The tournament games that are worth skipping work for

When you are someone like me who loves college basketball, every game is worth skipping work for. The beauty of the NCAA Tournament is that you just never know where that great game or great upset is lurking. It could be a chalk kind of day, and then all of the sudden No. 16 seeded UMBC shocks the world and beats No. 1 Virginia. That's what makes it so much fun.

Rest assured that the four No. 1 seeds this year (that includes Virginia again) are on high alert after last year's stunner, and it is doubtful they will take their opponents lightly this time around. Still, there are some games that look like they should be fantastic matchups.

So whether you are planning on calling in sick, taking off early or just staring at your phone/tablet/computer watching basketball instead of working, here are the games worth settling in for.

Marquette vs. Murray State

How about Ja Morant against Markus Howard? Howard is the kind of player who can put a team on his back and carry it deep in the tournament. He's averaging 25 points per game and can explode at any time. Morant had Murray State on "SportsCenter" on a regular basis this season and is the only player to average 20 points and 10 assists in a season. When you don't have a team to pull for, go for that great one-on-one matchup. This could be the best one all tournament.

Louisville vs. Minnesota

The Pitino special. Rick Pitino was fired by Louisville after various scandals hit the program, and it has been a rather nasty divorce. Pitino's son Richard is the head coach at Minnesota. Do you think Rick is going to chat up his son about a lot of the Cardinals players he recruited and coached? On the floor, you have two interesting teams that have been so up and down over the last half of the season that you have no idea what you'll get. What you will see is two really nice players in Minnesota's Amir Coffey and Louisville's Jordan Nwora.

Wisconsin vs. Oregon

It seems that every time I watched a Wisconsin game this season, there was been some sort of weird ending. Whether they are squandering a late lead or slugging it out in the second half, the Badgers tend to be interesting to watch. They have one of the nation's best players in Ethan Happ, but he's notoriously bad from the free-throw line, which makes no lead safe. Oregon won the Pac-12 Tournament despite having a disappointing season (there were Final Four aspirations) and losing top recruit Bol Bol after about a month. The Ducks have Payton Pritchard and Louis King and one of the nation's most underrated coaches. This is an upset special and sits in that notorious five-to-12-seed bracket.

Wofford vs. Seton Hall

This is a classic tournament matchup. Wofford is the surprisingly ranked mid-major going up against a Big East school that scooted off the bubble and into the tournament. Fans have heard about the Terriers but haven't really seen them play. They're really good, but they are going up against a Seton Hall team that has Myles Powell, who can light anyone up (including Kentucky). With the Pirates' iffy defense and Wofford's ability to drain threes from numerous players, this should be a blast to watch.

Villanova vs. Saint Mary's

Saint Mary's is coming off a stunning win over former No. 1 Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference championship game. Villanova is coming off a national championship season. This is a transition year for the Wildcats, but they still have players who know how to win...just not the kind of team they typically have. Saint Mary's has Jordan Ford, who's averaging 21.3 points per game, and a defense that can choke off anyone (like Gonzaga). Nova is known for a kind of boom-or-bust history in the NCAAs, so this could be a tight one.

Auburn vs. New Mexico State

Auburn is lightning hot right now. The Tigers beat Tennessee on the final day of the regular season and then smoked through the SEC Tournament to a championship. They are up against a New Mexico State program that is making its third straight tournament and eighth in the last 10 years. The Aggies are an efficient team that has no one guy who does it all for them. They're fantastic in the paint and could give the Tigers issues if they don't pay attention. This is another one of those five-12 matchups that could be a trap.

VCU vs. UCF

VCU is making its eighth tournament appearance in nine years and will be facing a UCF squad that's making its first appearance since 2005. UCF has one of the most unique players in the country in Tacko Fall, a 7-foot-6 senior center from Senegal. While he is the bait to get you in the door, guards B.J. Taylor and Aubrey Dawkins (son of head coach Johnny Dawkins) are the substance. VCU has no big-time scorers and tends to rely on four guys to provide the bulk of the points, but the Rams went 16-2 and won the Atlantic 10 regular-season title.

Nevada vs. Florida

How far has Nevada fallen? At one point, the Wolf Pack were 24-1 and a staple in the top 10 rankings. Then they lost to San Diego State, which began their 5-3 mark to end the season, punctuated by a second loss to the Aztecs in the Mountain West Tournament semifinals. The talent that took them to the Sweet 16 last year is still there, but Jordan Caroline's heel injury has them not firing on all cylinders. Here comes Florida, which just completed going through a tough SEC. KeVaughn Allen is the Gators' best scorer, but behind him are six guys who average between six and 10 points per game.

LSU vs. Yale

Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't put this game on here. However, LSU is embroiled in a recruiting scandal that has caused head coach Will Wade to be suspended. The Tigers, the SEC regular-season champs, were then upset in their first conference tournament game. Dynamic guard Tremont Waters has been battling injuries, which could make the Tigers ripe for an upset. Enter Yale, which hails from an Ivy League that is known to scare big-name teams in March. The Bulldogs boast two solid scorers in Miye Oni and Alex Copeland. Oni is a kid you can really root for. He was a freshman at Suffield Academy before finally getting to Yale and now is on the radar of NBA teams. This could be the biggest upset of the draft.

Duke vs. NC Central/North Dakota State

I mean, Zion Williamson will be playing. What job is more important than watching that?  Actually, if NC Central is the opponent, you will have two schools from Durham, North Carolina facing off.