NORFOLK, Va. – Tourney time is exactly one month away.

Four weeks from Thursday, the 2019 NCAA men’s basketball tournament begins in earnest. However, one of our local schools, Norfolk State, is projected to begin ‘Big Dance’ play prior to Thursday March 21st.

In his seventh and latest March Madness bracket projection, NCAA.com’s Andy Katz prognosticates Norfolk State to earn the MEAC’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament and open play in the “First Four” in Dayton Wednesday March 20th. Katz has the Spartans, who currently hold a two game lead in the conference standings with four regular season games remaining before the conference tournament (the MEAC’s auto bid is awarded to the tournament champion), to earn a 16 seed in the Washington, D.C. region and play fellow 16 seed Prairie View A&M in Dayton. Should the Spartans win that game, Katz projects NSU to draw No. 1 seed Duke in Columbia, South Carolina Friday.

Old Dominion currently leads Conference USA by two games, so Katz projects the Monarchs to earn the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. In Thursday’s bracket, Katz pegs ODU as a 13 seed in the Kansas City region. In this scenario, the Monarchs would draw 4-seed Maryland in the first round – a game to be played in Salt Lake City.

In his bracket projection, Katz has seven Virginia schools (UVA, Virginia Tech, VCU, Liberty, ODU, Radford & Norfolk State) in the field of 68.

News 3 will broadcast the 2019 NCAA Tournament Selection Show LIVE March 17th at 6:00 p.m.