The first day of March Madness 2023 has wrapped up, and the level of play we saw exceeded expectations. Here are all the final scores: 

(South) 8 Maryland defeats 9 West Virginia, 67-65  

(South) 13 Furman defeats 4 Virginia, 68-67 

(South) 7 Missouri defeats 10 Utah State, 76-65 

(West) 1 Kansas defeats 16 Howard, 96-68 

(South) 1 Alabama defeats 16 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 96-75 

(South) 5 San Diego State defeats 12 Charleston, 63-57 

(South) 15 Princeton defeats 2 Arizona, 59-55 

(West) 8 Arkansas defeats 9 Illinois, 73-63 

(Midwest) 9 Auburn defeats 8 Iowa, 83-75 

(East) 5 Duke defeats 12 Oral Roberts, 74-51 

(West) 7 Northwestern defeats 10 Boise State, 75-67 

(Midwest) 2 Texas defeats 15 Colgate, 81-61 

(East) 4 Tennessee defeats 13 Louisiana, 58-55 

(Midwest) 1 Houston defeats 16 Northern Kentucky, 63-52 

(West) 2 UCLA defeats 15 UNC-Asheville, 86-53 

(Midwest) 10 Penn State defeats 7 Texas A&M, 76-59 

The headliners of the day were Furman and Princeton upsetting Virginia and Arizona respectively. Last year, 15 seed Saint Peters made a historic run to the Elite Eight, and Princeton is looking to replicate that this year. A last second 3-pointer sent Furman to the 2nd round after Virginia fumbled their time management.  

While there were some blowouts, like UCLA, Kansas, and Alabama, it helped us get a good look at who the true contenders are this March. Houston, who was Net Rank 1 coming in, only beat 16 seed Northern Kentucky by 11 points, after 80% of the game was back and forth. While an injury to their star point guard definitely affected them, it goes without saying that the once favorites have been knocked down a few pegs. 

Big teams like Marquette, Purdue, Gonzaga, and Baylor are up to bat today, and I have a feeling that we will be seeing more upsets from teams like Arizona State, Providence, or even Kent State. Let’s get this madness started!