March Madness at Golden 1: Arizona, UCLA head eight-team field in Sacramento sub-regional
Sixty-eight Division I men’s basketball teams will look to extend their college seasons in this year’s edition of March Madness, including eight that will come to Sacramento for first- and second-round games beginning Thursday at Golden 1 Center.
The headliners are Pac-12 Conference rivals and national No. 2 seeds UCLA (29-5) and Arizona (28-6).
Arizona edged UCLA 61-59 in Saturday night’s Pac-12 Conference Tournament championship in Las Vegas. UCLA won the Pac-12 regular-season title at 18-2.
Arizona, seeded second in the South Region, will open against No. 15 seed Princeton (21-8), the Ivy League co-champion. UCLA, seeded second in the West Region, will face No. 15 UNC Asheville (27-7).
No. 7 Missouri (24-9) of the Southeastern Conference will play No. 10 Utah State (26-8) of the Mountain West Conference. Missouri lost in the SEC Tournament semifinals to Alabama. Utah State fell to San Diego State in the Mountain West Tournament finals. No. 7 Northwestern (21-11) of the Big 10 opens against No. 10 Boise State (24-9) of the Mountain West.
Second round games are Saturday at Golden 1.
UCLA, which has won 11 NCAA championships, would have been a No. 1 seed had it defeated Arizona on Saturday. The Bruins will be without star guard and defensive standout Jaylen Clark, who is out with an injury. The No 1 seed in the West Region is Kansas (27-7).
Every region has a relative national unknown, except for the die-hard fans. In Sacramento, that will be be UNC Asheville, which won the Big South regular-season and tournament championships. The star is 6-foot-11 senior forward Drew Pember, who earned league Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Tournament MVP honors. In their fifth NCAA tournament, the Bulldogs have not advanced past the round of 64.
And what’s the bracket release without some humor? At Arizona’s NCAA watch party on campus, coach Tommy Lloyd said of Princeton: “They’re an Ivy League school, so I’m sure they’re going to be smarter than us.”
Another curiosity of March Madness for Sacramento fans is where Kings players and front-office personnel went to college. Kings general manager Monte McNair played football at Princeton. Kings center Neemias Queta played at Utah State.
This will be the sixth time the NCAA has had a March Madness stopover in Sacramento and the second time at Golden 1. The 2020 NCAA Tournament was canceled due to the pandemic. Arco Arena hosted games in 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2007.
NCAA Tournament games will be televised on CBS, TBS, TNT and TruTV.
NCAA Tournament
Sacramento sub-region
Thursday’s first-round games
No. 7 Missouri vs. No. 10 Utah State, 10:30 a.m. (TNT)
No. 2 Arizona vs. No. 15 Princeton, 1:30 p.m. (TNT)
No. 7 Northwestern vs. No. 10 Boise State, 4:35 p.m. (TruTV)
No. 2 UCLA vs. No. 15 UNC Asheville, 7:05 p.m. (TruTV)
Saturday’s second-round games
UCLA/UNC Asheville winner vs. Northwestern/Boise State winner
Arizona/Princeton winner vs. Missouri/Utah State winner
This story was originally published March 12, 2023 at 4:42 PM.