
- No. 16 Texas Southern vs No. 11 Fairleigh Dickinson, 6:40 p.m. Wednesday
- No. 11 Arizona State vs No. 11 Nevada, 9:10 p.m. Wednesday
>>March Madness: College basketball fans seeking perfect bracket face astronomical odds
The winner of Texas A&M Corpus Christi/SE Missouri State advances to the First Round and will play the no 1. seed Alabama on Thursday in Birmingham, Alabama at 2:45 p.m. That game will be televised here on Channel 7.
The winner of Mississippi State/Pitt plays Friday against no. 6 Iowa State in Greensboro, North Carolina Friday afternoon at 3:10 p.m.
The last time the Panthers played an NCAA Tournament game at the UD Arena was in 2009. They were a no. 1 seed in the East Regional. They beat ETSU, 72-62, and Oklahoma State, 84-76.
>>March Madness: Alabama is men’s top seed in NCAA Tournament
The winner of Texas Southern/Fairleigh Dickinson moves on to play no. 1 seed Purdue in Columbus in the East Region Friday night at 6:40 p.m.
The winner between Arizona State/Nevada will play no. 6 TCU Friday night in Denver, Colorado at 10:05 p.m. This will be the Sun Devils’ third appearance in the First Four in Dayton. They lost to Syracuse in 2018 and beat St. John’s in 2019.
>>Tickets, parking remain available for First Four in Dayton
More information on purchasing First Four tickets can be found here.
The teams will hold public practice sessions at the UD Arena.
The first session will be Monday, March 13, from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. and the second session is Tuesday afternoon from 12 p.m.-3 p.m.
Admission and parking is free.
Complete information can be found on The Big Hoopla’s website here.