This Thursday’s dominated by the Irish and college hoops (although Notre Dame’s Fighting Irish don’t play til tomorrow — conspiracy? I think so). There’s also Shondaland, as well as new episodes of terrific young shows like Colony, Baskets, and Idiotsitter. We also recommend the epic tale of a rug — one that really tied the room together.

NAVANI’S PICK:
Scandal [ABC, 9p]
Olivia is still off spying on Jake while Abby is becoming suspicious of Cyrus’s ulterior motives.

JASON’S PICK:
NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament [CBS, TBS, TNT, TruTV, All Day]
Even if my alma mater weren’t making a rare (and probably brief) appearance in this first day of Madness, I’d still be glued to the TV, especially on the first day when UNC’s like Asheville and Wilmington have that chance to dream of one Cinderella moment in the spotlight.

KATHERINE’S PICK:
The Big Lebowski [Encore, 8p]
Mark it 8, Dude.

ALSO ON TAP TONIGHT:

• USA’s taut dystopian drama from the Lost family comes to a head as everybody has a reason to distrust everyone else, especially the alien overlords, on Colony.
• Baskets goes to Paris in search of a lost “love” (although admittedly Penelope has been a bit more human post-exile) on FX.
• If you haven’t checked out Idiotsitter on Comedy Central, it’s a bit of a formula, but at its best is one of the most insanely funny shows on TV.
• MTV brings back its signature reality show — the one that killed the video star — for its 31st season. The motto this time for The Real World appears to be “go big or go home” and it takes place somewhere outside Las Vegas, but if the past thirty seasons are prologue, what happens will not stay there.