You always hear people say the tournament doesn’t really start until Thursday. That’s when the brackets fill out, when the chaos spreads across four screens, when it actually feels like March Madness.

Yeah… not this year.

The First Four — the games people usually treat like background noise — opened the tournament with two March Madness-style finishes. Howard pulled out an 86-83 win over UMBC to snap a long-standing drought, and then Texas and NC State followed it up with the kind of final minute that had people on the edge of their seats.

Tie game, and Tramon Mark rises up for a fadeaway with 1.1 seconds left to end it. Just like that, the building flipped.

Two games. Both tight. Both tense.

The madness didn’t wait for Thursday. It showed up right away.

Howard Finally Checks the Box

Howard beat UMBC 86-83 in the opening game, and if you know the history, you know that score carries a little more weight than usual. This wasn’t just about advancing — it was about finally getting over a hump that had been there for years. The Bison came in 0-4 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. Five trips, nothing to show for it. And it’s not like this came out of nowhere. Kenny Blakeney has been building this thing step by step — four wins in year one, navigating a COVID season, then getting back to the tournament in 2023 and 2024 — and still no breakthrough.

Before tip-off, he kept it simple: there was a box to check.

Tuesday night, they finally checked it.

Ose Okojie didn’t wait around to settle in. He came out aggressive and stayed that way, finishing with a career-high 23. Sixteen of those came before halftime, which is why Howard felt in control for most of the night. Bryce Harris — their guy all season — played like it too. Nineteen points, 14 boards, and every time the game started to tilt, he was right there to steady it.

For a stretch, it honestly looked like Howard might run away with it. They built a 14-point lead in the second half and were playing loose, confident, like a team that knew it was the better side.

Then it tightened up.

Okojie picked up his fourth foul with just over 12 minutes left, and you could feel the shift immediately. Now he’s got to be careful — no reaching, no gambling — just stay on the floor. And to his credit, he managed it. But while he was adjusting, UMBC started creeping.

DJ Armstrong Jr. hits a three. The lead shrinks. The energy in the building flips. Suddenly, it’s under a minute, and what felt comfortable five minutes ago is anything but.

That’s where Harris stepped up again. Shot clock winding down, defender on him, and he turns and fades — tough shot, clean make. A big-time bucket when they absolutely needed one.

UMBC still had a shot. Armstrong let one go at the buzzer. 

Off the mark.

Howard 86, UMBC 83.

Another March Shot for UMBC — This Time It Didn’t Fall  

This one had a little more to it than just the final score, too. UMBC came in hot — 12 straight wins, playing their best basketball of the season, and back in the tournament for the first time since 2018. And everyone remembers what that program did the last time they showed up in March. That Virginia upset still follows them, whether it’s the same roster or not. Being the first 16-seed to ever beat a 1-seed isn't something people forget quickly.

Even getting to the game wasn’t clean. Their flight got delayed more than four hours because of weather, and they didn’t get into Dayton until close to 6 p.m. the night before. Nobody’s going to use it as an excuse — and Pat Ferry didn’t — but in a one-game setting, that’s the kind of thing that can throw you off just enough.

Blakeney’s reaction after the game felt real.

"Being on this stage and being able to check this box, it's the only game going on right now, and the whole college basketball world, I'm pretty sure, was locked in on this. So, what a wonderful accomplishment."

Now they get Michigan. 31-3. No. 1 seed. One of the best teams in the country.

Texas Was One Bad Press Away From Going Home — Again

Then the nightcap happened — and it felt like someone turned the volume up on everything.

Texas and NC State didn’t exactly come in looking like teams about to go on a run. Texas dropped five of its last six, including a rough first-round exit in the SEC Tournament to an Ole Miss team that didn’t even make the NIT. NC State wasn’t much better, going 2-7 down the stretch and limping in at 20-13. On paper, this had all the signs of a quick, forgettable First Four game.

And for most of the night, it kind of played like that. Missed shots, uneven stretches, both teams searching for something to feel good about. You could tell neither one was happy with how they were playing.

Then the clock dipped under two minutes — and suddenly none of the backstory mattered.

72 Seconds of Chaos — One Shot to End It

Texas had control of this thing for most of the night. Led for over 35 minutes, built a 25-15 cushion early, and even when NC State made a push late in the first half, it still felt like Texas was dictating how the game was being played. They pushed it back out in the second half, got it to 62-53 with under three minutes left, and it had all the signs of a pretty quiet finish.

Then it flipped. Fast.

NC State suddenly couldn’t miss from deep. Four threes in just over a minute — and not easy ones either. Tre Holloman gets a quick one to get it going, Paul McNeil hits one, then another from the opposite side, and just like that it’s a two-point game. You could feel the shift in real time. The energy, the urgency — everything changed.

Then things got even messier.

Texas struggles with the press, turns it over, then fouls. Holloman steps to the line with a chance to give NC State the lead. Misses the first. Makes the second.

Tie game.

Now it’s just about who handles the moment better. Texas holds for the last shot, and Tramon Mark rises up from the right wing. Clean. No rim. Just net. 1.1 seconds left, and the whole building flips in an instant.

NC State gets one more look — not a bad one either — but Darrion Williams is smothered, and the turnaround gets blocked. Game over.

"This one is definitely a first for me," Mark said afterward. "Just the way the game was going, the way the game felt. We had a big lead, they started making some shots. Then I was able to silence the crowd with a big shot like that."

That’s five career game-winners for him now — two at Houston, one at Arkansas, and now two against Texas. And the first buzzer-beater for the Longhorns in an NCAA Tournament game since Cameron Ridley’s put-back in 2014. Some guys just don’t look rushed in those moments. Mark is one of them.

The box score isn’t going to impress anyone. Texas shot an atrotious 37% from the field, and Dailyn Swain finished just 2-of-9. But they found enough. Weaver gives them a double-double off the bench, Vokietaitis chips in 15 (a rough 4-for-11 to get there, though), and they control the glass 45-33, including a big edge on the offensive boards.

NC State had their moments, but they shot an ugly 39% from the field themselves. Williams led the way with 21, Copeland added 16, and McNeil’s late shooting spree almost flipped the game entirely.

"You are who you are in pressure moments," Wolfpack coach Will Wade said. "We tried to mask some stuff and we couldn't do it. That's why we're here, and that's why we're heading home."

The Sean Miller Detail Is Too Good to Gloss Over

A year ago, Sean Miller was on the other side of this exact moment. Same building, same stage, different logo on his chest — and he was the one ending Texas’ night in the First Four. Afterward, he called it one of the best games he’d ever been a part of.

Two weeks later, Texas hired him.

So now fast forward to Tuesday, and he’s back in Dayton, back in the First Four — only this time he’s pacing the sideline for the team he knocked out a year ago.

And somehow, it plays out almost the same way. Tight game. Late chaos. One-possession swings it all.

March is weird like that — it always seems to line these types of stories up.

That Was the Easy Part — Now What?

Texas boards a plane to Portland to face No. 6 BYU on Thursday, and if you’ve listened to any national coverage, you already know how this is being framed. Texas survived. BYU is the real team. Move along.

Dick Vitale and Charles Barkley both said as much on the broadcast — basically writing off whoever came out of Dayton because of one name: AJ Dybantsa. And look, that part is fair. He’s leading the country at 25.3 a night and looks every bit like a top-three pick. If you’re just doing quick-hit TV analysis, that’s an easy conclusion.

But it’s not that simple.

BYU didn’t look like this all year. Early on, they were rolling — 16-1, playing clean, confident basketball, looking like a legit Final Four team. Then Richie Saunders goes down with an ACL tear, and everything shifts. Spacing changes. Shot-making drops. Suddenly, that same team goes 7-10 down the stretch and doesn’t look nearly as steady.

So yeah, Dybantsa is going to get his. That’s not really the question.

The real question is what the rest of BYU looks like when things tighten up. Because Texas, for all its flaws, can make games uncomfortable. They rebound, they lean on you, and they’ve got a 7-footer inside who doesn’t need much space to be effective.

This isn’t some clean mismatch like it’s being made out to be. It’s just… easier to talk about it that way.

Howard, meanwhile, heads to Buffalo to face Michigan — and that one is a lot more straightforward. Michigan went 31-3, spent time at No. 1, and has looked like one of the most complete teams in the country all season.

Howard just made history getting here. Michigan is built to make a run.

That’s a tough ask.

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