While some brackets have been failing, others have been flourishing. Here is a recap of the first and second rounds of the 2026 NCAA March Madness tournament.
On Thursday, March 19th, the first half of the first round games were played as follows:
- 9 TCU (66) vs. 8 Ohio State (64)
- 13 Troy (47) vs. 4 Nebraska (76)
- 11 Southern Florida (79) vs. 6 Louisville (83)
- 12 High Point (83) vs. 5 Wisconsin (82)
- 16 Siena (65) vs. 1 Duke (71)
- 12 McNeese (68) vs. 5 Vanderbilt (78)
- 14 North Dakota (67) vs. 3 Michigan State (92)
- 13 Hawaii (78) vs. 4 Arkansas (97)
- 11 VCU (82) vs. 6 UNC (78)
- 16 Howard (80) vs. 1 Michigan (101)
- 10 Texas A&M (63) vs. 7 St.Mary’s (50)
- 11 Texas (79) vs. 6 BYU (71)
- 14 Penn (70) vs. 3 Illinois (105)
- 9 Saint Louis (102) vs. 8 Georgia (77)
- 15 Idaho (47) vs. 2 Houston (78)
- 14 Kennesaw (64) vs. 3 Gonzaga (73)
High Point guard Chase Johnston completed his first ever two-pointer to seal the win against Wisconsin after making a basket from the logo late in the second half.
No. 16 seed Siena had an 11 point lead on Duke at halftime, but Duke outscored Siena by 17 points in the second half to progress to the second round.
On Friday, March 20th, the second half of the first round games were played as follows:
- 10 Santa Clara (84) vs. 7 Kentucky (89)
- 12 Akron (71) vs. 5 Texas Tech (91)
- 16 LIU (58) vs. 1 Arizona (92)
- 14 Wright State (73) vs. 3 Virginia (82)
- 15 Tennessee State (74) vs. 2 Iowa State (108)
- 13 Hofstra (70) vs. 4 Alabama (90)
- 9 Utah State (86) vs. 8 Villanova (76)
- 11 Miami OH (56) vs. 6 Tennessee (78)
- 9 Iowa (67) vs. 8 Clemson (61)
- 12 UNI (53) vs. 5 St. Johns (79)
- 10 UCF (71) vs. 7 UCLA (75)
- 15 Queens (71) vs. 2 Purdue (104)
- 16 Prairie View (55) vs. 1 Florida (114)
- 13 California Baptist (60) vs. 4 Kansas (68)
- 10 Missouri (66) vs. 7 Miami FL (80)
- 15 Furman (71) vs. 2 UConn (82)
UCLA capitalized on UCF’s 11 first-half turnovers to create a strong first half, making UCF’s attempt to comeback in the second half difficult.
The 2025 tournament champions, Florida, walked into the 2026 dance with a comfortable win against Prairie View.
On Saturday, March 21st, the first second round games were played as follows:
- 9 Saint Louis (72) vs. 1 Michigan (95)
- 6 Louisville (69) vs. 3 Michigan State (77)
- 9 TCU (58) vs. 1 Duke (81)
- 10 Texas A&M (57) vs. 2 Houston (88)
- 11 Texas (74) vs. 3 Gonzaga (68)
- 11 VCU (55) vs. 3 Illinois (76)
- 5 Vanderbilt (72) vs. 4 Nebraska (74)
- 12 High Point (88) vs. 4 Arkansas (94)
In the final moments of the game, Commodores guard Tyler Tanner missed a potential buzzer beater. His teammate, Braden Frager speaks about the shot, “I thought it went in. I didn’t know how to react. I was, just — everybody started celebrating. I was like, he actually missed it.”
Tournament favorite Duke gained more poise after their not-so-easy win over No. 16 seed Siena, beating the Horned Frogs by 23 points.
On Sunday, March 22nd, the last of the second round games were played as follows:
- 7 Miami FL (69) vs. 2 Purdue (79)
- 7 Kentucky (63) vs. 2 Iowa State (82)
- 5 St.John’s (67) vs. 4 Kansas (65)
- 6 Tennessee (79) vs. 3 Virginia (72)
- 9 Iowa (73) vs. 1 Florida (72)
- 9 Utah State (66) vs. 1 Arizona (78)
- 7 UCLA (57) vs. 2 UConn (73)
- 5 Texas Tech (65) vs. 4 Alabama (90)
The reigning champions from Gainesville came up short against Iowa after being neck in neck with the Hawkeyes the entire game.
