Sunday Open Thread: Baseball and March Madness

The Vanderbilt Commodores baseball team (14-5, 2-0) looks to complete a sweep of Mississippi State in Starkville today. The game has been moved up to 11 AM CT because of the threat of storms later in the afternoon.

Today’s game will be televised on the SEC Network Plus and WatchESPN. As I write this, Vanderbilt hasn’t announced a starting pitcher for the game, but the first two games have been blowouts with Vanderbilt winning by a combined 15-1.

Also, today’s the final day of the opening weekend of March Madness. Here are today’s games:

(10) Butler vs. (2) Purdue (11:10 AM CT, CBS)

Both of these teams won fairly easily on Friday, with Butler pulling away to beat Arkansas 79-62 and Purdue drilling Cal State Fullerton 74-48. The winner of this game will meet Texas Tech in the Sweet 16.

(11) Syracuse vs. (3) Michigan State (1:40 PM CT, CBS)

Preseason national title favorite Michigan State went 29-4 in the regular season and is a 3-seed, which tells you how strong the Big Ten was this season. The Spartans survived a challenge from Bucknell in the first round, 82-78, while Syracuse ended TCU’s first tournament trip in 20 years with a 57-52 win. The winner gets Duke.

(7) Texas A&M vs. (2) North Carolina (4:15 PM CT, CBS)

Texas A&M survived Providence, 73-69, on Friday, while North Carolina had some trouble early with Lipscomb but eventually put the Bisons away, 84-66. Everybody is actually kind of surprised that Texas A&M is still here.

(7) Nevada vs. (2) Cincinnati (5:10 PM CT, TNT)

Cincinnati had some trouble with Georgia State on Friday, ultimately winning 68-53, while Nevada scored a comeback win over Texas in overtime, 87-83. The winner gets the upstart Loyola-Chicago Ramblers, slayers of Tennessee.

(5) Clemson vs. (4) Auburn (6:10 PM CT, TBS)

Clemson hasn’t made the Sweet 16 since 1997, and Auburn hasn’t made it since 2003, so one of these teams can end that long drought while the other will, of course, just get back to what they really care about: spring football practice. The winner gets Kansas.

(16) UMBC vs. (9) Kansas State (6:45 PM CT, truTV)

Well this is a first, a 16-seed in the second round. UMBC did the unthinkable by beating Virginia, 74-54, while Kansas State beat Creighton 69-59 and then picked up a huge break. The winner of this game will play Kentucky.

(9) Florida State vs. (1) Xavier (7:40 PM CT, TNT)

Xavier had a little trouble with Texas Southern but won fairly easily, 102-83, on Friday night, while Florida State had a surprisingly easy 67-54 win over Missouri. The winner of this game will face Gonzaga.

(13) Marshall vs. (5) West Virginia (8:40 PM CT, TBS)

The state of West Virginia has two Division I schools, and they’re playing in San Diego, California, of all places. Marshall got here by beating Wichita State, 81-75, and West Virginia set up the War On Coal with an 85-68 win over Murray State. The winner gets Villanova.

Have fun in here, everyone. Talk about whatever you want to. Talk about soccer to annoy VTPhD.