In the first game No. 16 St. Francis (PA) will square off with No. 16 Alabama State, with a trip to Kentucky to take on the top overall seed Auburn on the line. In the second game, No. 11 North Carolina — a surprising inclusion in the tournament — takes on No.

Arguably the best 48-hour stretch of the American sports calendar continues Friday as 2025 March Madness hits full stride with 16 more first-round NCAA Tournament games filling screens across the country from noon ET until after midnight.

The odds of achieving a perfect bracket for the college basketball tournament are about 1 in 9.22 quintillion.