The First Round of the 2024 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament officially began on Thursday, and it didn’t take long for the Madness to creep in.
Michigan State and Mississippi State began the day in Charlotte, where No.9 seed Michigan State came away with a 69-51 win to advance to the Second Round and improve to 20-6 in NCAA Tournament openers under head coach Tom Izzo. The Spartans will face No.1 seed North Carolina on Saturday.
The first significant upset came in the day’s second game, where the 11-seed Duquesne Dukes, a bid-stealer from the Atlantic 10, knocked out No.6-seed BYU 71-67. BYU outscored the Dukes in the second half but could not overcome an early 12-2 deficit and became the first Big 12 team eliminated this season.
After close starts, Creighton, Arizona, Illinois, and North Carolina all recovered with blowout wins to reach the next round, while Oregon became the second 11-seed to win on the Tournament’s first day. Illinois’ Marcus Domask became the 10th player in NCAA Tournament history to record a triple-double., and Dayton completed a 19-point comeback in the final 7:19 to beat Nevada 63-60.
The NCAA Tournament will pick back up on Thursday night with a Midwest Region game between the No.7-seed Texas Longhorns and the No.10-seed Colorado State Rams at 5:50 p.m. CT. The Longhorns are looking to make a run after reaching the Elite Eight last season, while Colorado State has already played a 2024 NCAA Tournament game — defeating Virginia to earn its current spot.
Texas Tech is the only other in-state team in action Thursday night, taking on No.11-seed North Carolina State in the South Region at 8:40 p.m. CT. The Red Raiders will look to overcome a size disadvantage and avoid becoming the third No.6-seed to lose on the day.
Baylor, Houston, Texas A&M, and TCU will all play on Friday.
Here is the full schedule for Thursday night.
Colorado State vs. Texas, 5:50 p.m. CT, TNT
Oakland vs. Kentucky, 6:10 p.m. CT, CBS
McNeese State vs. Gonzaga, 6:25 p.m. CT, TBS
South Dakota State vs. Iowa State, 6:35 p.m. CT, truTV
St. Peter’s vs. Tennessee, 8:20 p.m. CT, TNT
NC State vs. Texas Tech, 8:40 p.m. CT, CBS
Samford vs. Kansas, 8:55 p.m. CT, TBS
Drake vs. Washington State, 9:05 p.m. CT, truTV
