NCAA Tournament Opening Day 2026

The March Madness NCAA tournament 2026 has begun and did not disappoint.

NCAA Tournament 2026 Opening Day

The VCU Rams finish with a wild comeback, closing a 19-point deficit and overtaking North Carolina in overtime. Terrance Hill Jr. was on fire, sinking five of the Rams’ last six baskets and sealing the win with a 3-pointer with 15 seconds left on the overtime clock.

Hill finished the game with 34 points, five assists, and five boards, according to ESPN.

(11) VCU Rams, 82 vs (6) North Carolina 78 (OT).

The 19-point comeback is tied as the biggest in the March Madness event since South Alabama against Alabama in 1989.

VCU will play Illinois next.

It is no surprise Duke will advance to the next round as the N. 1 overall seed, but ESPN reports that Siena made the game interesting and says the Blue Devils took it to the limit before fallin falling 71-65.

The Saints held the lead by 11 at the half until the 5:08 mark; however, their starters played without a break until the last 90 seconds of the game. It showed late in the second half, reports ESPN.

Siena shot 8-of-34 from the floor over the last 20 minutes, allowing the Blue Devils an opportunity to overtake them.

Cameron Boozer scored 22 points with 13 boards, and his brother Cayden added 19 points.

(1) Duke 71 vs (16) Siena 65.

Duke will play TCU in Round 2.

Within the first five minutes, Wisconsin took the lead over High Point 15-5, but the Panthers closed the gap to two points by the half. Wisconsin pulled ahead by eight points with 7:08 to play, but the Badgers were outscored by High Point 18-12.

Chase Johnston scored his first 2-point field goal of the season, earning most of his shots from the top of the key on 64-of-132 shooting from the 3 this season.

Rob Martin scored 23 points with 10 assists. Terry Anderson scored 15 points and 11 rebounds, and Cam’Ron Fletcher scored 14 points and recovered 11 rebounds, according to ESPN.

(12) High Point 83 vs (5) Wisconsin 82.

High Point will play Arkansas in the next round.

At the half, the orned Frogs led by 15 points. Over the three previous tournaments, teams with a lead of 15 points or more were a perfect 34-0, according to ESPN Research. But the Buckeyes were not giving up, and at the 7:24 mark, took the lead 51-50.

For the rest of the game, the teams were neck-and-neck until the last four seconds of the game.

David Punch scored 16 points with 13 rebounds and two assists.

(9) TCU 66 vs (8) Ohio State 64.

TCU is set to play Duke in Round 2.

Freshman AJ Dybansta pulled out all the stops to prevent BYU from being a part of a second upset in his tournament debut. He is the second Freshman to score 35 points in the NCAA Tournament, alongside De’Aaron Fox, who scored 39 points in the 2017 Sweet 16 event against UCLA. But it was not enough.

Texas controlled the game from the jump. BYU was able to take the lead for 22 seconds, but when the Cougars were on the verge of making a comeback, Longhorns guard Jordan Pope sank a 3-pointer from the corner to extend the team’s lead to 75-68 with 1:29 left in the game.

Matas Vokietaitis scored 23 points with 16 rebounds. Tramon Mark put up 16 points.

(11) Texas 79 vs (6) BYU 71.

Texas will face Gonzaga in Round 2.

Louisville’s Isaac McKneely led the Cardinals to a 23-point lead. South Florida closed the gap within single digits in the last five minutes of the game. The Bulls’ star guard Wes Enis was 0-for-11 from the 3, the second-most missed 3-point field goal attempts in an NCAA tournament game since 1987, according to ESPN Research. First place is held by Wofford’s Fletcher Magee in 2019 with 0-for-12.

McKneely was 7-of-10 from the top of the key and tied for the most 3-pointers made by a Louisville player in an NCAA tournament game with Taquan Dean in 2005, according to ESPN Research.

McNeely scored 23 points in his second 20-second game this season.

(6) Louisville 83 vs (11) South Florida 79.

Louisville will take on Michigan State next.

Kennesaw State held its own for a while and was down by one point in the second half. Then, Gonzaga expanded its lead to 60-46. The Owls attempted a comeback and closed the gap to five points before Graham Ike scored a layup and brought the Bulldogs to 71-64 with 1:16 left in the game.

Ike finished the game with 19 points and eight rebounds. Davis Fogle scored 17 points. At the free throw line, the Bulldogs were 20 of 23 and 12 of 15. Additionally, they outrebounded Kennesaw State 45-34.

(3) Gonzaga 73 vs (14) Kennesaw State 64.

Gonzaga will play Texas in Round 2.

McNeese shot out with an 11-point lead, but Vanderbilt held on and took a three-point lead in the second half with a dominant presence in the post.

By the end of the game, the Commodores outscored McNeese 34-22 in the paint. However, Vanderbilt had a size advantage that gave them an edge on the glass, and they outrebounded the Cowboys 37-34.

Vanderbilt’s Tyler Tanner led with 25 points.

(5) Vanderbilt 78 vs (12) McNeese 68.

Vanderbilt will play Nebraska next.

The Aggies’ defense recorded 12 steals and forced St. Mary’s to turn the ball over 18 times, holding them to 26 points in the first half. ESPN reports TAMU dominated the paint and outscored St. Mary’s 28-12.

(10) Texas A&M 63 vs (7) Saint Mary’s 60.

Texas A&M will face off against Houston next.

Early in the first half, North Dakota took an 8-5 lead, and that was the last time the Bisons had an edge. The Spartans won their first NCAA tournament game under Tom Izzo.

In their best NCAA tournament game since 1986, Michigan State made 50 percent of its 3-pointers, was 16-of-18 at the line, and made 31 defensive rebounds and four offensive.

Guard Jeremy Fears Jr. became the sixth Michigan State player in the last 60 years to record at least 10 assists in an NCAA tournament game, joining Magic Johnson, Cassius Winston, Draymond Green, Mateen Cleaves, and Denzel Valentine.

(3) Michigan State 92 vs (14) North Dakota State 67.

Michigan State will face Louisville in the second round.

The Nebraska Cornhuskers took their first victory in NCAA tournament history with an overall dominant performance. Forward Pryce Sandfort scored a program-record seven 3-pointers in an NCAA tournament game, one shy of his career high. Nebraska shot 15-of-39 beyond the arc and held Troy to an 8-of-28 3-pointers.

Not only did they dominate the glass, but they also turned those rebounds into 10 second-chance points, well over the season average of 9.2 points, according to ESPN.

(4) Nebraska 76 vs (13) Troy 47.

Nebraska will face Vanderbilt next.

For the first time since 199, the Razorbacks scored over 90 points in an NCAA tournament game, when they beat Siena 94-80. In the first nine minutes, they held a 17-point lead and just kept going. SEC Player of the Year Darius Acuff Jr. was one of five Arkansas players to score double digits, scoring 24 points with seven assists and one steal.

Meleek Thomas scored 21 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. The two are the first duo with 50 points and five assists in an NCAA tournament game, according to ESPN.

(4) Arkansas 97 vs (13) Hawai’i 78.

Next, Arkansas will play High Point.

Illinois dominates this game with five players finishing with double digits. Freshman David Mirkovic led with 28 points, 17 rebounds, and three assists. They scored 44 points in the paint, 20 offensive boards, and shot 50 percent from the field. Additionally, they scored 15 3-pointers for a total of 105 points, the most points scored on opening day.

(3) Illinois 105 vs (14) Pennsylvania 70.

Illinois will play VCU in the next round.

Georgia remains the only SEC team without an NCAA tournament win since 2003. Saint Louis scored 66 points in the paint, the highest total in the last 20 NCAA tournaments. Six Saint Louis players finished with points in the double digits and made 58.3 percent of their field goals.

Bulldogs’ Jeremiah Wilkinson became the first Georgia player with a 30-point game since 2002.

This game was the largest loss by an SEC team to an A-10 team in an NCAA tournament game, according to ESPN.

(9) Saint Louis 102 vs (8) Georgia 77.

Next, Saint Louis will play Michigan.

The Houston Cougars have won at least one game in eight consecutive NCAA tournaments, according to ESPN. This year, Freshman phenom Kingston Flemings set a program record with 18 points, the most ever by a Houston Freshman in an NCAA tournament game, according to ESPN. Houston outrebounded Idaho 47-32 and outscored them in the paint 36-16.

(2) Houston vs (15) Idaho 47.

Houston will be matched with Texas A&M in the next round.

Howard held its own, keeping the game within four points into the half. In the second half, the Wolverines pulled ahead for their 32nd win of the season, the second-most wins in program history.

The team shot 67.3 percent and had an edge on the glass with 35-23, led by Morez Johnson Jr., the fifth player in the last 60 years with 20 points, 10 rebounds, and 100 percent field goals (8 for 8) in an NCAA tournament game.

(1) Michigan 101 vs (16) Howard 80.

Michigan will face off against Saint Louis next.

Sources:

CNN: 12 hours, 4 games, 1 unavoidable truth: There is nothing better than the first day of March Madness
ESPN: Your guide to March Madness Day 1: Recaps, every winner’s chance to advance, more

Featured Image Courtesy of Kerri Lee Smith’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License