The McNeese Cowboys pulled the biggest upset of Thursday at the 2025 men’s NCAA tournament. The UC San Diego Tritons nearly joined them, but their game-tying at the buzzer against Michigan fell short. March Madness is underway, and it’s already producing thrilling action and setting up even more exciting matchups in the round of 32.
Thursday at the NCAA tournament saw favorites mostly hold serve. Four lower-seeded teams advanced in the bracket, including No. 9 seed Creighton, who started the day with a blazing offensive performance over No. 8 seed Louisville. McNeese got the bracket’s 12-5 upset out of the way early. No. 14 seed UNC Wilmington pushed No. 3 seed Texas Tech to the brink in the last game of the day, but fell just short.
Drake was lone other double-digit seed to advance on Thursday. The Bulldogs went toe-to-toe with Missouri, and outlasted the SEC outfit behind the brilliance of star guard Bennett Stirtz.
No. 12 seed McNeese knocked off No. 5 seed Clemson for the first NCAA tournament win in program history. Cowboys head coach Will Wade has reportedly already accepted the NC State job, but he still has some more work to do with McNeese as it advances to face Purdue in the round of 32.
The day started with Creighton’s explosive offensive performance against Louisville. The Cards might have been under-seeded, but they had no shot at stopping a Bluejays offense that scored an absurd 1.27 points per possession. Creighton now advances to take on Auburn, who took care of business against No. 16 seed Alabama State after a slow start.
Elsewhere in the bracket, Wisconsin and BYU are set up for a thrilling round of 32 match. The Badgers hammered a feisty Montana State team behind John Blackwell’s perimeter scoring, while BYU shot A-10 champ VCU out of the gym. Houston vs. Gonzaga should also be a great second round matchup after both teams won in blowouts in their opening games on Thursday.
Here’s a look at the updated bracket right now.
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Follow our men’s NCAA tournament schedule and scores post for updated results on each March Madness game.
Here’s score of every game so far for Thursday at the NCAA tournament. We’ll update this post as the games go final.
March Madness from Thursday’s at the 2025 men’s NCAA tournament
No. 3 Texas Tech 82, No. 14 UNC Wilmington 72
No. 5 Michigan 68, No. 12 UC San Diego 65
No. 2 St. John’s 83, No. 15 Omaha 53
No. 6 UCLA 72, No. 10 Utah State 47
No. 11 Drake 67, No. 6 Missouri 57
No. 7 Texas A&M 80, No. 13 Yale 71
No. 10 Arkansas 79, No. 7 Kansas 72
No. 2 Tennessee 77, No. 15 Wofford 62
No. 3 Wisconsin 85, No. 14 Montana 66
No. 11 VCU 80, No. 6 BYU 71
No. 9 Creighton 89, No. 8 Louisville 75
No. 1 Auburn 83, No. 16 Alabama State 63
No. 4 Purdue 75, No. 13 High Point 63
No. 1 Houston 78, No. 16 SIU Edwardsville 40
No. 12 McNeese 69, No. 5 Clemson 67
No. 8 Gonzaga 89, No. 9 Georgia 68
First Four scores
No. 16 Alabama State 70, No. 16 St. Francis (PA) 68
No. 11 North Carolina 95, No. 11 San Diego State 68
No. 16 Mount St. Mary’s 83, No. 16 American University 72
No. 11 Xavier 86, No. 11 Texas 80
Saturday NCAA tournament TV times and announcers
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