March Madness

Whether those games (and more) can live up to the opening day of the 2022 NCAA Tournament remains to be seen. That said, there's a reason it's called March ...

Whether those games (and more) can live up to the opening day of the 2022 NCAA Tournament remains to be seen. No. 9 TCU, which tips off at 9:57 p.m. No. 10 Loyola-Chicago) and ends with No. 8 Seton Hall vs.

Also known by its slightly less exciting official title of The NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, it sees tens of millions of people filling out ...

The pure size of the tournament is the key to its success. “Before then, I was Mike Jordan.” Some $1.24 billion was spent by advertisers on the 2019 event, while broadcasters CBS and Turner’s deal will see them paying $1.5 billion a season from 2025. Do people really care about the individual teams’ fates? And the spectacle of March Madness also makes it a spectacular way for little-known players to shoot into the spotlight, and onto the NBA radar. Only in the sense that they’ve picked a 15th seed to produce a stunning upset of a 2nd seed in the first round, and because of it would love to see Jacksonville State stun Auburn, or whoever it may be.

It's never too early to check on your bracket. As the first full day of the NCAA tournament wraps up, we've got all the best moments.

@CSUMBasketball pic.twitter.com/P3yBe0BgqG March 17, 2022 In the first half, Scheierman and Douglas Wilson combined for 18 points (8-17 FG) and four assists. Six different Providence players have made a 3-pointer so far, which is a school record for an NCAA tournament game per ESPN Stats & Information data. According to ESPN Stats & Information, that's their most points in any half this season and the most in the first half of a tournament game since 2007. Memphis' freshman star had been sidelined since January with a back injury; this was Bates' only score of the game for Memphis. The Tigers got 14 points from DeAndre Williams to take out Boise State 64-53. With 13:10 remaining in the second half, No. 16 Georgia State went up 54-52 on No. 1 Gonzaga and it looked like things were about to get awful exciting. New Mexico State has joined Richmond in pulling off a 12-5 upset, as the Aggies knocked off the UConn Huskies 70-63. The Peacocks finished their season on a two-game losing streak, but matched the Wildcats shot for shot in the first round, finally pulling ahead for good with a 14-8 overtime. That's March Madness." Just the last in a series of exceptional finishes on the first day of the 2022 NCAA tournament. The two teams then traded the lead back and forth in overtime before Murray State finally pulled away on a KJ Williams jumper. We've already got three potential Cinderella teams, as New Mexico State, Richmond and Saint Peter's all knocked off their far-more-heralded competition on the first day.

Here are the winners and losers from another day of action in the NCAA Tournament.

But the Wildcats closed the half on a 13-2 run and never looked back on the way to an 80-60 victory. Houston jumped out to an early 18-point lead and held Walker to 1-of-10 shooting from 3-point range in an 82-68 thrashing of the Blazers. Up next is a date with No. 4 seed Illinois, an opponent that looked vulnerable on Friday. While a number of highly seeded teams struggled in Round 1 to even advance, No. 3 seed Purdue sent a statement on the national scene, blasting No. 14 seed Yale 78-56 to advance to Round 2. A first-round NCAA Tournament loss against No. 15 seed Oral Roberts in 2021 cast a pall over Ohio State's basketball program, but the Buckeyes emerged from the cloud with a 54-41 win over Loyola-Chicago. The nature of the win was nice for Ohio State as well. Chattanooga experienced the best March has to offer on March 7 when it beat Furman in the SoCon Tournament title game on David Jean-Baptiste's deep 3-pointer at the buzzer. The Trojans nearly delivered a dagger at the horn with a 3 that banked in and out, but Miami's much-deserved positive regression in close games finally hit at a perfect time. Duke entered its first-round game against Cal State Fullerton as an 18.5 point favorite against the No. 15 seed Titans. The Blue Devils led comfortably throughout the second half and advanced on to the second round with relative ease after winning 78-61. Oh, and this dunk from Smith has to to be a lock to appear in "One Shining Moment." TCU picked up its first NCAA Tournament victory since 1987 by pummeling Seton Hall 69-42 to reach the second round, where it will take on No. 1 seed Arizona. The last time the program won a game in the Big Dance, its 56-year-old head coach Jamie Dixon was the team's second-leading scorer. Colgate was also competitive as a No. 16 seed in losses against Kansas and UConn in 1995 and 1996. But now the Tigers enter an uncertain night with athletic director Scott Woodward's excellent track record of hiring coaches shining as the only light in what may wind up as a bleak tunnel for the LSU program. As the sun rose on a new day following Kentucky's historic loss, some of the tournament's top seeds seemed particularly invigorated to avoid similar fates as the Wildcats.

Sixty-eight teams have been cut down to 32. Here's how we rank the teams that made it to the 2022 NCAA tournament's second round.

That is, assuming the team that showed up for a comeback in the second half on Thursday is the team we'll see the rest of the way. The same Miami team that got swept by Virginia and Florida State in the regular season now has wins over Duke, North Carolina -- and former No. 7 USC. That's the story of the season for Jim Larranaga's squad, which continues to beat the odds. And Mike Miles (21 points, 9-for-18) carried TCU to the second round of the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1987. The same UNC squad that beat Duke by 13 points to spoil Mike Krzyzewski's final home game made Marquette look like a double-digit seed on Thursday. The Tar Heels also improved to 6-2 when Brady Manek (28 points, 11 rebounds, 5-for-10 from 3) makes at least four 3s in a game. But E.J. Liddell (16 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks on Friday) has been a national player of the year candidate all season. Beard's streak continued on Friday when he took his third Division I program (previously Little Rock and Texas Tech) to the second round of the 2022 tournament. Mark Adams, who stepped up to the helm when Beard left for Texas last year, was the coordinator of that defensive attack. Against the Ivy League tournament champion, Edey finished with 16 points (8-for-10 from the free throw line) and Ivey finished with 22 (7-for-9 from the charity stripe). Purdue also held Yale to under 60 points in a strong defensive effort that contrasts its subpar metrics. Wendell Moore Jr. (3-for-4 from beyond the arc) was reliable. When Santiago Vescovi (18 points, seven assists), Kennedy Chandler (13 points, four steals) and Josiah-Jordan James (17 points, nine rebounds) all play in sync the way they did in this first-round game, Tennessee is a tough matchup for any team. But the Tigers looked the part of a team with staying power in their win over Jacksonville State, the Atlantic Sun's regular season champion who only represented the league because Bellarmine (the ASUN tournament champ) was ineligible for the NCAA tournament. Timme (32 points, 13 rebounds) and Holmgren (19 points, seven rebounds, seven blocks, five assists, two steals) are still the most imposing duo in the NCAA tournament, and Gonzaga remains the top team going into the second round.

The talk after Selection Sunday centered on the selection committee favoring the Big Ten Conference, particularly near the bubble line, sending nine teams ...

The Ramblers (25-8) were absolutely dreadful offensively in a 54-41 loss to an Ohio State team that finally got healthy. The No. 2-seeded Tigers (28-5) watched their SEC counterpart Kentucky lose to a No. 15 seed Thursday, but made sure to pull away from Jacksonville State late in the first half. Instead the Hens managed 3-for-20 from 3-point range (15%). Defensively, coach Martin Ingelsby's group couldn't stay in front of 'Nova's guards, especially Collin Gillespie and Justin Moore, in the 80-60 loss. The No. 14-seeded Raiders (23-12) came close to staging an upset but it wasn't enough as Wisconsin pulled away late for a 67-60 win behind All-American Johnny Davis' 25 points. The No. 7-seeded Spartans (23-12) pulled out what felt like an upset in a 74-73 win, edging out No. 10 Davidson. Veteran big man Joey Hauser propelled Michigan State offensively with 27 points and eight rebounds, while this Tom Izzo-coached defense was smothering in the final minutes of the game to help MSU seal the victory. The No. 13-seeded Mocs (27-8) were ready to become the first Cinderella of Friday's action but crumbled down the stretch and couldn't pull out an upset over Illinois in a 54-53 loss. Chattanooga did a decent job at limiting All-American big man Kofi Cockburn, but the big man's basket with 47 seconds left gave the Illini their first lead of the game before pulling it out in the game's final minute. The No. 3-seeded Boilermakers (28-7) put Yale away early and didn't look back for a 78-56 win in which All-American Jaden Ivey scored 22 points. The No. 11-seeded Fighting Irish (24-10) looked like the favorite in their first-round clash with Alabama. Guard Cormac Ryan went off from beyond the arc, drilling seven 3-pointers on the way to a 29-point performance. It's been a decent NCAA Tournament for the ACC's five teams, with Duke ( hammered Cal State Fullerton) and Miami (clipped USC) both advancing Friday while Virginia Tech bowed out in a loss to Texas. Duke seemed to rekindle its identity, which seemed to have disappeared in the ACC tournament and Coach K's final home game vs. So far, the Big Ten has delivered and put forth a strong showing in March Madness, with all five teams pulling out wins in Friday's first-round action.