March 15
The NCAA Tournament got off to a super, scintillating, sensational start Thursday. You can expect even more Shock City when day two gets under way.

Here's a quick look at each of Friday's games by region (listed with the earliest games first; all times are Eastern):

	Bob Knight will be coaching his first NCAA Tournament game at Texas Tech.

EAST REGION
(7) N.C. State vs. (10) Michigan State, 12:15 p.m.: Tom Izzo probably wasn't too happy to be a 10th seed. Did N.C. State use up too much emotion in playing Virginia, Maryland and Duke at the ACC tournament? It should be a great battle between Anthony Grundy and Marcus Taylor.

(2) Connecticut vs. (15) Hampton, 2:30 p.m.: Can Hampton score a Shock City for the second straight year? You can bet Jim Calhoun will remind his UConn team about Hampton's upset last year over Iowa State. Caron Butler, Ben Gordon and company will be prepared.

(8) Wisconsin vs. St. John's (9), 7:40 p.m.: Bo Ryan has done a super job this season with the Badgers after a slow start. Can his team contain Marcus Hatten, an explosive scorer for the Red Storm?

(6) Texas Tech vs. (11) Southern Illinois, 7:50 p.m.: Bob Knight and company will not have an easy time against Bruce Weber's team. Andre Emmett is the most improved player in America. He has to come up big for the Red Raiders.

(1) Maryland vs. (16) Siena, 9:55 p.m.: Certainly Siena is happy to have moved on following its win over Alcorn State on Tuesday. But this is a different story against No. 1 Maryland and Juan Dixon, especially in the MCI Center.

(3) Georgia vs. (14) Murray State, 10:05 p.m.: Can Jim Harrick's team respond after struggling down the stretch and coming off a loss to LSU in the SEC tournament?

MIDWEST REGION
(5) Florida vs. (12) Creighton, 12:30 p.m.: It's been a rocky stretch for the Gators, including Brett Nelson suffering a broken cheekbone this week. We'll see how effective Udonis Haslem is as he may be coming off the bench.

(4) Illinois vs. (13) San Diego State, 2:45 p.m.: Wow -- Steve Fisher against a Big Ten opponent. San Diego State is very athletic. Frank Williams and Cory Bradford have to be consistent for the Fightin' Illini to advance.

(3) Mississippi State vs. (14) McNeese State, 7:55 p.m.: Rick Stansbury has done a terrific job, leading the Bulldogs to the SEC tournament championship. Mario Austin inside is an underrated up-and-comer.

(6) Texas vs. (11) Boston College, 10:10 p.m.: The Eagles get a chance at redemption. Can they contain T.J. Ford's passing ability? It will be a tough test for BC because the game is in Dallas.

SOUTH REGION
(6) California vs. (11) Penn, 12:25 p.m.: The Quakers have been battle-tested and are capable of giving California a run for the money. Will the Golden Bears' size up front be the difference?

(3) Pittsburgh vs. (14) Central Connecticut State, 2:40 p.m.: The key question is the status of Panthers point guard Brandin Knight, who hurt his knee in the Big East tournament championship game. He is expected to play, but how effectively? Howie Dickenman's team has the nation's longest winning streak at 19 straight games.

WEST REGION
(2) Oklahoma vs. (15) Illinois-Chicago, 12:30 p.m.: Oklahoma was impressive in winning the Big 12 tournament title, including a big W over Kansas in the championship game. Kelvin Sampson's team will play hard, and Ebi Ere has been one of the key newcomers across America this season.

(7) Xavier vs. (10) Hawaii, 2:45 p.m.: The WAC made noise on opening day with Tulsa's win over Marquette. Can Hawaii make it two for two? David West was one of my super seven this season. Can he lead Xavier to the winner's circle?

(1) Cincinnati vs. (16) Boston U., 7:40 p.m.: Cincinnati's suffocating defense goes up against a Boston University team that was impressive in winning its conference tournament final. But Steve Logan and company should be just too strong.

(8) UCLA vs. (9) Mississippi, 9:55 p.m.: Which UCLA team will show up? Certainly, point guard play will be a key for the Bruins. Plus, UCLA must get solid inside play from Dan Gadzuric and outside shooting from Jason Kapono.