The first day of the men’s tournament did not disappoint.
We saw three upsets — as many as we saw in the entire first round last season — as the 36 million-plus brackets submitted across major online games (Men’s Bracket Challenge Game, ESPN, CBS, Yahoo, USA Today and Sports Illustrated) turned into more than 14,000 perfect brackets after 16 games.
The biggest dent (by total numbers) happened in the first game when No. 9 TCU took down No. 8 Ohio State, 66-64, leaving 14.5 million perfect brackets. About 2.5 million more perfect brackets were eliminated when No. 4 Nebraska took down No. 13 Troy, 76-47.
The first upset of the day, No. 12 High Point’s 83-82 win over No. 5 Wisconsin, did major damage to bring the total to around 2.3 million perfect brackets. It was then cut to 1.2 million when No. 6 Louisville hung on to beat. No. 11 USF, 83-79.
No. 1 Duke avoided what could have been arguably the biggest upset in tournament history, holding on to beat No. 16 Siena, 71-65. Wins from No. 5 Vanderbilt, No. 4 Arkansas and No. 3 Michigan State left more than 700,000 perfect brackets.
That’s when No. 11 VCU pulled off the largest first round comeback in NCAA tournament history, taking down No. 6 North Carolina 82-78 in overtime. After the Rams' win, a little over 300,000 perfect brackets remained.
That total was halved once again to about 150,000 when No. 10 Texas A&M took down No. 7 Saint Mary’s, 73-50. Shortly after, No. 11 Texas took down No. 6 BYU, 79-71, leaving a little over 30,000 perfect brackets.
The last big hit of the night came when No. 9 Saint Louis dominated No. 8 Georgia, 102-77, leaving fewer than 15,000 brackets still perfect. After No. 3 Gonzaga's 73-64 win over No. 14 Kennesaw State, just over 14,000 — or about 0.039% of all brackets — remained unscathed.
This total is significantly lower after the first day last year, but more than in other recent years. Here's how many perfect brackets we had heading into the second day in previous years:
2025: 36,000+
2024: 2,100+
2023: 787
2022: 192
2021: 121
2019: About 60,000
The first overtime game of March Madness has come and gone, and what a game it was.
No. 11 VCU went on a furious late run to force overtime, where it took down No. 6 North Carolina, 82-78. North Carolina led by as many as 19 in the second half, but VCU mounted the largest comeback in the Round of 64 in NCAA tournament history. It included a 12-0 Rams run in the final minutes to help force overtime. VCU was powered by the hot-shooting Terrence Hill Jr., who hit the go-ahead 3-pointer in overtime while scoring a tournament-high 34 points off 13 of 23 shooting, including 7 of 10 from 3 off the bench.
On the Tar Heels' side, four different players finished in double-digits with the continued absence of freshman phenom Caleb Wilson. Seven-footer Henri Veesaar led all North Carolina scorers with a 26-point, 10-rebound double-double.
VCU advances to play the winner of No. 3 Illinois and No. 14 Penn in the second round.
Perfect Bracket Tracker: The number of perfect brackets continue to dwindle down. The Rams were one of the favorite underdog picks in the first round, with 32.9 percent of users picking VCU to advance. With VCU's win, another 400,000 perfect brackets were eliminated, leaving fewer than 300,000 brackets intact across major online games.
We're just five games into the 2026 NCAA tournament and only around 3.2 percent of brackets remain perfect.
The day began with an estimated 36 million brackets across major online games (Men's Bracket Challenge Game, ESPN, CBS, Yahoo, USA Today and Sports Illustrated) based on publicly available data. Quickly, we saw that number decrease. About 1.15 million brackets still remain perfect.
More than half of the brackets were taken out when No. 9 TCU defeated No. 8 Ohio State, 66-64. About 14.5 million brackets remained intact after the first game of the tournament. Another 2.5 million brackets were busted thanks to No. 4 Nebraska's 76-47 victory over No. 13 Troy.
The next game saw another 10 million brackets eliminated when No. 12 High Point hung on to beat No. 5 Wisconsin, 83-82. The field was almost halved again when No. 6 Louisville took down No. 11 USF, 83-79, bringing the total number of perfect brackets to 1.2 million. Another 50,000 brackets were eliminated when No. 1 Duke held on to beat No. 16 Siena, 71-65.
Obviously, a Duke loss would've been the biggest blow to brackets. Across all brackets, an estimated 8.5 million had Duke winning the national title, significantly more than the approximately 2.1 percent who had Siena beating the Blue Devils in the first round. Not only that, approximately 61.2 of brackets had Duke in their Final Four.
There are still 27 games remaining in the first round alone — so there's plenty of time for bracket busters to make their mark on this year's tournament field.
Breathe easy, Duke fans. And take a breather, Siena's starting five.
No. 16 Siena nearly pulled off what would've been the stunner of the tournament (and perhaps all-time as only the third 16 to beat a 1), but just didn't have enough against the No. 1 overall seed Duke Blue Devils. Duke won, 71-65.
It was a valiant effort from the Saints, who had zero substitutions substitutions for almost the entire game. Siena led for most of the day, holding an 11-point halftime advantage and a five-point lead with eight minutes left in the game. The Saints went nearly seven minutes without a point down the stretch, however, allowing Duke to slowly cut down its deficit and take the lead it would not relinquish.
Duke will play No. 9 TCU in the second round of the tournament.
Perfect bracket tracker: Not everyone picked Duke to win, as approximately 50,000 more perfect brackets fell. There are estimated to be around 1.15 million perfect brackets remaining across major online games.
