Real Seeds: No. 1s All Tip in Prime Time

While some continue to debate who was seeded where and why for the NCAA Tournament, there was no debate about who would end up in prime-time TV slots for games Thursday and Friday.

All four top seeds (Kansas, Kentucky, Duke and Syracuse) were slotted to tip at 7:15 p.m. ET or later because, even in what should be lopsided matchups, the network believes, and ratings usually confirm, that big-name, top-seeded teams matter.

Not surprisingly, the 8-9 matchup in each of the four regions also was assigned to tip at night. Logically, at least according to seeds, that game should be the best first-round game in each region, which makes it a strong candidate as good TV. It's also a good fallback when the top seeds build big leads against their overmatched opponents in those same timeslots.

Here's a look at the TV times, team seeds and announcing tandems for all of the first-round games ...

THURSDAY AFTERNOON

12:20 p.m., 10 Florida vs. 7 BYU (Kevin Harlan/Dan Bonner)
12:25, p.m., 6 Notre Dame vs. 11 Old Dominion (Dick Enberg/Jay Bilas)
12:30 p.m., 2 Villanova vs. 15 Robert Moris (Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery)
2:30 p.m., 4 Vanderbilt vs. 13 Murray State (Spero Dedes/Bob Wenzel)
After 12:20 game, 2 Kansas State vs. 15 North Texas (Harlan/Bonner)
After 12:25 game, 3 Baylor vs. 14 Sam Houston (Enberg/Bilas)
After 12:30 game, 7 Richmond vs. 10 St. Mary's (Lundquist/Raftery)
After 2:30 game, 5 Butler vs. 12 UTEP (Dedes/Wenzel)

THURSDAY EVENING

7:10 p.m., 8 UNLV vs. 9 Northern Iowa (Harlan/Bonner)
7:15 p.m., 1 Kentucky vs. 16 East Tennessee State (Enberg/Bilas)
7:20 p.m., 6 Marquette vs. 11 Washington (Dedes/Wenzel)
7:25 p.m., 3 Georgetown vs. 14 Ohio (Lundquist/Raftery)
After 7:10 game, 1 Kansas vs. 16 Lehigh (Harlan/Bonner)
After 7:15 game, 8 Texas vs. 9 Wake Forest (Enberg/Bilas)
After 7:20 game, 3 New Mexico vs. 14 Montana (Dedes/Wenzel)
After 7:25 game, 6 Tennessee vs. 11 San Diego State (Lundquist/Raftery)

FRIDAY AFTERNOON

12:15 p.m., 2 West Virginia vs. 15 Morgan State (Gus Johnson/Len Elmore)
12:25 p.m., 6 Xavier vs. 11 Minnesota (Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel)
12:30 p.m., 5 Temple vs. 12 Cornell (Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg)
2:30 p.m., 4 Purdue vs. 13 Siena (Tim Brando/Mike Gminski)
After 12:15 game, 7 Clemson vs. 10 Missouri (Johnson/Elmore)
After 12:25 game, 3 Pitt vs. 14 Oakland (Eagle/Spanarkel)
After 12:30 game, 4 Wisconsin vs. 13 Woffard (Nantz/Kellogg)
After 2:30 game, 5 Texas A&M vs. 12 Utah State (Brando/Gminski)

FRIDAY EVENING

7:10 p.m., 8 Gonzaga vs. 9 Florida State (Johnson/Elmore)
7:15 p.m., 7 Oklahoma State vs. 10 Georgia Tech (Eagle/Spanarkel)
7:20 p.m., 5 Michigan State vs. 12 New Mexico State (Brando/Gminski)
7:25 p.m., 1 Duke vs. Arkansas Pine Bluff or Winthrop (Nantz/Kellogg)
After 7:10 game, 1 Syracuse vs. 16 Vermont (Johnson/Elmore)
After 7:15 game, 2 Ohio State vs. 15 UC-Santa Barbara (Eagle/Spanarkel)
After 7:20 game, 4 Maryland vs. 13 Houston (Brando/Gminski)
After 7:25 game, 8 California vs. 9 Louisville (Nantz/Kellogg)