Men’s March Madness tips off with signature first-round chaos

.The GIST: How’s that bracket doing? March is already off to a heart-pounding start, with the signature Madness in full force during yesterday’s men’s first-round matchups.

• Today’s remaining first-round games are appointment viewing and buckle up, because a basketball tsunami is headed your way: The Sweet 16 will be set before we’re back in your inbox on Monday. That’s a whole lot of buckets.

😱 Upsets abound on Day 1: No. 12 High Point earned the first high-profile takedown of the tourney, topping No. 5 Wisconsin 83–82 early in the day. The No. 11 seeds also balled out: VCU beat No. 6 UNC 82–78 in overtime, while First Four victor Texas ousted No. 6 BYU and top NBA Draft prospect AJ Dybantsa 79–71 last night.

😬 No. 1 Duke narrowly avoids historic stunner: Things looked bleak for the tourney’s No. 1 overall seed, who trailed No. 16 Siena 43–32 at halftime. Freshman guard Dame Sarr, who took on a bigger role in injured star Caleb Foster’s absence, was ice cold from the field, but his late block tilted the momentum to help the Blue Devils avoid disaster with a 71–65 win.

• Duke wasn’t the only squad to barely survive: No. 5 Vanderbilt, No. 6 Louisville, and No. 3 Gonzaga all advanced with narrow dubs. Whew.

❤️ No. 4 Nebraska seals program’s first tourney win: Nebrasketball cruised past No. 13 Troy 76–47 last night, buoyed by forward Pryce Sandfort’s seven daggers from beyond the three-point line. It’s notably not the first NCAA tournament win in school history, but a BFD nonetheless. They’ll go for number two against Vanderbilt tomorrow at 8:45 p.m. ET.