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SoCal March Madness: UCLA, USC and Cal State Fullerton Go Dancing
Johnny Juzang of the UCLA Bruins celebrates with Jaylen Clark after defeating the Michigan Wolverines 51-49 in the 2021 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament on March 30, 2021.
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Jamie Squire
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Getty Images
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Three Southern California teams are getting ready for March Madness.
UCLA is the fourth seed in the East Region and will face 13th-seeded Akron on Thursday in the first round of the NCAA men's basketball tournament. The game will air on TBS.
FiveThirtyEight, the statistical analysis website, gives the Bruins a 93% of beating The Zips. On Saturday, the winner of UCLA versus Akron will meet the victor between fifth-seeded St. Mary's and the two 12th seeded teams, Wyoming and Indiana.
USC is the seventh-seeded team in the Midwest Region and plays 10th-seeded Miami on Friday. FiveThirtyEight gives the Trojans a 53% chance of beating the Hurricanes.
The game will be televised on truTV. The team that comes out on top will face the winner between Auburn, the two-seed, and 15th-seeded Jacksonville State on Sunday.
And Cal State Fullerton, the No. 15 seed in the West Region, will play No. 2 seed Duke on Friday.
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FiveThirtyEight gives the underdog Titans a 3% chance of beating the Blue Devils on CBS.
However, this specific numerical matchup has spelled spoiler for Duke in the past; in 2012, they were knocked out as a two-seed by 15th-seeded Lehigh in one of the most stunning upsets in tournament history.
Duke's head coach Mike Krzyzewski said the 2021-2022 season would be his last. The 75-year-old holds the most wins of any coach with 97 tournament victories and will become the leader in the most tournament appearances. Right now, he has a tie with Syracuse's Jim Boeheim.
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