Male’s March Madness Day 1: Cross off Kentucky, BYU and

Mar 22, 2024, 01:20 AM ET

The 2024 men’s bracket is down to 48 groups, and Kentucky is not one of them. This glaring lack is just one headline for a competition that’s already living up to the March Insanity name: 4 double-digit seeds advanced in a series of upsets. We still have 16 games to enter the preliminary. Let’s take a quick look at how Thursday’s games affect each region’s method forward.East region: No. 11-seed Duquesne’s dream run continued with an upset of 6-seed BYU and Washington State won its first NCAA tournament game given that 2008– however Illinois and Iowa State remain the favorites to fulfill in a Sweet 16 match between the No. 2 offense in the country (the Illini )and the No. 2 defense in the country(the Cyclones). Terrence Shannon Jr. may be playing much better than any guard in college basketball right now, however Iowa State has actually held 9 straight opponents to fewer than one point per ownership. — Jeff Borzello

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South region: We’re going to have a double-digit seed in the Sweet 16. No. 11 seed NC State carried over its momentum from the ACC tournament to beat 6-seed Texas Tech, and 14-seed Oakland stunned the sport by knocking off 3-seed Kentucky. Don’t count out Greg Kampe and the Golden Grizzlies, either. I do not believe Jack Gohlke will strike 10 threes again, but this is a battle-tested group. The bottom half of the bracket likewise opens up a bit. Does Marquette’s– or Florida’s– road to the Elite Eight get simpler? — Jeff Borzello

Midwest region: You can call the Midwest the peaceful area. Barely. Kansas played itself into some worried moments versus 13-seed Samford, however the Jayhawks, Tennessee, Creighton and every other preferred not called South Carolina advanced. No. 11 Oregon took the Gamecocks’ area, and now Thursday’s winners eagerly await the expected arrival of Purdue. Things didn’t go so well the last time the Boilermakers were a No. 1 seed in the round of 64. Presuming Matt Painter’s group fares better this year, the focus will be on Purdue’s opponent in the round of 32. Will it be Utah State or TCU? — John Gasaway

West area: With his team’s win over Mississippi State, Tom Izzo reached the 2nd round of the NCAA competition for the 20th time in his career. Michigan State excelled offensively (44% from the 3-point line) and defensively and is now more plainly a risk to top-seed North Carolina (+3.5 preferred). The Spartans were 2-5 in their past seven games entering the NCAA tournament. On Thursday, however, they appeared like the group numerous expected them to be when they started the season as a preseason top-10 squad. — Myron Medcalf

Relive the day’s action throughout the nation below, and return for day two of the preliminary on Friday.

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