Guru’s WBB March Madness — III: Setting Up For The TV Watch for the Second Half of Round One

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

For those of you who already understand the look, ala NFL packages, the rest can look how Sunday was set, here then is the slice and dice different ways to look at Monday’s second part of round one action, 16 games, in all, in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament from San Antonio, Texas.

And since we have two locals playing each other in Villanova and Delaware in the Regional Final of the WNIT in at Bonjangles Coliseum in Charlotte, N.C., that 7 p.m. game will be inserted where necessary to see what it is going against.

And right from the jump, the two remaining locals in the NCAA Field — Rutgers and Drexel — though both tip at noon, not to worry — Cathy Bongiovi will be handling the Scarlet Knights and their BYU opponents, while your Guru will be on the Drexel game playing Georgia.

That said, here are the charts.

Note that all eight games in the River Walk Region Aired on Sunday.

BY REGION VIEWING ABILITY ON MONDAY

Mercado Region By Tip Time (EDT) — 6 games

12 noon ESPNU: 6-seed Rutgers (14-4) vs. 11-seed BYU (18-5) at Texas State

2 p.m. ESPN2: 3-seed Arizona (16-5) vs. 14-seed Stony Brook (15-5) at Alamodome-N

2  p.m. ESPNU: 4-seed Indiana (18-5) vs. 13-seed VCU (16-10) at UTSA

4 p.m. ESPN2: 5-seed Gonzaga (23-3) vs. 12-seed Belmont (20-5) at Texas State

6 p.m. ESPN: 7-seed Iowa State (16-10) vs. 10-seed Michigan State (15-8) at Alamodome-N

6 p.m. ESPN2: 2-seed Texas A&M (23-2) vs. 15-seed Troy (22-5) at Texas-Erwin Center, Austin

Alamo Region By Tip Time (EDT) — 6 games

12 noon ESPN2: 3-seed Georgia (20-6) vs. 14-seed Drexel (14-8) at St. Mary’s

2 p.m. ESPN: 4-seed Arkansas (19-8) vs. 13-seed Wright State (18-7) at Texas-Erwin Center, Austin

4 p.m. ESPNU: 7-seed Northwestern (15-8) vs. 10-seed UCF (16-4) at St, Mary’s

7:30 p.m. ESPNU: 5-seed Missouri State (21-2) vs. 12-seed UC Davis (13-2) at St. Mary’s

8 p.m. ESPN: 2-seed Louisville (23-3) vs. 15-seed Marist (18-3) at Alamodome-S

10 p.m. ESPN2: 6-seed Oregon (13-8) vs. 11-seed South Dakota (19-5) at Alamodome-N

Hemisphere Region By Tip Time (EDT) — 4 games

12 noon ESPN: 7-seed Alabama (16-9) vs. 10-seed North Carolina (13-10) at Alamodome-S

4 p.m. ESPN: 2-seed Maryland (24-2) vs. Mount St. Mary’s (17-6) at Alamodome-S

8 p.m. ESPN2: 6-seed Texas (18-9) vs. 11-seed Bradley (17-11) at Texas State

10 p.m. ESPN: 3-seed UCLA (16-5) vs. 14-seed Wyoming (14-9) at Texas-Erwin Center

BY SEED VIEWING ABILITY ON MONDAY

4 p.m. ESPN: 2-seed Maryland (24-2) vs. Mount St. Mary’s (17-6) at Alamodome-S

6 p.m. ESPN2: 2-seed Texas A&M (23-2) vs. 15-seed Troy (22-5) at Texas-Erwin Center, Austin

8 p.m. ESPN: 2-seed Louisville (23-3) vs. 15-seed Marist (18-3) at Alamodome-S

12 noon ESPN2: 3-seed Georgia (20-6) vs. 14-seed Drexel (14-8) at St. Mary’s

2 p.m. ESPN2: 3-seed Arizona (16-5) vs. 14-seed Stony Brook (15-5) at Alamodome-N

10 p.m. ESPN: 3-seed UCLA (16-5) vs. 14-seed Wyoming (14-9) at Texas-Erwin Center

2 p.m. ESPN: 4-seed Arkansas (19-8) vs. 13-seed Wright State (18-7) at Texas-Erwin Center, Austin

2  p.m. ESPNU: 4-seed Indiana (18-5) vs. 13-seed VCU (16-10) at UTSA

4 p.m. ESPN2: 5-seed Gonzaga (23-3) vs. 12-seed Belmont (20-5) at Texas State

7:30 p.m. ESPNU: 5-seed Missouri State (21-2) vs. 12-seed UC Davis (13-2) at St. Mary’s

12 noon ESPNU: 6-seed Rutgers (14-4) vs. 11-seed BYU (18-5) at Texas State

8 p.m. ESPN2: 6-seed Texas (18-9) vs. 11-seed Bradley (17-11) at Texas State

10 p.m. ESPN2: 6-seed Oregon (13-8) vs. 11-seed South Dakota (19-5) at Alamodome-N

12 p.m. ESPN: 7-seed Alabama (16-9) vs. 10-seed North Carolina (13-10) at Alamodome-S

4 p.m. ESPNU: 7-seed Northwestern (15-8) vs. 10-seed UCF (16-4) at St, Mary’s

6 p.m. ESPN: 7-seed Iowa State (16-10) vs. 10-seed Michigan State (15-8) at Alamodome-N

BY ESPN PLATFORMS VIEWING ABILITY ON MONDAY

ESPN

12 noon ESPN: 7-seed Alabama (16-9) vs. 10-seed North Carolina (13-10) at Alamodome-S

2 p.m. ESPN: 4-seed Arkansas (19-8) vs. 13-seed Wright State (18-7) at Texas-Erwin Center, Austin

4 p.m. ESPN: 2-seed Maryland (24-2) vs. Mount St. Mary’s (17-6) at Alamodome-S

6 p.m. ESPN: 7-seed Iowa State (16-10) vs. 10-seed Michigan State (15-8) at Alamodome-N

8 p.m. ESPN: 2-seed Louisville (23-3) vs. 15-seed Marist (18-3) at Alamodome-S

10 p.m. ESPN: 3-seed UCLA (16-5) vs. 14-seed Wyoming (14-9) at Texas-Erwin Center

ESPN2

12 noon ESPN2: 3-seed Georgia (20-6) vs. 14-seed Drexel (14-8) at St. Mary’s

2 p.m. ESPN2: 3-seed Arizona (16-5) vs. 14-seed Stony Brook (15-5) at Alamodome-N

4 p.m. ESPN2: 5-seed Gonzaga (23-3) vs. 12-seed Belmont (20-5) at Texas State

6 p.m. ESPN2: 2-seed Texas A&M (23-2) vs. 15-seed Troy (22-5) at Texas-Erwin Center, Austin

8 p.m. ESPN2: 6-seed Texas (18-9) vs. 11-seed Bradley (17-11) at Texas State

10 p.m. ESPN2: 6-seed Oregon (13-8) vs. 11-seed South Dakota (19-5) at Alamodome-N

ESPNU

12 noon ESPNU: 6-seed Rutgers (14-4) vs. 11-seed BYU (18-5) at Texas State

2  p.m. ESPNU: 4-seed Indiana (18-5) vs. 13-seed VCU (16-10) at UTSA

4 p.m. ESPNU: 7-seed Northwestern (15-8) vs. 10-seed UCF (16-4) at St, Mary’s

7:30 p.m. ESPNU: 5-seed Missouri State (21-2) vs. 12-seed UC Davis (13-2) at St. Mary’s

BY SCHOOL VIEWING ABILITY ON MONDAY

Alabama 12 noon ESPN

Arkansas 2 p.m. ESPN

Arizona 2 p.m. ESPN2

BYU 12 noon ESPNU

Belmont 4 p.m. ESPN2

Bradley 8 p.m. ESPN2

Drexel 12 noon ESPN2

Georgia 12 noon ESPN2

Gonzaga 4 p.m. ESPN2

Indiana 1 p.m. ESPNU

Iowa State 6 p.m. ESPN

Louisville 8 p.m. ESPN

Marist 8 p.m. ESPN

Maryland 4 p.m. ESPN

Michigan State 6 p.m. ESPN

Missouri State 7:30 p.m. ESPN2

Mount St. Mary’s 4 p.m. ESPN

North Carolina 12 noon ESPN

Northwestern 4 p.m. ESPNU

Oregon 10 p.m. ESPN2

Rutgers 12 noon ESPNU

South Dakota 10 p.m. ESPN2

Stony Brook 2 p.m. ESPN2

Texas 8 p.m. ESPN2

Texas A&M 6 p.m. ESPN2

Troy 6 p.m. ESPN2

UC Davis 7:30 p.m. ESPNU

UCF 4 p.m. ESPNU

UCLA 10 p.m. ESPN

VCU 2 p.m. ESPNU

Wright State 2 p.m. ESPN

Wyoming 10 p.m. ESPN

THE SKINNY - GAMES OF INFORMATION SUNDAY VIEWING 

CHRONOLOGICAL VIEWING (EDT) (Seed Numbers not AP ranking slots)

Early Afternoon

12 noon ESPN No. 7 Alabama vs. No. 10 North Carolina. Could be entertaining. The Crimson Tide had a competitive year in the Southeastern Conference while North Carolina heads back to the Big Dance in the second year under former Princeton coach Courtney Banghart.

12 noon ESPN2 No. 3 Georgia vs. No. 14 Drexel. The Bulldogs had a breakthrough season under Joni Taylor sweeping Tennessee in the SEC for the first time in a quarter century and advancing all the way to the conference title game against Dawn Staley’s South Carolina Gamecocks. On the other side, the Dragons are on a high after dislodging both No. 2 seeded James Madison and top-seeded Delaware for the Colonial Athletic Association title. Their counterpart men’s team also broke a long drought winning a first-ever CAA crown though had the misfortune to meet top-seeded Illinois, which didn’t last long soon afterwards.

12 noon ESPNU No. 6 Rutgers v s. No. 11 BYU. The Scarlet Knights are back after a drought and after a five-week shutdown under COVID-19 protocol took off on a nine-game win streak to earn a No. 23 seed for the Big Ten tournament. BYU upset Gonzaga during the West Coast Conference season but got nipped at the buzzer by the Zags in the WCC title game. Nevertheless, the committee took them as an at-large team.

2 p.m. ESPN No. 4 Arkansas vs. No. 13 Wright State. The Razorbacks hit not-yet No. 1 Connecticut with the Huskies’ sole defeat, though they haven’t lost since and made it to the top of the rankings before the season ended. Chelsea Dungee is the player to watch here if you like scorers.

2 p.m. ESPN2 No. 3 Arizona vs. No. 14 Stony Brook. The Wildcats in the desert have risen rapidly under alum Adia Barnes, who guided them to a second-place regular season finish in the PAC-12. Aari McDonald is one of the nation’s top players and prospective WNBA first-round draft pick.

2 p.m. ESPNU: No. 4 Indiana vs. No. 13 VCU. The Hoosiers are another program restored to prominence, this one under Teri Moren going wire-to-wire all season in the Associated Press poll. On the other side, VCU made a rocketing finish upsetting top-seed Dayton in the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 tournament and then turned aside a Cinderella bid by a seven-player UMass squad to earn the automatic bid.

Late Afternoon

4 p.m. ESPN No. 2 Maryland vs. No. 15 Mount St. Mary’s. The Big Ten champs are certainly one of the hot contenders, even as a 2-seed, with a balanced and explosive scoring offense. If you are at a place taking bets on the women’s tourney, the Terrapins are worth the investment.

4 p.m. ESPN2 No. 5 Gonzaga vs. No. 12 Belmont. In another world, this could be a mid-major championship tilt. Belmont comes out of the Ohio Valley Conference, while the Zags in the West Coast Conference, all they do is win — and in normal times early in the season that includes victims in non-conference competition.

4 p.m. ESPNU No. 7 Northwestern vs. UCF. Here in Philly, you have a local to cheer for in Northwestern coach Joe McKeown, who’s team did fairly well following the group that might have made a deep run a year ago in the canceled NCAAs. He’s a Father Judge grad from Northeast Philadelphia. UCF was the second best but not by much team in the reshuffled American Athletic Conference following the departure of Connecticut to the Big East.

Early Evening

6 p.m. ESPN No. 7 Iowa State vs. No. 10 Michigan State. A battle between two upper tier conference squads in Iowa State in the Big 12 under veteran Bill Fennelly and Michigan State in the Big 10 under another vet in Suzy Merchant.

6 p.m. ESPN2 No. 2 Texas A&M vs. No. 15 Troy. Your first chance, if you haven’t already, to look at the championship contending Aggies, who won the regular season SEC, beating South Carolina on the final day of the regular season, though the Gamecocks went on to pick themselves up and continued to win the SEC tourney. A&M coach Gary Blair is the granddaddy in the field on the sidelines so watch him work his mastery.

7 p.m. TIMEOUT for those of you who have the flophoops apps. Two Philly area teams tip in the WNIT’s Charlotte Region in Delaware, the alma mater of Elena Delle Donne which carved a new era this season until Drexel found a way to stop the run. On the other side is Villanova, coached by returning alum Denise Dillon and one of the nation’s top players in sophomore Maddy Siegrist, though the same must be said of the Blue Hens Jasmine Dickey under coach Natasha Adair. The winner gets to the WNIT Finals this weekend in Memphis. Dillon won this event at home in 2013 at Drexel.

7:30 p.m. ESPNU No. 5 Missouri State vs. No. 12 UC Davis. When Kellie Harper left Missouri State to return to her alma mater to coach Tennessee, the cupboard was not left bare and while the fifth-seeded squad is here as an at-large team it is because of pulling out of the Missouri Valley Conference semifinals taking precautionary measures from the coronavirus.

Mid-to-Late Evening

8 p.m. ESPN No. 2 Louisville vs. No. 15 Marist. The Cardinals spent some time as No. 1 in the AP women’s poll for the first time until upset by Atlantic Coast Conference rival North Carolina State, which came back and won the conference tourney to earn a Number 1 seed. Coach Jeff Walz has a loaded roster led by ACC player of the year Dana Evans. Marist, under Brian Giorgis, finally reclaimed its rule of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, which had been taken over by Quinnipiac, plus a run to the No. 1 seed by Rider a year ago until everything went south as the pandemic sprung.

8 p.m. ESPN N o. 6 Texas vs. No. 11 Bradley. While everything in the sportsworld had just gone into shutdown a year ago, a stir was created out of Austin in the Lone Star State as the Longhorns operation reached into Mississippi State to lure coach Vic Schaefer back to his native land. Referring to the offer as a calling, the squad is still in the shadow of Baylor but if not in their own arena, the ‘Horns are in their own state and back in the Big Dance. Charli Collier is considered one who could become the one when the WNBA drafting begins April 15.

10 p.m. ESPN No. 3 UCLA vs. No. 14 Wyoming. Another potential upstart contender are the No. 3 Bruins, who finished in the PAC-12 title game to overall No. 1 NCAA seed Stanford. Michaela Onyenwere on UCLA is another star getting attention from WNBA coaches. 

10 p.m. ESPN2 No. 6 Oregon vs. No. 11 South Dakota. Competing on separate channels at the same time are PAC-12 rivals UCLA in the paragraph before this and the Ducks of Oregon. A year ago they might have made it all the way to at least the title game in New Orleans with overall No. 1 WNBA pick Sabrina Ionescu leading the way. The squad under Kelly Graves is still talented and though it faded late in the season to drop below the radar, the way back to regain some fear is to win this one by more than a few points.