It is officially Christmas Day everyone! The greatest two days of the American sports calendar are finally upon us. There are countless number of NCAA tournament preview articles written in the days leading up to the NCAA tournament (and I have read most of them), but I have not seen anyone actually create an intrigue ranking of all the games from first to worst similar to what many analysts do during bowl season. Thus, I am hear to fill that void by publishing this list now for the second consecutive year. The main factors considered were: the possibility of an upset, likelihood of a close game, and the existence of other story lines that enhance the appeal of a particular game. If I have the chance, I will create a second list and post it on the blog which ranks each of these games after they are played. It will be interesting to compare how the pregame rankings compare to the postgame rankings. I hope you enjoy readying this list, but I hope you enjoy watching the games today and tomorrow even more. Merry Christmas everyone!

	Ranking the NCAA First Round Games (Pregame)
1	(6) South Carolina vs. (11) Oregon (4:00)- TNT (245)
2	(3) Kentucky vs. (14) Oakland (7:10)- CBS (5)
3	(4) Alabama vs. (13) Charleston (7:35)- TruTV (246)
4	(6) Clemson vs. (11) New Mexico (3:10)- TruTV (246)
5	(5) Gonzaga vs. (12) McNeese (7:25)- TBS (247)
6	(4) Kansas vs. (13) Samford (9:55)- TBS (247)
7	(5) Wisconsin vs. (12) James Madison (9:40)- CBS (5)
8	(6) BYU vs. (11) Duquesne (12:40)- TruTV (246)
9	(4) Duke vs. (13) Vermont (7:10)- CBS (5)
10	(7) Washington State vs. (10) Drake (10:05)- TruTV (246)
11	(8) Nebraska vs. (9) Texas A & M (6:50)- TNT (245)
12	(6) Texas Tech vs. (11) NC State (9:40)- CBS (5)
13	(5) Saint Mary’s vs. (12) Grand Canyon (10:05)- TruTV (246)
14	(3) Creighton vs. (14) Akron (1:30)- TNT (245)
15	(8) Florida Atlatic vs. (9) Northwestern (12:15)- CBS (5)
16	(3) Baylor vs. (14) Colgate (12:40)- TruTV (246)
17	(4) Auburn vs. (13) Yale (4:15)- TNT (245)
18	(1) Purdue vs. (16) Grambling (7:25)- TBS (247)
19	(3) Illinois vs. (14) Morehead State (3:10)- TruTV (246)
20	(2) Iowa State vs. (15) South Dakota St. (7:35)- TruTV (246)
21	(5) San Diego State vs. (12) UAB (1:45)- TNT (245)
22	(8) Utah State vs. (9) TCU (9:55)- TBS (247)
23	(2) Marquette vs. (15) Western KY (2:00)- TBS (247)
24	(2) Tennessee vs. (15) St. Peter’s (9:20)- TNT (245)
25	(1) North Carolina vs. (16) Wagner (2:45)- CBS (5)
26	(2) Arizona vs. (15) Long Beach State (2:00)- TBS (247)
27	(1) UConn vs. (16) Stetson (2:45)- CBS (5)
28	(7) Florida vs. (10) Colorado (4:30)- TBS (247)
29	(8) Mississippi State vs. (9) Michigan State (12:15)- CBS (5)
30	(7) Dayton vs. (10) Nevada (4:30)- TBS (247)
31	(1) Houston vs. (16) Longwood (9:20)- TNT (245)
32	(7) Texas vs. (10) Colorado State (6:50)- TNT (245)