Defending champion North Carolina will begin their quest for a repeat as NCAA champions when they take on Cinderella story Maryland-Baltimore County in Sunday’s NCAA Tournament second round action.
The Tar Heels are the No. 9 seed in the tournament, but are still among the picks to potentially win it all, and they will need to knock off a UMBC side riding high after their penalty kick shootout victory against Old Dominion in the first round.
The match-up of the second round is arguably Georgetown’s match-up against returning NCAA finalist Charlotte. The Hoyas enter the tournament as the No. 3 overall seed, and freshman Brandon Allen has been one of the best strikers in the nation this year, but Charlotte is a dangerous side more than capable of pulling out the victory in Washington on Sunday.
Another match-up that should feature plenty of fireworks is Wake Forest’s match-up against Coastal Carolina. The No. 15 seed Demon Deacons boast a dangerous attack led by sophomore forward Sean Okoli, but junior midfielder Pedro Ribeiro leads a Chanticleer attack that is fresh off an impressive 3-0 victory against Elon in the first round (the same Elon team that handed Wake Forest defeat just three weeks ago).
One of the better match-ups of the day features No. 1 seed Notre Dame taking on Big Ten champions Michigan State in South Bend. The Fighting Irish beat the Spartans in September, 2-0, but Michigan State enters Sunday’s match on a roll, having won their past four matches.
Here is Sunday’s NCAA Tournament Second Round schedule:
NCAA TOURNAMENT SECOND ROUND
All Games Sunday
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EAST
(1) Notre Dame vs. Michigan State, 2pm
(16) Indiana vs. Xavier, 1pm
(9) North Carolina vs. UMBC, 5pm
(8) Saint Louis vs. Fairleigh Dickinson, 3pm
MIDWEST
(3) Georgetown vs. Charlotte, 1pm
(14) Virginia Commonwealth vs. Syracuse, 7pm
(11) Tulsa vs. South Florida, 6pm
(6) UCLA vs. San Diego, 8pm
WEST
(5) Akron vs. Michigan, 4:30pm
(12) Creighton vs. Washington, 6pm
(13) New Mexico vs. Virginia, 9pm
(4) UConn vs. Northeastern, 1pm
SOUTHEAST
(7) Marquette vs. Northwestern, 5pm
(10) Louisville vs. Winthrop, 7pm
(15) Wake Forest vs. Coastal Carolina, 5pm
(2) Maryland vs. Brown, 5pm
Let’s feed off of that football win, Bruins!