2023 NCAA Tournament live stream: Watch basketball online Friday

By Maggie On Mar 17, 2023

2023 NCAA Tournament live stream: Watch basketball online Friday; the March Madness picture has been changed following the first day of first-round action in 2023, as brackets throughout the country have already been busted by historic upsets. All the excitement of this magnificent tournament was on display, from Princeton’s 11th No. 15 seed-over-2 upset to No. 13 seed Furman’s last-second heroics over No. 4 seed Virginia. What’s the good news? On Friday, 16 more contests remain.

Six games are scheduled for Friday, with the most action happening in the East Region, where No. 1 Purdue takes on No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson. The day begins with a matchup between No. 7 Michigan State and No. 10 USC. After the Michigan State-USC game, Marquette’s remaining No. 2 seed will start its tournament run against the No. 15 seed in the East Region, Vermont.

On Friday, the final four No. 3 seeds will play, and plenty more upsets and upsetters can be expected from the middle of the bracket as the first round concludes. These are several major developing plots to watch as you start your day.

One of the Big East’s best faces is Rick Pitino.

Several games in the Albany, New York pod have upset potential, including a defensive fight between Saint Mary’s and VCU and a pair of late-night tips from the Midwest Region involving a No. 4 seed. Indiana will play No. 13 Kent State, while No. 5 Miami will play No. 12, Drake. Yet the matchup between No. 4 UConn and No. 13 Iona will be the most exciting of the day.

Despite having a solid but inconsistent regular season, the Huskies have set their sights on a deep run in this tournament, which is being held in Albany, a city roughly two hours drive from both campuses. UConn’s opponent, Rick Pitino, and Iona have been linked to the vacant head coaching positions at St. John’s and Georgetown in the Big East. The possibility of Pitino’s return to a major conference adds significant undertones to this game against UConn in the Northeast because it may be one of the biggest storylines of the coaching carousel.

Pitt and Arizona State hope to win the First Four.

When the field was enlarged to 68 teams, and the First Four was introduced, 10 of the 12 prior NCAA Tournaments saw a team win in Dayton and advance to the next round. Pitt, the No. 11 seed in the Midwest Region, beat Mississippi State, the No. 6 seed, on Tuesday, setting up a meeting with Iowa State, the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region. Even though the No. 11 seed Arizona State Sun Devils were playing Nevada on a day of rest, they still cruised to a 98-73 victory. In Denver, the day will end with a match between the No. 1-seed Broncos and the No. 6-seed Horned Frogs.

The matchup between No. 8 Memphis and No. 9 FAU is today’s featured contest.

The best No. 8 seed in the East Region faces the best No. 9 seed in the field, so brew an extra pot of coffee so you can watch the action because the winner of this game might pose a severe threat to No. 1 seed Purdue in the second round. FAU is a great team to watch because of its deep rotation and abundance of shooters, which has helped them reach a 31-3 record and a league-best scoring margin of 13.8 points per game.

The Owls have four players who each average close to 40% from beyond the arc, allowing them to rank in the top 30 in both 3-point shooting frequency and 3-point shooting efficiency. Memphis recently displayed its potential by defeating Houston in the AAC Tournament final game. The Grizzlies have one of the best guard-forward duos in the East Region in Kendric Davis and DeAndre Williams. The Tigers’ tenacious defense is responsible for several high-scoring games and an exciting 91-88 victory over then-No. 1 Alabama in Tuscaloosa earlier this season.