Day 1 Recap

he madness is officially back as the 2026 Tournament kicked off with a day of comebacks (both failed and successful), close calls and smackdowns.

Chase Johnston became a strong contender for “White Boi” of the Tournament drilling shots from unimaginable locations taking down Wisconsin on a last second lay-up. Duke survived a super scare from Siena’s Iron 5 while Nebraska secured its first ever Tournament win.

In the evening session, VCU came back down 19 ending the Tar Heels season in dramatic fashion and Texas threw their horns up against projected #1 pick AJ Dybansta and BYU. Elsewhere we saw Michigan State, Saint Louis, Houston and Illinois cruised to massive victories.

After Day 1, six bracketers share a slice of the lead. Everyone survived the chaos with no brackets being busted. Will the needle move to more upsets like High Point and VCU? Or will we see more teams get clapped from the madness?

The 1st round resumes with sixteen more games tomorrow to kick off one of the best weekends of the year! Hold onto your seat!

Fader's THOUGHTS

-Great to see the madness get a bit of a spark with High Point and VCU. Last year had some good moments but it's truly not the same without the first round chaos. There still were many blowouts but it's nice to see the mid majors thrive. Would love to see a 13 or 14 win today.

-Duke looks absolutely awful. They should have lost that game. If Siena was evenly adequate from the field in the 2nd half, this tournament would be upside down already. Is it time to panic for the Dukies? Not sure, but I'd be slightly alarmed and doubting a long tournament run condsidering the region they are in

-It only took 6 games for everybody in the FBC to lose their perfect bracket. It makes Jake's run last year go even crazier. I'm sure the record of 31 points in the 1st round will never be broken.

-Overall the picks for the FBC are as chalky as I can remember. Last year really did a number on y'all. I can't blame you after last year. It just makes every 1st round game that more pivotal especially if you have Michigan or Arizona

-There's always one commercial that is infamous by tournaments end due to it playing every commercial break. Past winners include; Beyonce shooting pool in Levi's jeans, Disney Plus Anime (My Unluck!) and that Freddie Mercury jacket Amazon. Who's the champion this year? Too early to tell but my money is on the Idris Elba AI spot