A couple of familiar teams with familiar faces will make their way to the Midlands this weekend.

The NCAA men’s basketball tournament tips off Friday at Colonial Life Arena. The action starts at 12:40 pm. with a South Region matchup between 8th-seed Ole Miss of the Southeastern Conference against 9th seed Oklahoma of the Big 12.

This marks the 2nd time this season of Rebels’ guard and former Irmo High School standout Devontae Shuler will compete in Columbia.

At 3:40 pm, South Region top-seed Virginia will face 16th-seed Gardener-Webb. During last year’s NCAA tournament, the Cavaliers were the 1st number 1 seed ever to lose in the first round, falling to the University of Maryland-Baltimore County.

At 7:10 pm, top overall seed Duke will open play at Colonial Life Arena Friday against the winner of the First Four contest between North Carolina Central and North Dakota State. The contest will feature South Carolina native and ACC Player of the Year Zion Williamson.

The 2nd contest out of the East Bracket will feature Virginia Commonwealth against Central Florida.

All 8 teams will take part in open practices Thursday at Colonial Life Arena at the selected times:

•Oklahoma: 11-11:40 am

•Gardner-Webb : 11:45-12:25 pm

•Ole Miss : 12:30-1:10 pm

•Virginia: 1:15-1:55 pm

•Duke: 3:25-4:05 pm

•VCU: 4:10-4:50 pm

•North Carolina Central or North Dakota State: 4:55-5:35 pm

•Central Florida: 5:40-6:20 pm

For more details, visithttps://www.columbiascsports.com .

NCAA TRADEMARK

The NCAA tournament is considered an event open to the public for enjoyment and entertainment.

As for some of name trademarks, it’s a very different story altogether.

Phrases like “March Madness”, “March Mayhem”, “Final Four”, “The Big Dance” and even “NCAA Tournament” are exclusively licensed by the NCAA. None of these phrases can be used for financial or marketing purposes without their permission.

Here are some of the other NCAA trademarks:

• Champions Play Here

• College World Series

• Elite 8

• First 4

• Frozen Four

• Sweet 16

• The Road to Minneapolis

• Women’s Final 4.

Fortunately, it appears the Lexington Country Chronicle did not need permission to use these trademarks for this article.

“If the marks are used in that way

(i.e. articles, columns), that is fair use,” said Emily James of the NCAA public relations shop. “It would be problematic if the marks are used to promote a bracket contest or other commercial endorsements.”

See the complete list of NCAA trademarks right now at http://www.ncaa.org/championships/marketing/ncaa-trademarks .