Texas Tech highlights NCAA basketball tournament Dallas regional

NCAA tournament basketball returns to North Texas for the first time since the 2014 Final Four with first and second round games at the American Airlines Center.

East Region No. 3 Texas Tech is the most notable name to area fans. The Red Raiders will take on another Texas school, No. 14 Stephen F. Austin, on Thursday evening. The rest of the teams making their way to Dallas don’t have a connection to the area.

South Region No. 3 Tennessee plays No. 14 Wright State in the first game of the day on Thursday at the AAC. Former Texas coach Rick Barnes is the coach for the Volunteers. The game is set to tipoff at 11:40 a.m. CT.

South Region No. 6 Miami plays No. 11 Loyola-Chicago in the day’s second game. The game is a trendy upset pick of bracketologists. It’s Loyola-Chicago’s first trip to the NCAA tournament since 1985.

The night session features the Texas Tech-SFA matchup and is set to tipoff at 6:27 p.m. CT. The nightcap features East Region No. 6 Florida playing the winner of the St. Bonaventure-UCLA First Four game.

The two games between Thursday’s winners will be played at a time yet to be determined on Saturday.