March Madness Tips Off With First Four Games and Teams Looking to Do Some Bracket Busting

Seth Towns of Howard reacts to a foul against Delaware State in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament in Norfolk, Va., on March 16, 2024. Billy Schuerman/The Virginian-Pilot via Associated Press

DAYTON, Ohio—A year ago, Fairleigh Dickinson University from New Jersey landed in the NCAA Tournament’s First Four and by the following weekend had become one of the more improbable bracket-busters in the history of March Madness.

After routing Texas Southern in Dayton, the 16th-seeded Knights—one of the shortest teams in the tournament facing the tallest—upset No. 1 seed Purdue 63–58, only the second time a No. 16 seed had beaten a top-seeded team.