If the 2026 March Madness tournament is anything like Day 1, we are in for a treat. Six of the sixteen matchups were won by the lower seed, and fans were treated to several close contests, as Day 1 is now in the books.
Here are the biggest storylines that emerged from across the country after an exhilarating day of basketball.
VCU Overcomes 19-Point Deficit to Win Overtime Thriller
North Carolina looked as though they would cruise into the second round after taking an 11-point lead into halftime that swelled to 19 points with 15 minutes left to play. VCU had other plans, as they stormed back to tie the game with 11 seconds left before claiming an 82-78 victory in overtime.
Three-point shooting combined with a cold spell for North Carolina led to their demise, as Tar Heels head coach Hubert Davis cut down to a six-man rotation in the second half. VCU sensed that North Carolina was tiring, and they took over late to pull off the stunning comeback win.
Terrence Hill Jr. was unstoppable for VCU, scoring 34 points while shooting 7-for-10 from behind the arc. He nailed the eventual game winner with a step-back three in overtime, giving VCU an 80-78 lead, which they held on to.
North Carolina dropped to 0-3 since star player Caleb Wilson suffered a season-ending broken thumb, as the No. 6 seed fell for one of the major upsets of the opening day of March Madness.
Duke Rallies to Avoid Embarrassing Defeat
The No. 1 seed has only lost in the first round twice before, and it was nearly a historic upset for Siena over Duke. Siena held a 13-point lead in the first half and kept the margin at double digits heading into the break. Duke took their first lead since the opening minutes with five minutes left in the second half and never relinquished it again to rally for the 71-65 victory.
Cameron Boozer took over down the stretch, finishing with 22 points and 13 rebounds. The potential number one overall NBA draft pick next season put the team on his back, hauling in offensive rebounds while going 13-for-14 from the free throw line. Duke went 5-for-26 from deep in the contest but was able to thrive on the inside and from the free throw line, having 15 more charity stripe attempts than their opponents.
Siena became the first team since 1979 to play all five starters 40 minutes, but it turned out to be a costly strategy with fatigue taking over late in the game. They put up quite the fight against the pre-tournament favorites but ultimately fell short, saving Duke from embarrassment.
No. 12 High Point Rides Three-Point Shooting to Upset No. 5 Wisconsin
High Point and Wisconsin went back and forth with 6 lead changes and 6 ties, with High Point eventually pulling off the 83-82 upset. High Point went 15-for-40 from three-point range, spearheaded by Rob Martin’s stellar offensive showing. Martin led the team with 23 points while tacking on 10 assists, giving High Point a historic first-round win.
Chase Johnston scored his first two-point field goal of the season with 11 seconds to go, breaking away in transition for the game-winning score. The three-point specialist had gone all year without a successful two-pointer but came up with the deuce in the dying seconds. He finished with 14 points, but 8 of those came in the final four minutes, where he went a perfect 3-for-3 from the field.
High Point overcame an early double-digit deficit to rally for the win, setting up a second-round contest against Arkansas. Wisconsin has failed to make the Sweet Sixteen for the ninth straight year, suffering a first-round upset as the fifth seed, just as they did in 2024.
No. 9 Saint Louis Makes it Look Easy
The No. 9 vs. No. 8 games are traditionally very close, but that was not the case for Saint Louis and Georgia. Saint Louis dominated from wire-to-wire, never trailing, to take home a 102-77 victory.
Saint Louis matched their 2026 high with 102 points in their biggest game of the season, with six players posting a double-digit point total. They led by as many as 40 points midway through the second half before Georgia put together a strong finish to keep the scoreline semi-respectable.
Saint Louis faces off against No. 1 Michigan in the second round, which is a game that could be very interesting if they can replicate their offensive outburst.
Texas Holds Off BYU Rally for Historic Win
Texas led by as many as 17 points over sixth-seeded BYU and held on for a 79-71 victory. Offensive rebounding was the difference for Texas, as Matas Vokietaitis hauled in 16 rebounds and 23 points. Nine of those rebounds came on the offensive end, as the second-chance points turned out to be a backbreaker for BYU.
BYU was down 75-71 with the ball with less than a minute to play, but couldn’t take advantage of Vokietaitis’s missed free throws. The towering Texas big man started the game 3-for-5 from the line but missed six in a row to keep BYU alive. However, BYU’s ice-cold three-point shooting combined with their inability to rebound the basketball meant the frantic comeback fell just short.
