March Madness: chalk (mostly)
The Round of 64 produced almost no long Cinderellas — for the second straight year, all 16 No. 1 seeds advanced, a rarity only seen seven times in tournament history — but there were still bracket‑busting shocks like High Point over Wisconsin and VCU knocking off North Carolina in OT. (cbssports.com) (sports.yahoo.com) (espn.com)
Four double‑digit seeds survived the Round of 64: No. 12 High Point, No. 11 VCU, No. 11 Texas and No. 10 Texas A&M advanced to the Round of 32. (cbssports.com) No. 12 High Point beat No. 5 Wisconsin 83‑82 on March 19, 2026 after Chase Johnston’s fast‑break layup with 11.7 seconds left was his first two‑point field goal of the season; Johnston finished with 14 points in Portland’s Moda Center. (espn.com) No. 11 VCU shocked No. 6 North Carolina 82‑78 in overtime on March 19 with Terrence Hill Jr. scoring a game‑high 34 points as the Rams erased a 19‑point deficit—the largest comeback in a first‑round game in NCAA Tournament history. (espn.com) No. 11 Texas knocked off No. 6 BYU 79‑71 behind Matas Vokietaitis’ 23 points and 16 rebounds, and No. 10 Texas A&M routed No. 7 Saint Mary’s 63‑50 with Rashaun Agee contributing 22 points and nine rebounds. (espn.com) Top seeds still produced blowouts: defending champion Florida opened with a 114‑55 rout of Prairie View A&M— a 59‑point margin that ESPN called the second‑largest win in NCAA Tournament history. (espn.com) Those upset winners draw top opponents in the Round of 32—High Point meets No. 4 Arkansas, VCU draws No. 3 Illinois, Texas faces No. 3 Gonzaga and Texas A&M gets No. 2 Houston—as the second round begins March 21, 2026. (ncaa.com)
