From The Sports Desk: Kornacki’s bracket breakdown

We made it!

We made it! March Madness tips off today with 12 hours of nonstop hoops, starting with No. 8 Ohio State vs. No. 9 TCU at 12:15 p.m. ET. Stuck at work all day? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.

Our NBC News crew will be live-blogging all the games today and tomorrow, keeping you informed on all the upset alerts, nail-biter endings and fun storylines. Click here to follow.

Before the games begin, we checked in with Steve Kornacki, NBC News’ chief data analyst, who predicted this year’s "Cinderella" and champion. Our reporters also picked their favorite games on today’s slate and some storylines to watch through March. For more coverage, as always, visit NBC News.

Arizona Wildcats head coach Tommy Lloyd reacts during the first half of a game against the Iowa Hawkeyes at McKale Center at ALKEME Arena on March 2 in Tucson, Ariz.Christian Petersen / Getty ImagesWho could be this year’s "Cinderella"?

Last year it was No. 10-seeded Arkansas. Two years ago, it was No. 11 seed NC State. If a new era is dawning, this may be the type of March magic we now have to settle for — teams who finished in the bottom half of power conferences getting on a roll when it really counts.