March Madness begins: Full schedule and results of Thursday’s NCAA games
Uh, we’re at Jody’s Club Forest in Staten Island, New York. I mean, I think when people talk about starting it, we didn’t, it wasn’t the brackets we started, we just started ***, *** winner from each region and you know, the champion and total points. From what I was told *** million times, you know, from my father, you know, before he passed was. That you know they were just hanging one day and he was *** creative guy and you know he would like to come up with some things to add business in *** way so that was his whole beginning of it and the first year they did it it was 1977 and there were 88 people to get in it and it was at $10 *** ticket. So the total prize was $880 in 1977. The word of mouth just really took it to *** level where we never in *** million years would have ever imagined where it got. Our last year was 2006. We had 1.6 $160,000. That final prize was $1.6 million. The day, the cutoff day for submitting tickets was as big as any other holiday around here. And Saint Patty’s Day is *** big day around here, but I mean it was, everybody came out, wives, you know, families came out. It was *** good time. Did you know? I used to have *** table lined up along the back and you’d have people collecting money collecting money and there were multiple different people, you know, we had elected officials getting in it we had, you know, we had which we knew everyone knew everyone was getting in it like, you know, Mike and the Mad Dog were getting in like people were like, that’s how popular it was like we were getting calls from California, uh, when the war was going on in Iraq. They were, there were tickets being sent to Iraq. In December of ’06, we were, uh, it was like *** Tuesday morning I believe, and two agents came in. They questioned my dad about running the pool and this and that and they said you’re under investigation. Um, fast forward, um, I would say about right then and there the pool was over. There wasn’t even *** debate amongst. My parents like, oh we’re gonna run it, we’re not gonna run it. We were, it was over right there, right that day in December. Now you could look up on the TV and I can watch *** game and my son could say, what’s Vandule and what’s this and that, like, to me, it’s just like. That’s crazy because gambling is just so accepted now. I’ve been asked like if we would ever start it up again. I just don’t even know if I could, could legally do it. I don’t, you know, but if I did it, it would, I think it would skyrocket right away. Yeah.
March Madness begins: Full schedule and results of Thursday’s NCAA games
Updated: 11:58 PM CDT Mar 19, 2026
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Let the Madness begin!
The 2026 Men’s NCAA Tournament’s first round kicked off Thursday with 64 teams vying to be the best in college basketball.
Here’s a look at Thursday’s games. All times Eastern.
(9) TCU 66, (8) Ohio State 64
Xavier Edmonds converted a layup to beat the shot clock with 4.3 seconds left, and No. 9 seed TCU held off a furious second-half rally by eighth-seeded Ohio State for a 66-64 victory to open the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Bruce Thornton’s half-court heave at the buzzer hit all backboard for the Buckeyes. Micah Robinson scored 18 points for TCU, Edmonds finished with 16 and David Punch had 16 points and 13 rebounds. John Mobley Jr. scored 15 points to lead Ohio State.
(4) Nebraska 76, (13) Troy 47
Pryce Sandfort scored 23 points and Nebraska rolled to its long-awaited first NCAA Tournament victory, beating Troy 76-47. The Cornhuskers entered March Madness as the only school from a power conference without a tournament win.
They were 0-8, with many of the losses coming as the higher seed. Sandfort helped the Huskers end the drought by making seven 3-pointers.
Braden Frager and Jamarques Lawrence each scored 13 points and Rienk Mast added 11 points, seven assists and six rebounds for the Huskers.
Victor Valdes scored 14 points for Troy.
(6) Louisville 83, (11) South Florida 79
Isaac McKneely scored 23 points, and Louisville hung on to beat South Florida 83-79 to win its first NCAA Tournament game since Rick Pitino’s last season as coach in 2017.
Ryan Conwell scored 11 of his 18 points in the second half and backup forward Sananda Fru had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Joseph Pinion scored 27 points for South Florida (25-9) in a game in which the Bulls missed 20 of their first 21 3-point attempts.
(12) High Point 83, (5) Wisconsin 82
hase Johnston made his first 2-point basket of the season, a fast-break layup with 11.7 seconds remaining that gave No. 12 seed High Point an 83-82 victory over fifth-seeded Wisconsin on Thursday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Johnston finished with 14 points, including four 3-pointers for the Panthers, who were 10 1/2-point underdogs, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. He came in shooting 64 of 136 (47.1%) from 3-point range but 0 of 4 inside the arc, and he had played more minutes (406) and scored more points (196) without making a 2-point shot than any player in the country.
Nick Boyd finished with 27 points and John Blackwell added 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Badgers, who have lost to a lower-seeded team in each of their last four NCAA Tournament appearances. They fell to No. 11 seed Iowa State in 2022 and No. 12 seed James Madison in 2024 and lost in the second round last year as a 3 seed to sixth-seeded BYU.
(1) Duke 71, (16) Siena 65
Duke barely avoided a shocking upset to open the NCAA Tournament before beating Siena 71-65.
The No. 1 overall seed had to rally from 13 down and go ahead for good in the final 5 minutes to beat the 16th-seeded Saints.
Cameron Boozer had 22 points and 13 rebounds for the Blue Devils. Gavin Doty scored 21 points for Siena.
The Saints led by 11 at half and 61-56 with 7:56 left before Duke had an 11-0 run to go ahead for good.
(5) Vanderbilt 78, (12) McNesse St. 68
Tyler Tanner had 26 points, seven rebounds and five assists, and Vanderbilt rallied to beat McNeese 78-68 on Thursday for its first victory in the NCAA Tournament since 2012.
Duke Miles scored 13 points and Devin McGlockton and Tyler Nickel each added 12 for Vanderbilt, which trailed by 12 points in the first half and then took control after the break.
Garwey Dual scored 16 points and Larry Johnson added 15 for No. 12 seed McNeese, which was trying to knock off a No. 5 seed for the second straight year.
(3) Michigan State 92, (14) North Dakota State 67
Carson Cooper matched his career high with 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as Michigan State routed North Dakota State 92-67 to reach the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the 22nd time in 28 consecutive appearances under coach Tom Izzo.
Coen Carr added 17 points for the third-seeded Spartans. Cam Ward scored 13 points and Kaxon Kohler had 12 points and nine rebounds.
Leading scorer Jeremy Fears Jr. managed only seven points but finished with 11 assists, exceeding his season average of 9.2, which ranks first in the country.
(4) Arkansas 97, (13) Hawaii 78
Darius Acuff Jr. had 24 points and seven assists, and No. 4 seed Arkansas continued its strong play after winning the Southeastern Conference Tournament, beating No. 13 seed Hawaii 97-78 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Arkansas moves on to face No. 12 High Point in the second round of the West Region. Meleek Thomas had 21 points and eight rebounds for coach John Calipari’s Razorbacks, Trevon Brazile added 19 points and three blocks, and Malique Ewin had 16 points and 12 rebounds.
re Bullock scored 21 points for Hawaii, the Big West Conference champion. Isaac Johnson had 15 points and five rebounds.
(11) VCU 82, (6) North Carolina 78, OT
Terrence Hill Jr. made a stepback 3-pointer with 15 seconds left in overtime and No. 11 VCU erased a 19-point second-half deficit to stun sixth-seeded North Carolina 82-78 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Hill finished 7 for 10 from 3-point range and scored 23 of 34 points after halftime as VCU (28-7) won its first NCAA Tournament game since 2016.
Nyk Lewis added 16 points, including two clutch free throws, to seal the game for the Rams.
Henri Veesaar had 26 points and 10 rebounds for the Tar Heels (25-8), who went 0-3 after star Caleb Wilson was ruled out for the season with an injury.
(1) Michigan 101, (16) Howard 81
Morez Johnson Jr. had 21 points and 10 rebounds on a perfect shooting night, and No. 1 seed Michigan rode a second-half surge to a 101-81 victory over 16th-seeded Howard in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Towering center Aday Mara had 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists for the Wolverines.
Johnson shot 8 of 8 from the field as Michigan won its 32nd game, one short of the program record set in 2017-18.
Cam Gillus and Bryce Harris scored 21 points each for Howard.
(11) Texas 79, (6) BYU 71
Matas Vokietaitis had 23 points and 16 rebounds, and No. 11 seed Texas knocked off sixth-seeded BYU 79-71 on Thursday in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, overcoming 35 points from Cougars forward AJ Dybantsa.
Dybantsa played every minute of the game, but it wasn’t enough as BYU (23-12) had its season — and perhaps his college career — come to an end. Dybantsa was two points shy of tying BYU’s NCAA Tournament record for points in a game, held by Danny Ainge and Jimmer Fredette.
Texas won its First Four matchup with N.C. State on Tuesday night.
(10) Texas A&M 63, (7) Saint Mary’s (CA) 50
Rashaun Agee had 22 points and nine rebounds, and No. 10 seed Texas A&M beat seventh-seeded Saint Mary’s 63-50 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Ruben Dominguez added 11 points for the Aggies.
Joshua Dent scored 18 points and Liam Campbell added 15 for Saint Mary’s. Paulius Murauskas, who had averaged 18.8 points per game, scored just four on 1-for-6 shooting.
It was a season-low point total for the Gaels. Saint Mary’s was a 3 1/2-point favorite, making this a mild upset.
(3) Illinois 105, (14) Penn 70
David Mirkovic had 29 points and 17 rebounds, and No. 3 seed Illinois dominated No. 14 seed Penn 105-70 on Thursday night in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Keaton Wagler added 18 points, seven assists and seven rebounds for the Fighting Illini .
Kylan Boswell had 13 points, while Ben Humrichous and Tomislav Ivisic each chipped in with 12 as Illinois shot 50% from the field and made 15 3-pointers while outrebounding the much smaller Quakers 48-25.
Michael Zanoni finished with 20 points on 9-of-18 shooting for Penn, the Ivy League champion.
(9) Saint Louis 102, (8) Georgia 77
Dion Brown scored 18 points on 9-of-10 shooting, all on layups and dunks, and Saint Louis blew out Georgia 102-77 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night.
Amari McCottry added 13 points and nine rebounds, while Robbie Avila had 12 points, five rebounds and five assists for the ninth-seeded Billikens.
Saint Louis (29-5) set a school record for victories.
Jeremiah Wilkinson scored 30 points for No. 8 seed Georgia. This was the most lopsided loss of the season for the Bulldogs (22-10), who had the most regular-season wins in program history.
(3) Gonzaga 73, (14) Kennesaw State 64
Graham Ike scored 19 points and third-seeded Gonzaga held off tenacious No. 14 seed Kennesaw State 73-64 in a defensive battle that ended with some drama in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Davis Fogle added 17 points for the Bulldogs.
RJ Johnson and Amir Taylor each had 15 points for Kennesaw State, which made its second March Madness appearance after winning the Conference USA Tournament.
The Owls capitalized on a series of fouls by the Bulldogs to make it close late, and Gonzaga coach Mark Few was enraged by some of the calls.
Jalen Warley added 12 points and 12 rebounds for Gonzaga (31-3), which has made 27 straight tournament appearances. The Zags lost in the national title game in 2017 and 2021.
(2) Houston 78, (15) Idaho 47
Kingston Flemings scored 18 points, Emanuel Sharpe added 16 and Houston routed Idaho 78-47 Thursday night in its NCAA Tournament opener after losing last year’s championship game.
Chris Cenac Jr. had a career-high 18 rebounds for Houston, which lost to Florida in last year’s final.
Kolton Mitchell scored 14 points for 15th-seeded Idaho, a heavy underdog making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1990.
The Vandals (21-15) qualified for the NCAA Tournament by winning four games in five days to win the Big Sky championship, despite being seeded seventh in the conference tournament.
