The first game of the 2019 NCAA Tournament’s first round has perhaps the most unique story line of them all with No. 10 seed Minnesota taking on No. 7 Louisville in the East Region – the winner almost surely faces No. 2 Michigan State on Saturday, and both played the Spartans in the regular season.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

Oddsmakers list Minnesota as a 5-point underdog. The Gophers are coached by Richard Pitino, the son of Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino. Of course, Rick Pitino led Louisville to the 2013 national championship. However, that was vacated due to NCAA violations, and Rick Pitino was fired from the school in October 2017 because of additional violations. He has filed a multi-million dollar breach of contract lawsuit against the school, which then countersued. Rick Pitino won’t be in attendance as he’s coaching in Greece.

One school won’t have its head coach on Thursday and that’s No. 3 LSU in its East Region matchup against No. 14 Yale, with the Tigers as 7.5-point favorites in Jacksonville. Coach Will Wade was suspended indefinitely late in the regular season for his alleged role in a potential major recruiting violation, and it would be a surprise if he ever returns to the LSU bench. The Tigers went 1-1 without him. The player he was recruiting, freshman Javonte Smart, missed one game but has been cleared for the NCAA Tournament.