March Madness shocks
March Madness produced multiple bracket‑busting upsets — High Point stunned Wisconsin and VCU knocked off North Carolina in overtime, leaving just ~14,000 perfect brackets after day one (nearly 36 million were busted). (sports.yahoo.com) (sportingnews.com) (foxnews.com)
No. 12 High Point rallied past No. 5 Wisconsin, winning 83–82 when reserve Chase Johnston hit a fast‑break layup with 11.7 seconds left to break the tie. (espn.com) High Point’s Rob Martin led the Panthers with 27 points in the comeback that erased an eight‑point deficit in the final seven minutes. (espn.com) The victory marked the first NCAA Tournament win in High Point program history and capped a 31‑4 season under first‑year head coach Flynn Clayman. (highpointpanthers.com) No. 11 VCU erased a 19‑point second‑half deficit to beat No. 6 North Carolina 82–78 in overtime, led by Terrence Hill Jr.’s 34 points and a step‑back 3 with 15.1 seconds left in OT. (espn.com) VCU’s rally was the largest comeback in a first‑round game and the sixth‑largest comeback in tournament history, and the Rams will meet No. 3 Illinois in the Round of 32. (espn.com) Bracket trackers showed dramatic, game‑by‑game collapses in perfect entries: TCU‑Ohio State cut perfect brackets to about 14.5 million, Nebraska‑Troy removed roughly 2.5 million, High Point’s win reduced the pool to about 2.3 million, and VCU’s comeback left roughly 300,000 perfect brackets, according to the NCAA tracker reported by Yahoo. (sports.yahoo.com) Major platform tallies varied widely after Day 1 — ESPN’s Tournament Challenge reported 195 perfect brackets remaining, the NCAA’s tracker showed 224, Yahoo listed 6, and CBS Sports had 8 perfect entries left. (sportingnews.com)
