The Best and Worst from Day 1 of March Madness

The madness returned in full-force on Thursday. Let’s break down everything that happened.

Let’s just get this out of the way straight from the jump: If you were ranking the best opening Thursdays in NCAA Tournament history, this one wouldn’t be near the top. It wouldn’t be somewhere in the middle either.

That doesn’t mean it wasn’t great. All first round days are great. Some of them are just way, way more great than others. This wasn’t one of those days.

This recap can still be great though. Let’s get to it.

The 3 Best March Madness Games Of Day 1

1. (5) Michigan 68, (12) UC San Diego 65 (South)

It took until after midnight on the East Coast for the first day of the tournament to deliver a game with a truly dramatic finish.

Michigan scored the game’s first 10 points and led the whole way before UCSD’s Tyler McGhie went on a personal 9-1 run himself to give the Tritons their first lead of the game at 65-63 with 2:29 to play. The lead lasted just 17 seconds, as Tre Donaldson buried a three on the other end to put the Wolverines back ahead by a point.

After a pair of Vlad Goldin free-throws extended Michigan’s lead to three, head coach Dusty May elected not to foul in the closing seconds, giving McGhie a chance to send the game to overtime.

The miss snapped the nation’s longest winning streak at 15 games, and ended a dream season for UCSD that saw the Tritons win 30 games and make a trip to the NCAA Tournament in their first season as a full member of Division-I.

For Michigan, the victory added to the early legend of May, who took over a program that went 8-24 last season in its final year under Juwan Howard.

2. (10) Arkansas 79, (7) Kansas 72 (West)

This was the most consistently competitive game that Thursday gave us, and — despite featuring the two winningest active coaches in college basketball — it was far from a work of art.

Both teams had long stretches of head-scratching basketball before Kansas put together one of the worst final segments you’re ever going to see to allow Arkansas to pull away for the upset.

Johnell Davis hit the game’s biggest shot, and then salted the win away at the free-throw line.

Things might have been different for Kansas if KJ Adams hadn’t gotten hurt. The senior forward limped off the floor with an apparent achilles injury with 3:10 to play and his team leading by three. Arkansas would score the game’s next seven points to seize control.

With the defeat, Kansas fell to 47-6 all-time in NCAA Tournament first round games.

3. (6) BYU 80, (11) VCU 71 (East)

Yes, the McNeese-Clemson game wound up only being decided by two points. Yes, Drake-Missouri got tight for a few moments late. But anyone who actually watched those games knows how aesthetically unpleasing they were for long stretches and how dominant the ultimate victor was for most of the contests.

The first 17 or so minutes of this game were probably the best 17 minutes of basketball that we got all day. Richie Saunders and Egor Demin then got it going, giving BYU an advantage that they were able to expand and hold for the final 23 minutes.

No, there weren’t any dramatic moments in the second half, but this game at least gave us a significant stretch of really high quality basketball, which is more than most of Thursday’s contests could say.

Best of luck to Ryan Odom at Virginia or Villanova.

The 5 Teams That Won It The Best

1. Gonzaga

The Bulldogs won a first round game in the NCAA Tournament for a whopping 16th consecutive season, now the longest streak in the sport after Kansas’ loss to Arkansas. Their destruction of 9th-seeded Georgia was one of the most impressive during their current run.

The Zags raced out to an absurd 27-3 lead, hit 12-of-20 from three for the game, and coasted to an 89-68 win that was even more lopsided than the final score would indicate.

For all its accomplishments in March, Gonzaga has never beaten a No. 1 seed. Mark Few’s team has a chance to rid themselves of that unwelcome distinction in two days when it faces Houston in what might be the most anticipated game of the tournament’s second round.

A win for the Zags over Houston would also make more history: It would send them to the Sweet 16 for the 10th consecutive year, which would be the longest such streak in the history of the tournament.

2. UCLA

Mick Cronin’s Bruins absolutely hammered Utah State, 72-47, in a 7/10 matchup that was expected by many to be one of the day’s most competitive contests.

The win marked the 14th time in its NCAA Tournament history that UCLA has held an opponent under 50 points. That’s the second most of any program all-time, trailing only Georgetown (16). The Bruins limited Utah State to a 4-for-31 effort from beyond the arc.

3. McNeese State

They let things get way too close for comfort late, but they still spent the bulk of Thursday afternoon inspiring the internet to fire of thousands of memes revolving around Clemson’s putrid offense.

The win wasn’t just the first in the NCAA Tournament for McNeese, it was the first time that a team from the Southland Conference has ever knocked off a team from the ACC in the Big Dance.

4. Houston

Sometimes we just gloss over dominant performances from No. 1 or No. 2 seeds in these recaps. Well not this year.

Houston deserves a nod after its 78-40 obliteration of Ohio Valley Conference champion SIU-Edwardsville, one which saw the top-seeded Cougars hold the 16th-seeded Cougars (Cougar war) to just 2-of-24 from deep. Houston shot over 60 percent from the field in the first half before Kelvin Sampson elected to rest his starters for the bulk of the second 20 minutes.

5. Drake

From “D-2 Drake” to “Round 2 Drake” in the span of a few months.

Led by first-year head coach Ben McCollum, who was coaching four of his current starters at Division-II Northwest Missouri State this time a year ago, the Bulldogs led Missouri from nearly start to finish on their way to the program’s first win in the main draw of the NCAA tournament since 1971 (they won a First Four game in 2021).

They’d be a little bit higher on this list if they hadn’t let a 15-point second half lead trickle all the way down to one. Even then, they promptly responded with a 6-0 run the way you’d expect a Sweet 16 caliber team to.

Bennett Stirtz is one more big performance on Saturday away from full-fledged March Madness darling status.

The 5 Biggest Disappointments

1. Kansas

Sure, they were atrocious down the stretch in their loss to Arkansas, but this spot is just as much a season-long acknowledgment as anything else.

The same team that was the preseason No. 1 team in the sport just became the first Kansas team since 2006 to lose in the round of 64. They had to almost try to make it happen in the final four minutes on Thursday night (maybe the hardest they tried at anything all season), but more on that in a bit.

2. Clemson

The Tigers scored just 13 points in the first half of their upset loss to McNeese, coming dangerously close to matching or setting a new record for the fewest first half points in an NCAA Tournament game.

The Tigers finally came alive late in the second half to make things interesting, but by then it was already too late for them to have a realistic shot at getting over the hump.

A wildly disappointing result for a team looking to repeat its second weekend success from a season ago.

3. Louisville

The Cardinals were widely-hailed as the most under-seeded team in the field on Selection Sunday, but they didn’t appear at all capable of keeping up with Creighton during the first game to tip-off on Thursday afternoon.

Despite playing a de facto home game inside Lexington’s Rupp Arena, Louisville allowed Creighton to go on a game-defining 19-2 run late in the first half and open up a 20-point lead. Pat Kelsey’s team never really threatened from that point on.

You’ve gotta keep the masses entertained with a competitive contest if you’re playing in the Thursday afternoon lid-lifter. The Cards couldn’t uphold their end of that bargain.

4. Missouri

Look, you’re a 6-seed and you lost on a day where not a ton else happened. You’re going to find yourself on this list.

Plus you brought shame on the rest of the greatest conference in college basketball history.

You can’t let a bunch of crew cut sporting, Casey’s pizza-loving, Arch Madness championing Midwest fellas dunk all over you like this. You’re SEC icon Missouri for God’s sake. Paragons of the South.

It just means more.

5. Yale

Have I come to expect at least one Ivy League upset per tournament? Yes.

Is that fair to a very good Yale team that lost to 4-seed Texas A&M by single-digits? No.

Would I still describe their Thursday performance as insipid and rebarbative? Perhaps.

5 Day 1 Cheers

1. Amir Kahn

The most well-known student manager in college basketball introduced himself to the rest of the American sports public on Thursday.

He did postgame interviews with college basketball’s biggest personalities, he posed for pictures with fans of other teams, and he even had the McNeese cheerleaders rocking his signature socks.

With all this attention, there is undoubtedly an “actually this thing that everyone thinks is cool is actually bad” contrarian movement coming. Ignore it. Kid is a legend and what March is all about.

2. Rick Pitino vs. John Calipari is happening

The moment the bracket was revealed, this was one of the things we all wanted to happen.

The two legends — who at times in the past have not been shy about hiding their disdain for one another — will meet for the fifth time in the NCAA Tournament. Pitino won the first two meetings. Calipari has won the last two.

St. John’s and Arkansas will tip-off at 2:40 p.m. ET on Saturday afternoon in Providence.

3. The Ben McCollum fan club

Drake fans made a habit towards the end of the season of showing up to games dressed in head coach Ben McCollum’s signature white button up/blue tie look. They even got the Bulldog mascot in on the act during Arch Madness.

Props to these older gentlemen right behind the Drake bench for keeping the fun going.

4. AJ Storr’s block

At this point you thought Kansas might run away with it and Storr might be on the precipice of a March redemption story.

Neither of those things wound up being the case.

Here’s another look:

The premature “and 1!” call is a tough look.

5. The Greg Gumbel tributes

It’ll never feel quite the same without that voice greeting us at noon on the best Thursday and Friday of the year.

5 Day 1 Jeers

1. The lack of drama

There’s no way anything else could have been No. 1.

We had 16 games on Thursday. All but four of them were decided by double figures. Six of them were decided by 19 points or more. The average margin of victory was 15.3 points.

You always want the first Thursday to be chock-full of quality, and this year it simply wasn’t. Fingers and toes crossed for day two.

2. The Drake/Kendrick Lamar jokes

A couple of weeks ago I told you what to expect.

And now we’re here.

Just because it’s on a tee doesn’t mean you have to swing.

3. The Hunter Dickinson era at Kansas

In the early spring of 2023, Hunter Dickinson was, without question, the biggest name in college basketball’s transfer portal. A Second Team All-American as a Freshman in 2021 and a First-Team All-Big 10 selection two years later, Dickinson had already established himself as one of the sport’s biggest stars, and arguably its biggest villain.

When he opted to make the move to a Kansas program that was just a year removed from its most recent national championship, most expected even more individual accolades and team accomplishments to follow.

“He is the most prepared-to-produce player we’ve ever recruited,” Kansas head coach Bill Self said at the time. “No one has ever arrived here better prepared to produce or receive accolades.”

While Dickinson’s numbers over his two seasons in Lawrence were respectable, they weren’t near the National Player of the Year level that so many had projected.

More troubling was the overall performance of his new team.

A program that had won 19 of the last 22 Big 12 regular season titles before Dickinson’s arrival finished fifth and sixth in the league in its two years with the big man on its roster. More damning, despite starting both seasons at No. 1 in the preseason AP top 25 poll, Kansas won just one total NCAA Tournament game with Dickinson, and saw its streak of 17 consecutive first round victories come to an end Thursday night. One more, by the way, would have tied North Carolina for the all-time record.

Sometimes the grass ain’t greener for any of the parties involved.

4. The Mountain West

I’m well aware that the ACC’s two teams in action on Thursday didn’t exactly cover themselves in glory, but how many years in a row are we going to let the Mountain West keep getting away with this?

Two nights after San Diego State gets stomped by 27, Utah State is completely uncompetitive in a 72-47 loss to UCLA.

San Diego State’s run to the national title game in 2023 is the only thing somewhat keeping the league’s March reputation afloat right now. Even with those five wins from the Aztecs in the equation, the Mountain West is just 12-26 in the NCAA Tournament since 2015. Since 2016, the conference is 4-20 in first round games.

The league could really use a pair of wins by New Mexico and Colorado State on Friday.

5. The Purdue/High Point tip-off

The second game to tip-off Thursday afternoon gave us a little bit of insight into how the rest of the day was going to go.

BONUS JEER: Kansas’ final segment

When the whistle blew for the final TV timeout of Kansas’ Thursday night contest against Arkansas, the Jayhawks held a three-point lead.

KU would have five more official possessions in the game, here’s how they went:

Turnover
Turnover
Turnover
Turnover
Turnover

They did not win the game.

The throwaways were also some of the most egregious ones you’re going to see all tournament long.

For a team that just never really seemed to care all that much this season, maybe this was the perfect conclusion.

A little bonus, bonus jeer for the Jayhawks:

Everyone should keep voting them No. 1 every October just to see how long this trend can go.

All Day-1 Team

Chaz Lanier, Tennessee

The North Florida transfer was ready for his first shot on the biggest of stages. Lanier buried 11 field goals on his way to a game-high 29 points as the Volunteers took care of business against Wofford.

Jamiya Neal, Creighton

Not only did Neal post a career-high 29 points in Creighton’s win over Louisville, he put up a stat line that hasn’t been seen in the tournament since ... Dwyane Wade.

That’s a decent afternoon.

Khalif Battle, Gonzaga

Battle was the main culprit in Gonzaga’s demolition of Georgia, scoring 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field and snagging eight rebounds.

Kerwin Walton, Texas Tech

Walton hit eight triples and scored a game-high 27 points as Texas Tech held off a game UNC-Wilmington squad by 10. He also made some obscure tournament history.

R.J. Luis, St. John’s

The Big East Player of the Year hit five three-pointers (a new St. John’s tournament record) on his way to a 22-point, 8-rebounds effort that helped the Red Storm notch their first win in the Big Dance since 2000.

5 Best Day 1 Dunks

1. Myles Colvin, Purdue

The other angle is even better:

2. Sincere Parker, McNeese State

3. Isaia Howard, Drake

4. Khani Rooths, Louisville

5. Ja’Vier Francis, Houston

5 Best Day 1 Images

1. Will Wade, almost certainly bound for NC State before the end of this month, leaps into the arms of McNeese Athletic Director Heath Schroyer, the man who brought Wade back into college basketball two years ago.

Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images

2. The Tigers disagree.

Getty Images

3. Rick Pitino back on the road to the Final Four.

Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images

4. Arkansas rises after Billy Richmond falls

Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

5. Montana magic (at least for a moment)

Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images

5 Notable Quotes From Day 1

1. “Half the kids I recruited, I told them, ‘Hey, the goal is to go Power 5 after this year and some of you guys can go with me. We all know what’s up. For all our guys, this was great for them. They’ve got a lot of schools in their DMs looking to pick them up, pay them.” —McNeese State head coach Will Wade

2. “We won’t beat Creighton if we play like we did tonight.” —Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl on his team’s performance in its 83-63 win over Alabama State

3. “In these games, you have to be almost perfect to get it done. So we weren’t perfect, and herein lies a loss.” —Yale head coach James Jones

4. “I don’t go against coaches. We go against teams. He doesn’t have to worry about me. My jump shot’s long gone. We’ve gotta prepare for his players. He has to prepare for our players. John and I don’t play 1-on-1 anymore.” —St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino on a second round matchup against Arkansas and longtime rival John Calipari

5. “I think Utah State can win a national championship. I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t believe it.” —Utah State head coach Jerrod Calhoun

Full Friday schedule for 2025 men’s NCAA tournament

Prepare your mind, body and soul to do it all over again. This time bigger and better. Or at least better.

Friday, March 21

12:15 p.m., CBS: (9) Baylor vs. (8) Mississippi State || Raleigh || Ian Eagle // Bill Raftery, Grant Hill // Tracy Wolfson

12:40 p.m., truTV: (15) Robert Morris vs. (2) Alabama || Cleveland || Spero Dedes / Jim Spanarkel // Jon Rothstein

1:30 p.m., TNT: (14) Lipscomb vs. (3) Iowa State || Milwaukee || Kevin Harlan / Dan Bonner, Stan Van Gundy // Lauren Shehadi

2 p.m., TBS: (12) Colorado State vs. (5) Memphis || Seattle || Lisa Byington / Robbie Hummel, Jalen Rose // Andy Katz

2:50 p.m., CBS: (16) Mount St. Mary’s vs. (1) Duke || Raleigh || Ian Eagle // Bill Raftery, Grant Hill // Tracy Wolfson

3:15 p.m., truTV: (10) Vanderbilt vs. (7) Saint Mary’s || Cleveland || Spero Dedes / Jim Spanarkel // Jon Rothstein

4:05 p.m., TNT: (11) North Carolina vs. (6) Ole Miss || Milwaukee || Kevin Harlan / Dan Bonner, Stan Van Gundy // Lauren Shehadi

4:35 p.m., TBS: (13) Grand Canyon vs. (4) Maryland || Seattle || Lisa Byington / Robbie Hummel, Jalen Rose // Andy Katz

6:50 p.m., TNT: (16) Norfolk State vs. (1) Florida || Raleigh || Ian Eagle // Bill Raftery, Grant Hill // Tracy Wolfson

7:10 p.m., CBS: (14) Troy vs. (3) Kentucky || Milwaukee || Kevin Harlan / Dan Bonner, Stan Van Gundy // Lauren Shehadi

7:25 p.m., TBS: (10) New Mexico vs. (7) Marquette || Cleveland || Spero Dedes / Jim Spanarkel // Jon Rothstein

7:35 p.m., truTV: (13) Akron vs. (4) Arizona || Seattle || Lisa Byington / Robbie Hummel, Jalen Rose // Andy Katz

9:25 p.m., TNT: (9) Oklahoma vs. (8) UConn || Raleigh || Ian Eagle // Bill Raftery, Grant Hill // Tracy Wolfson

9:45 p.m., CBS: (11) Xavier vs. (6) Illinois || Milwaukee || Kevin Harlan / Dan Bonner, Stan Van Gundy // Lauren Shehadi

10 p.m., TBS: (15) Bryant vs. (2) Michigan State || Cleveland || Spero Dedes / Jim Spanarkel // Jon Rothstein

10:10 p.m., truTV: (12) Liberty vs. (5) Oregon || Seattle || Lisa Byington / Robbie Hummel, Jalen Rose // Andy Katz