Sunshine day

IT'S FINALLY HERE! Christmas morning The first day of the NCAA Tournament! Sixteen games await, so let's dive in before everything begins just after noon ET.

And remember, that means there's still time to join The Field of 68's Bracket Challenge.

1. Sun Devils catch fire

So, uh, Arizona State was more than a little ready for its First Four game in Dayton. For those who didn't watch the Sun Devils throttle Nevada 98-73, imagine this, again and again.

They caught fire from the start on Wednesday, connecting on six of their first eight shots. The second half was more of the same story, Arizona State rolling down the court and scoring the basketball at an efficient clip the entire game. Five Sun Devils hit double figures, led by 20 points from DJ Horne and 16 off the bench for Jamiya Neal.

Arizona State (23-12) had moments like this during the season. The issue has been consistency. Winning on a neutral court for the NCAA Tournament probably should've been expected given it won at Arizona and beat Creighton at a neutral site.

“It's hard to really say. It's a good question," coach Bobby Hurley said afterward. "I mean, I touched on how we'd handled our preseason, going on the road and playing scrimmages on the road and all the road games that we had early in the season, neutrals and roads. We knew we had to be good at winning on the road.”

Nevada (22-11) was the last team in the tournament as an at-large bid, which some will point to as a questionable decision. Maybe. Or maybe it just caught ASU on a really good night.

Regardless, the Mountain West will hope this result isn’t a sign of things to come. The conference has struggled recently in the NCAA tourney. Last year, Wyoming lost to Indiana in the first four then the rest of the league followed suit with Boise State, San Diego State and Colorado State bowing out right away.

Arizona State will turn its attention to TCU on Friday in the round of 64.

2. Fairleigh Dickinson thinks they can beat Purdue?

Tobin Anderson's been a head coach at D-III and D-II levels, and came to Fairleigh Dickinson last spring knowing he'd have a chance to have a good team. Now, he's dreaming bigger than ever.

The Knights handled Texas Southern, 84-61 in their First Four game. Next up? Purdue and likely National Player of the Year Zach Edey.

Purdue will be favored by at least 20 points when it faces Fairleigh Dickinson on Friday. But hold onto that thought. We didn't even look at how the Knights won.

It led 10-2 at the first media timeout and kept a solid lead of five and eight points for much of the first half, but a 10-0 run pushed the lead to 18 at halftime, and that was it. Texas Southern couldn't connect from deep (1-of-17), while FDU was 11-of-26. That was the difference.

Few people believe the Knights will win. But Anderson's message is perfect. His team has done nothing but exceed expectations. If the goal is to raise awareness of his program and stoke interest in his team, while building up confidence, mission accomplished.

And if they do win? Well, it's one for the record books.

3. More hoops, more NIT surprises

The first four games weren't the only college hoops action we saw on Wednesday, as eight other NIT games continued with surprising results in a couple of games.

Morehead State 68, Clemson 64Maybe the committee made the correct decision in keeping Clemson (23-11) out of the tournament, as the Tigers dropped a stunner in the NIT to Morehead State (22-11.) Did things turn after Preston Spradlin did this? Kinda.

Mark Freeman was the Eagles top scorer with 19 points.

UCF 67, Florida 49Props to UCF’s (19-14) Taylor Hendricks for opting to play in the NIT instead of getting his training going for the NBA Draft, where he’s projected to be a top-20 selection. Hendricks’ 17 points and CJ Kelly’s 21 points catapulted the Knights to a victory in the first round of the NIT over Florida (16-17).

Oklahoma State 69, Youngstown State 64The Cowboys (19-15) got a tough matchup with the Penguins, one of the nation's best offenses. The Cowboys' size and athleticism helped slow down Youngstown’s (24-10) high-octane offense to 35 percent shooting, 28 percent shooting from deep and only 64 points.

North Texas 69, Alcorn State 54The Mean Green (27-7) rolled past Alcorn State (18-14) in the first round of the NIT with 28 points from CUSA POY Tylor Perry. North Texas looks like one of the biggest threats to take home the NIT crown this season.

Cincinnati 81, Virginia Tech 72The most interesting NIT matchup of the evening went down in Cincy. The Bearcats (22-12) hosted a solid Virginia Tech (19-15) squad and dropped 52 second-half points, led by David DeJulius, who had 21 points and seven assists.

Utah Valley 83, New Mexico 69Justin Harmon (32 points) carried Utah Valley (26-8) to a double-digit road victory in the PIT over New Mexico (22-12). The Wolverines' 46 first-half points put the Lobos in a massive second-half hole.

Oregon 84, UC Irvine 58The Ducks (20-14) got some revenge for their loss in November to UC Irvine (23-12). Oregon played without Will Richardson, N’Faly Dante and Jermaine Cousinard, but a career-high 21 points from Rivaldo Soares carried the day.

4. Injury updates and ones to monitor

Kansas' Kevin McCullar missed the Big 12 tournament with back spasms, but it seems like all systems go for today's game against Howard.

It's not as clear what awaits Kansas coach Bill Self. He coached the team at Wednesday's practice, but assistant Norm Roberts — who coached all three games during the Big 12 Tournament — might be on the sidelines again today.

• Houston's Marcus Sasser seems unlikely to play today against Northern Kentucky, as he nurses a groin injury suffered in the AAC tournament. He says he doesn't care about pain, though.

• UCLA rim protector Adem Bona won't be healthy during the tournament, but most will wonder if he'll be ready to guard UNC Asheville's Drew Pember. Bona didn't play in the Pac-12 title game against Arizona, then Kenneth Nwuba and Mac Etienne both fouled out, which forced Mick Cronin to play 6-7 Jaime Jaquez at the five.

• Miami's Norchad Omier returned to practice, but remains questionable for Friday against Drake.

5. Previewing EVERY Thursday Round of 64 game

We skipped the "What to Watch" section, which seemed kinda obvious for a day like today. Better watch everything. (All times Eastern)

West Virginia (19-14), Maryland (21-12), 12:15 pm, CBS Maryland and West Virginia are beloved by the metrics, but the two combined to lose 26 games this season, so it’s the perfect 8/9 matchup to open things. If Maryland isn’t making perimeter jumpers, it's hard to like its chances. The Terps' four best perimeter starters — Donta Scott, Hakim Hart, Jamir Young and Don Carey — all shoot below 33 percent from deep.

Furman (27-7), Virginia (25-7), 12:40 pm TruTVHere's a popular first-round upset pick. Furman star Mike Bothwell could struggle against ACC defensive player of the year Reece Beekman, but Virginia then has to focus on containing SoCon POY Jalen Slawson, guard JP Pegues and a slew of important contributors. It'll simply come down to if Furman can make tough shots early, and open up Virginia's defense. Plus, with Ben Vander Plas out, Virginia, may struggle to score.

Utah State (26-8), Missouri (24-9) 1:40 pm, TNTBoth Utah State (13th) and Missouri (10th) sit top-15 in offensive efficiency, per KenPom. Moreover, both teams love shooting perimeter jumpers and hit at a pretty consistent clip. So what’s the difference here? Missouri is one of the worst defensive rebounding teams in the country, allowing offensive boards on 35 percent of possessions; Utah State has the length to take advantage of Missouri’s misfortunes on the glass.

Kansas (27-7), Howard (22-12) 2 pm, TBS; Alabama (29-5), Texas A&M CC (24-10) 2:45 pm, TBSDon’t expect to see any UMBC/Virginia vibes on these. Now's when you can catch up on work.

San Diego State (27-6), Charleston (31-3) 3:10 pm, TruTVSan Diego State is the Mountain West’s best chance to shake off the narrative of “The Mountain West can’t win tournament games.” Charleston won 31 games this season led by a fast-paced offense and San Diego State is a slow-paced team. So what gives? I have a hunch the Aztecs finally get that tourney win.

Arizona (28-6), Princeton (21-8) 4:10 pm, TNTI’m a massive fan of Princeton’s Tosan Evbuomwan, perhaps the Most Interesting Man in College Basketball. He was a soccer player in England until he was 14 years old, then became a basketball star and won Ivy League player of the year in 2021-22. He’s a very skilled 6-foot-8 forward who can make anything happen with the basketball in his hands. And it will be an incredible magic trick if the Tigers win.

Illinois (20-12) Arkansas (20-13) 4:30 pm, TBSNeither Arkansas nor Illinois can hit from outside. The difference is the Razorbacks know they can’t shoot and rarely take triples, while Illinois still lets it fly despite being one of the worst shooting teams in America. The presence of star freshman Nick Smith Jr should be the difference.

Auburn (20-12), Iowa (19-13) 6:50 pm, TNTCalling it: Fran McCaffrey shakes off the “March Fran” narrative, which might have a lot to do with Auburn. The Tigers are one of the worst shooting teams in the country, making below 30 percent of its 3-point shots. If the guards aren’t hitting shots then Iowa could turn this one into a blowout.

Duke (26-8), Oral Roberts (30-4), 7:10 pm, CBSWe all love Max Abmas and surely he’ll put together another sensational match performance, but Duke has won nine straight and breezed to the ACC tournament title. The Blue Devils' size and athleticism will likely overwhelm the Golden Eagles. Keep an eye on freshman guard Tyrese Proctor. He’s scored double-digit points in six of his past seven games.

Texas (26-8), Colgate (26-8), 7:25 pm, TBSI LOVE Colgate and the style of play Matt Langel’s plays. All five starters are great passers and guards Braeden Smith and Tucker Richardson are threats to post triple-doubles. Texas is probably too athletic and too deep to make it matter, but it'll be fun to see if the Raiders can make enough shots to make things interesting.

Boise State (24-9), Northwestern (21-11) 7:35 pm, TruTVMeet the defensive stalwarts. Boise ranks 18th in defensive efficiency per KenPom, and Northwestern ranks 14th. So what's the differentiator? Boise State’s shooting is significantly better than Northwestern’s — and while Boo Buie can erupt for 25 any game, he’s also capable of going 2-10 from the field for six points.

Houston (31-3), Northern Kentucky (22-12) 9:20 pm, TNTEven if Marcus Sasser doesn't play, it probably doesn’t matter against the Norse. If nothing else, it allows younger guys like Emanuel Sharp and Terrence Arceneaux the opportunity on a big stage.

Louisiana (26-7), Tennessee (23-10), 9:40 pm, CBSIs this a dangerous matchup for Tennessee? Yes and no. Any game for the Vols without Zakai Zeigler is dangerous, but Louisiana is the best 13-seed matchup for the Vols style of play. They have multiple bigs who can soak up fouls against star forward Jordan Brown and the Cajuns' perimeter threats aren’t their strong suit.

Texas A&M (25-9), Penn State (22-12) 9:55 pm, TBSCan Booty Ball lead Penn State to an NCAA Tournament win against a sizzling-hot Texas A&M squad? It all comes down to the perimeter shooting. The Nittany Lions attempt around 45 percent of their shots from deep and typically play five players who are 6-foot-6 or smaller.

UCLA (29-5), UNC Asheville (27-7), 10:05 pm, TruTVWill we get a 15-seed winning a tournament game for the third consecutive tournament? If anyone can, it’s UNC Asheville. Big South player of the year Drew Pember posted 21.2 points and 9.4 rebounds this year, but Asheville isn’t solely dependent on him. Tajion Jones is capable of going off for 20 on any given night. UCLA isn’t fully healthy either, which means the game might be closer than many would expect.

Picks from Psycho T

Did we post this to aggravate Kentucky fans? Nah. But we did we just need a North Carolina presence somewhere in the NCAA Tournament.

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Links as you call in sick for work.

• Brandon Miller has an armed escort for NCAA tourney games. Nate Oats explains.

• Tulsa lands top-transfer Cobe Williams from Louisiana Tech.

• Wofford loses star guard Jackson Paveletzke to the portal

• Grand Canyon's equipment didn't come with the team's flight, so some brotherly love paid off.

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