NCAA Tournament 2014 TV Schedule And Predictions For Wednesday Games

The 2014 NCAA tournament will be in full swing Wednesday night when the final 64 team bracket will be set after the “first four” games have ended. Thanks to the 2010 deal that brought the NCAA tournament to cable, the first four TV schedule is featured on truTV.

The Inquisitr made predictions for the Tuesday NCAA tournament games, which leaves the Wednesday night slate left. Wednesday’s games features the Cal Poly Mustangs, the team with the worst record in the NCAA tournament, and bubble team Iowa University, whose coach Fran McCaffrey’s son is facing surgery to remove a tumor. There are some exciting, made for TV story lines heading into the Wednesday games. Without further ado, check out the Inquisitr’s predictions for the final “first four” games as well as the TV schedule for both.

#16 Cal Poly Mustangs vs. #16 Texas Southern Tigers (Wednesday, March 19, 6:40 pm EST, truTV)

Caly Poly enters the 2014 NCAA tournament with a 13-19 record and apparently the worst team in the tournament. But in March Madness, records can be deceiving. What many casual fans may not know is that the Mustangs have faced a difficult schedule which makes their record deceiving. Cal Poly had five games against 2014 NCAA tournament teams. Granted they lost all five of those games handedly, but they are experienced. Not to mention they appear to have a little of Cinderella’s magic after their improbable win over Cal State Northridge in the Big West conference tournament finale.

Although Texas Southern does not possess the same impressive schedule as Cal Poly, they feature a much better offense. Cal Poly only averaged 63.2 points per game this season, whereas the Tigers of Texas Southern scored 76.2 points per game. That was good for 52nd in the nation. Texas Southern finished third in a wide open SWAC conference and came out with the automatic bid. The winner of Wednesday night’s game gets to take on Wichita State.

Prediction: We like Cal Poly to pull the minor upset and then get crushed by the Shockers on Friday.

#11 Iowa Hawkeyes vs. #11 Tennessee Volunteers (Wednesday, March 19, 9:10 pm EST, truTV)

Besides NC State, the most questionable NCAA tournament team is definitely the Iowa Hawkeyes. They finished the season on a 1-6 losing streak, capping it off in a brutal defeat to Northwestern in the Big Ten conference tournament. Somehow the tournament committee managed to sneak them in, probably to add more meaning to the first four games played in Dayton. It will certainly be an emotional game as coach Fran McCaffrey will be flying back just in time to lead the Hawkeyes. Wednesday morning he will be with his 13 year-old son who is having surgery to remove a tumor.

Predictions for Wednesday night’s second game are difficult considering the Hawkeyes’ opponent is another bubble team that got in based on their conference tournament run. The Tennessee Volunteers make it into the NCAA tournament after a season of mixed results, capitalized by a loss to Florida in the SEC tournament semifinals. Tennessee is one of the streakiest teams in the field and they find themselves on a hot streak, with the exception of the loss to the Gators.

Prediction: While we are all pulling for coach McCaffrey and his son Patrick, the difficult circumstances will probably effect the Iowa focus. Expect Tennessee to get the win in the second Wednesday game for a chance to play UMass on Friday in another winable NCAA tournament game.

[Image via Go Vols Xtra]