With yesterday's second round games in the bag, attention now turns to the third round of the NCAA Tournament. While there were some close games on Thursday at the St. Pete Times Forum - notably Kentucky's 59-57 win in the final seconds - all the higher seeds came out on top. This means that Saturday's action will likely be close and intense, as all four teams are well matched.
Here's the schedule of NCAA Tournament games for Saturday, March 19 at the St. Pete Times Forum:
Noon, CBS -- No. 4 Kentucky vs. No. 5 West Virginia
2:30 p.m., CBS -- No. 2 Florida vs. No. 7 UCLA
As you would expect, both of the higher seeds are also favored to win in this round. According to statistician Nate Silver, Kentucky has a 61 percent chance of winning against West Virginia and Florida has an 82 percent chance of victory against UCLA. Florida is a stronger team than UCLA, and they also receive a slight boost due to playing so close to home.
The winner of these games moves on to their regional semifinals. The winner of Florda/UCLA will go on to play the winner of Gonzaga/BYU (also scheduled for Saturday), while the winner of Kentucky/West Virginia will face one of Ohio State, UTSA, George Mason, or Villanova.
Click here to download a printable 2011 NCAA Tournament bracket from SBNation.com.