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March Madness Day 1 Early Guide

It's here! It's finally here!

Perhaps the greatest two days in all of sportsdom just kicked off, with No. 12 Clemson and No. 5 West Virginia underway.

The games are staggered more than ever to allow you to see all of them, so there isn't the nice, neat division between early and late their used to be. However, there is a pretty clear cut of early games (11:15 to 3:40) and late games (5:50 to 8:57).

Here's a quick and dirty guide to the early games of the 2011 NCAA Tournament for you, with stats courtesy of KenPom.com and BetVega.com. Use this as your reference when the games start and enjoy the show.

11:15

(5) West Virginia

(12) Clemson

LINE

+120

-140

PACE

63.6 Pos/G

65.1 Pos/G

KENPOM RANK (OFF/DEF)

22 (32/29)

21 (69/6)

MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS

25 Darryl Bryant (24.2 Asst Rate)

3 Casey Mitchell (32.4 Shot%)

13 Deniz Kilicli (11.5 Off Reb%)

24 Milton Jennings (Def Reb%)

SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTORS

 

2 Demontez Stitt (22.0 Asst Rate)

45 Jerai Grant (10% Block Rate)

KenPom Chance of Win

49%

51%

KenPom Predicted Score

61

62

FanMatch: Second best game of the day.

SB Nation Dallas-Ft. Worth Picks

Code: WVU
Griffin: WVU
Perryman: WVU
Starkey: WVU
Fittz: Clemson
London: Clemson

Ponting: Clemson

11:40

(8) Butler

(9) Old Dominion

LINE

+110

-130

PACE

64.4 Pos/G

61.4 Pos/G

KENPOM RANK (OFF/DEF)

50 (41/75)

48 (66/47)

MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS

21 Frank Hassell (15% Off Reb)

1 Shelvin Mack (2.0 Fouls/G)

54 Matt Howard (121.9 O Rating)

SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTORS

35 Ben Finney (10.7% Off Reb)

24 Kent Bazemore (4.8 Steal%)

23 Khyle Marshall (52% eFG)

KenPom Chance of Win

49%

51%

KenPom Predicted Score

61

62

FanMatch: Ninth best game of the day.

SB Nation Dallas-Ft. Worth Picks
Fittz: Butler
Griffin: Butler
Perryman: Butler
Code: ODU
Starkey: ODU
London: ODU

12:40

(4) Louisville

(13) Morehead State

LINE

+450

-600

PACE

67.7 Pos/G

64.7 Pos/G

KENPOM RANK (OFF/DEF)

12 (40/5)

94 (109/86)

MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS

2 Preston Knowles (3.5 Steal%)

22 Demonte Harper (28.6% Possesions Used)

35 Kenneth Faried (Nation’s Top Off and Def Reb%)

SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTORS

3 Peyton Siva (34.2 Asst Rate)

23 Terrence Jennings (8.7 Block%)

4 Rakeem Buckles (23.3 D Reb%)

 

KenPom Chance of Win

88%

12%

KenPom Predicted Score

71

59

FanMatch: 12th best game of the day.

SB Nation Dallas-Ft. Worth Picks
Louisville

1:10

(7) Temple

(10) Penn State

LINE

-145

+125

PACE

65.3 Pos/G

60.5 Pos/G

KENPOM RANK (OFF/DEF)

38 (51/36)

40 (35/58)

MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS

23 Ramone Moore (2.1 Fouls/40)

12 Talor Battle (95% Min, 1.6 Fouls/40)

2 Taran Buie (33.6% Shots)

SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTORS

24 Lavoy Allen (20.3% Def Reb)

4 Juan Fernandez (24.9 Asst Rate)

1 Khalif Wyatt (115 Off Rating)

50 Michael Fric (101 Off Rating)

25 Jeff Brooks (59.1 eFG%)

KenPom Chance of Win

51%

49%

KenPom Predicted Score

62

61

FanMatch: Seventh best game of the day.

SB Nation Dallas-Ft. Worth Picks
Code: Temple
Fittz: Temple
Griffin: Temple
London: Temple
Perryman: Temple

Ponting: Temple
Starkey: Penn State

1:45

(4) Kentucky

(13) Princeton

LINE

-1400

+800

PACE

66.8 Pos/G

64.3 Pos/G

KENPOM RANK (OFF/DEF)

6 (7/21)

89 (104/82)

MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS

3 Terrence Jones (6.5 Fouls Drawn/40 Min)

12 Brandon Knight (89.1% Min)

34 Ian Hummer (55.7 eFG%)

SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTORS

 

33 Dan Mavraides (80.6% Min)

2 Kareem Maddox (62.2 True Shooting%)

KenPom Chance of Win

90%

10%

KenPom Predicted Score

73

60

FanMatch: 13th best game of the day.

SB Nation Dallas-Ft. Worth Picks
Code: Kentucky
Fittz: Kentucky
Griffin: Kentucky
London: Kentucky
Perryman: Kentucky

Ponting: Kentucky
Starkey: Princeton

2:10

(1) Pittsburgh

(16) UNC Asheville

LINE

Off

Off

PACE

63.3 Pos/G

68.9 Pos/G

KENPOM RANK (OFF/DEF)

5 (6/20)

146 (205/94)

MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS

22 Brad Wanamaker (32.8 Assist Rate)

44 J.J. Moore (14.2% Min)

3 J.P. Primm (3.5 Steal%)

SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTORS

12 Ashton Gibbs (126.8 O Rating)

5 Gilbert Brown (114.9 O Rating)

35 Nasir Robinson (9.7 O Reb%)

2 Matt Dickey (3.2 Steal%)

4 Chris Stephenson (3.2 Steal%)

33 D.J. Cunningham (23.1 Def Rebound%)

KenPom Chance of Win

95%

5%

KenPom Predicted Score

76

58

FanMatch: Worst game of the day.

SB Nation Dallas-Ft. Worth Picks
Pittsburgh

3:10

(5) Vanderbilt

(12) Richmond

LINE

-150

+130

PACE

67.7 Pos/G

63.8 Pos/G

KENPOM RANK (OFF/DEF)

30 (13/73)

45 (48/50)

MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS

44 jeffery Taylor (25.8% Poss)

3 Festus Ezeli (10.8 Block%)

14 Kevin Anderson (89.3% Min)

32 Justin Harper (63.1 eFG%)

41 Dan Geriot (24.2 Asst Rate)

SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTORS

23 John Jenkins (1.6 Fouls/40)

 

KenPom Chance of Win

56%

44%

KenPom Predicted Score

70

68

FanMatch: Sixth best game of the day.

SB Nation Dallas-Ft. Worth Picks
Fittz: Vandy
Griffin: Vandy
Perryman: Vandy
Starkey: Vandy

Ponting: Vandy
Code: Richmond
London: Richmond

3:40

(2) San Diego State

(15) Northern Colorado

LINE

Off

Off

PACE

64.1 Pos/G

68.0 Pos/G

KENPOM RANK (OFF/DEF)

7 (25/4)

123 (111/142)

MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS

15 Kawhi Leonard (26.5 Def Rebound%)

32 Devon Beitzel (65.5 True Shooting %)

SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTORS

4 Malcolm Thomas (7.2 Block%)

32 Billy White (58.4 eFG%)

21 Jamaal Franklin (58.4 eFG%)

10 Chris Kaba (50.5% FT Created)

33 Neal Kingman (57.3 True Shooting %)

3 Paul Garnica (37.8% Min)

0 Emmanuel Addo (49.3% FT Created)

KenPom Chance of Win

94%

6%

KenPom Predicted Score

74

59

FanMatch: Fifteenth best game of the day.

SB Nation Dallas-Ft. Worth Picks
San Diego State

Photographs by jamesbrandon, jdtornow, phlezk, flygraphix, mcdlttx, tomasland, and literalbarrage used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.