NCAA Bracket 2026, Updated Men's Schedule and Predictions After Thursday's 1st Round
A near-upset was the story of Thursday's games at the 2026 NCAA men's basketball tournament.
The No. 1 overall seed Duke Blue Devils survived a scare against the Siena Saints, who led by double digits at halftime.
Duke advanced to set up a second-round clash with the TCU Horned Frogs.
The Michigan Wolverines also experienced a bit of difficulty in their clash with the Howard Bison, but they had a far easier finish compared to Duke.
Four double-digit seeds pulled off upsets on Thursday, led by the 12th-seeded High Point Panthers, who knocked off the Wisconsin Badgers.
The VCU Rams authored the most dramatic comeback of Thursday's 16 games, as they erased a 19-point deficit to beat the North Carolina Tar Heels in overtime.
Sixteen more first-round games take place on Friday. The full schedule can be found here on NCAA.com.
East Region
1 of 4
Thursday's Results
No. 1 Duke 71, No. 16 Siena 65
No. 9 TCU 66, No. 8 Ohio State 64
No. 3 Michigan State 92, No. 14 North Dakota State 67
No. 6 Louisville 83, No. 11 South Florida 79
Duke held on to avoid what would have been one of the most memorable upsets in NCAA tournament history.
The Blue Devils earned a six-point victory over a Siena team that had tired legs in the second half due to mostly playing its five starters.
Duke needs to play much better to beat TCU on Saturday and to reach the Final Four in Indianapolis.
TCU didn't blow anyone away with its play, especially in the second half, when it blew a double-digit lead against Ohio State.
We should expect Duke to come out more motivated on Saturday and not be close to upset territory.
Michigan State looked the part of a title contender against a double-digit seed. The Spartans blew out No. 14 seed North Dakota State to set up a second-round clash with Louisville.
Louisville was ahead by a large margin for most of its win over South Florida, but it did let the Bulls sneak back into the game in the end.
Michigan State is the more consistent team and will be expected to advance to the Sweet 16.
Second-Round Predictions
Duke over TCU
Michigan State over Louisville
South Region
2 of 4
Thursday's Results
No. 4 Nebraska 76, No. 13 Troy 47
No. 5 Vanderbilt 78, No. 12 McNeese 68
No. 11 VCU 82, No. 6 North Carolina 78
No. 3 Illinois 105, No. 14 Penn 70
No. 10 Texas A&M 63, No. 7 Saint Mary's 50
No. 2 Houston 78, No. 15 Idaho 47
Nebraska captured the first NCAA tournament win in program history with a blowout win over Troy.
The Huskers knocked down 14 three-pointers and forced 17 turnovers in their triumph over the Sun Belt tournament champion.
Next up for the Huskers is Vanderbilt, who beat Southland tournament champion McNeese by 10 points.
Vanderbilt shot 51 percent from the field and had four players reach double figures in scoring.
The Vandy-Nebraska second-round matchup will be filled with excellent guard play and should be on the higher-scoring side.
The bottom half of the South Region featured a pair of upsets from No. 11 VCU and No. 10 Texas A&M.
VCU rallied from a 19-point deficit to defeat North Carolina, while A&M was in complete control against Saint Mary's.
Both teams will face significantly tougher tests in the second round against Illinois and Houston, who both won with ease on Thursday night. The Rams and Aggies need perfect performances on Saturday to knock off the Nos. 2 and 3 seeds.
Second-Round Prediction
Vanderbilt over Nebraska
Illinois over VCU
Houston over Texas A&M
West Region
3 of 4
Thursday's Results
No. 12 High Point 83, No. 5 Wisconsin 82
No. 4 Arkansas 97, No. 13 Hawai'i 78
No. 11 Texas 79, No. 6 BYU 71
No. 3 Gonzaga 73, No. 14 Kennesaw State 64
High Point delivered the first upset of the Big Dance in its high-scoring win over Wisconsin.
The Panthers out of the Big South knocked down 15 three-pointers and had three different players make at least three shots from beyond the arc.
High Point also received at least 14 points from four different players, including leading scorer Rob Martin, who had 23 points.
Wisconsin got 49 points from its guard pair of Nick Boyd and John Blackwell, but it couldn't defend High Point's high-powered offense.
High Point will face Arkansas in the second round in what could be the highest-scoring game of the tournament.
Arkansas put up 97 points on Hawai'i, led by 24 points out of star freshman Darius Acuff.
The Razorbacks will be a heavy favorite to advance, and they will if Acuff and Co. score at that rate.
Texas won its second game of the NCAA tournament after its First Four triumph on Tuesday. The Longhorns knocked out BYU despite the Cougars getting 35 points from A.J. Dybantsa.
Sean Miller's team faces a tough task to win its third game in six days against Gonzaga, a perennial fixture in the Sweet 16.
Second-Round Prediction
Arkansas over High Point
Gonzaga over Texas
Midwest Region
4 of 4
Thursday's Results
No. 1 Michigan 101. No. 16 Howard 80
No. 9 Saint Louis 102, No. 8 Georgia 77
Michigan let Howard hang around more than it preferred to.
The Wolverines were only up by four points at halftime. They broke away thanks to an unstoppable offense in the second half.
Dusty May's side received double-digit performances from five players. Morez Johnson Jr. produced a double-double in the victory.
Saint Louis walloped Georgia in the other Midwest Region game on Thursday.
The Billikens scored 49 first-half points and then opened the second half on an 18-0 run to eliminate their foe from the SEC.
Michigan is a step above Georgia in competition. The Wolverines didn't display many flaws in Thursday's win, which is not a good sign for Saint Louis' hopes of springing an upset.
Second Round Prediction
Michigan over Saint Louis
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