2 Big Upsets, Close Calls Mark NCAA Tournament Tip-Off

The NCAA men’s basketball tourney featured a pair of big upsets and a couple of high seeds that narrowly escaped on Thursday when the Big Dance tipped off.

Rob Martin #3 of the High Point Panthers drives against Aleksas Bieliauskas #32 of the Wisconsin Badgers during the second half in the first round of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Moda Center in Portland, Ore., on March 19, 2026. Soobum Im/Getty Images

A pair of lower-seeded teams made their Cinderella bids, and another two nearly knocked off college basketball Goliaths on Thursday in the NCAA tournament.

VCU, the No. 11 seed in the South Region, stunned No. 6 seed North Carolina 82–78 in overtime at Greenville, South Carolina. Terrence Hill Jr. buried a late three-pointer, and the Tar Heels missed free throws down the stretch. It marked the second consecutive first-round exit for the storied program from Chapel Hill.