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The NCAA tournament will continue Friday with 16 more games. The 12 hour marathon, which consists of truly winning matches or winners at home, really begins after noon, Eastern time.

Here's how we classify Friday's games:

1. No. 6 Buffalo vs. No. 11 Arizona State (4 pm, TNT). The Sun Devils won their first game against St. John's and are trying to keep up the momentum in their first-round matchup against Buffalo, a dangerous mid-major who won an excellent game with a 31-3 record. Bobby Hurley faces his former teammate and assistant, Nate Oats, in a game that considers only the power conference team as the best seed.

2. No. 5 Wisconsin c. No. 12 Oregon (4:30 pm Eastern Time, TBS). The Ducks, who have had eight straight wins, won the Pac-12 tournament and clinched March Madness. They are now the favorites of the outsiders to move the South. The Badgers are led by big All-American man Ethan Happ (17.5 points per game, 10.1 points per game).

3. Mississippi State No. 5 vs. Freedom No. 5 (7:27 pm, TBS). In a viable scenario, the Flames will rely on the top six defensemen to control the match's tempo, reminiscent of Virginia's first-choice style (coach Ritchie McKay being the UVA assistant for six years). ). The state of Mississippi, meanwhile, will try to use its athletics as a benefit.

4. N ° 4 Kansas State vs. No. 13 UC Irvine (2 pm, Eastern Time, TBS). Another potential opponent in the Southern region, the Anteaters are looking to become a major Cinderella by eliminating the co-champion Big 12, which has many vulnerabilities for a team of conferences on energy.

Zion Williamson will play his first game in the NCAA when Duke takes on North Dakota. (Photo: Bob Donnan, USA TODAY Sports)

5. Duke No. 1 against the State of North Dakota (7:10 pm, CBS). Normally, a No. 1 seed rooting out a lower opponent would not appear as high on our observability list. But Zion Williamson who travels a school in the Summit League will probably not be at the root of a shortage of flagship movie rolls.

6. No. 1 Virginia vs. No. 16 Gardner-Webb (3:10 pm, TruTV). Will this happen again? Perhaps the most interesting match of the first round is the one that puts the Cavaliers in first place in the first round, just one year after their historic loss to 16th-seed Maryland Baltimore County. The Cavaliers will surely devote their attention to this little mid-major this time, but the story that repeats itself makes this game difficult to ignore.

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7. State of Iowa No. 6 c. Ohio State No. 11 (9:50 pm (ET), TBS). The Cyclones have just won the title of the Big 12 tournament and win against a team from the state of Ohio who pulled himself out of the bubble. Look for top scorer Kaleb Wesson as factor X in this match while OSU tries to play spoiler.

8. State of Utah, No. 8, No. 9, Washington (6:50 pm, New York time). The Aggies are very hot, they have had a series of 10 consecutive wins and look like a dangerous team for North Carolina in the second round. But they will first have to overcome the Pac-12 regular season champion. Normally, this type of material would give the Huskies a seed among the top five. Not in a horrible year for the Pac-12, though. Sam Merrill (21.2 points per game, 4.2 points per game) of USU is not to be missed, as is the Pac-12 player Jaylen Nowell.

9. No. 2 Tennessee vs No. 15 Colgate (2:45 pm ET, CBS). Colgate is better than his starting line and will be looking to use his top 15 three-point shooting positions to become the tournament's biggest defenseman to date. Volunteers, for many reasons, are legitimate contenders for Final Four. One of these reasons is All-American Grant Williams. The other is the human bulldozer, Admiral Schofield. Rapolas Ivanauskas is a 6-10 forward who pulls 44 percent farther for Colgate, and goalkeeper Jordan Burns has a 35-point performance to help the Raiders win the Patriot League.

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10. No. 3 Houston c. 14 State of Georgia (7:20 pm, SCT). The Cougars have been the best team of the American Athletic with 31 wins and are doomed to a quick race with Kentucky in the Sweet 16. But the Panthers are half-weighty with the hopes of getting in their way . Houston is leading the group in terms of defense percentage (leaving only 36.7% of shots to his opponents), and it seems that the GSU guards will try a long night.

11. Texas Tech # 3 c. North Kentucky No. 14 (1:30 pm, TNT time). The Red Raiders have won a series of consecutive wins to win a share of the Big 12 regular season, but are now looking to regain their ways to win after a quick win in the Big 12 tournament final against West Virginia. It starts and ends with Jarrett Culver (18.5 points per game, 6.3 games per game, 3.7 games per game) for Texas Tech. Northern Kentucky has an attack capable of winning the surprise game – ranking in the top 25 in the country in percentage of goals scored (48%). Drew McDonald (19.1 points per game, 9.5 rebounds per game) of the Norse lead four players with a two-digit average.

12. No. 8 Ole Miss vs. No. 9 Oklahoma (12:40 pm, TruTV). First-year coach Rebels Kermit Davis have lost three of their last four games, while the Sooners have lost eight out of 12. Thus, neither team has reached its peak. But both teams have enough talent to knock out Virginia in the second round and make a surprise trip to Sweet 16. Coach Lon Kruger has made this team of the OU play defense at a high level (ranked among the top 25 in the FG percentage defense) in the post-Trey Young era. His team will have to contain the explosiveness of Breein Tyree (18.2 points per game), the guard of Olle Miss.

13. No 7 Cincinnati vs. No 10 Iowa (12:15, CBS). The Bearcats enjoy a unique advantage on the home ground in Columbus, nearby, for this first-round match. After winning the CAA tournament, they were overwhelmed. That could be bad news for an Iowa team that has just been hit in Michigan's Big Ten tournament by 21 points – its fifth loss in six games. During this last defeat, leader Jordan Bohannon was aimless, and he will have to produce for Iowa to be in on it.

14. UCV # 8 vs. UCF # 9 (9:40 pm, CBS). The top-10 VCU defense (awarding 61.6 points per game and 38% penalty shoot-out) meets a UCF team that has lost its last two games, but is looking for the Knights to get the upper hand in this match . Goaltenders B.J. Taylor and Aubrey Dawkins (36 points on March 9 against Temple) are hard to stop, while Tacko Fall, a 7-foot-6 man, is a daunting presence. Meanwhile, the Rams offensive is struggling and top scorer Marcus Evans will be back in training – even if it's not 100%.

15. No. 4 Virginia Tech vs. No. 13 St. Louis (9:57 pm, TrueTV). Surprisingly, the Billikens won the Atlantic 10 tournament by winning their NCAAs ticket, beating Dayton, Davidson and Saint Bonaventure, while limiting them to an average of 51 points per competition. But now, they will face a CAC team that surpasses them in almost every field. There are many statistics that do not favor St. Louis in this one, starting with an often stagnant attack (304th in the country), an inability to connect at long distance (327th in three goals) and horrible. Free throw (350th on 353 Division I teams at 60%). That being said, it's March and Travis Ford's team is very confident of a shock. The Hokies are expected to find back-guard Justin Robinson, who has missed the past 12 games due to an injury. These extra ammunition could make the difference in this shot and in the next rounds.

16. No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 16 Iona (9:20 pm, TNT). Tar heels should have an easy way with the MAAC winner, using their explosive attack to navigate. Look for first year goaltender Coby White so that he's really nervous at the next tune-up.

Follow Scott Gleeson from USA TODAY Sports on Twitter @ScottMGleeson.

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