(NewsNation) — College basketball fans got an early present from the leprechaun early this morning, as the final “First Four” game that determined the final berth in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament went to two overtimes and spanned two days, with Notre Dame’s Fighting Irish using some four-leaf magic to edge the Rutgers Scarlet Knights by two on an exhausted layup by Paul Atkinson.
It’s fitting beginning to the first post-pandemic “Big Dance,” with stands expected to be packed and both ticket sales and betting windows full of happy faces.
Today, the field of 64 teams will start the often-agonizing process of whittling things down to the Final Four, the four teams that will meet in New Orleans to play in the Caesars Superdome to determine the champion. It will be like a second Mardi Gras for a city that knows how to throw a party and show visitors a good time.
The first game tips off at 12:15 p.m. ET today with No. 11 seed Michigan taking on No. 6 seed Colorado State. Those of you waiting to see big upsets will have your first chance at 2 p.m., when No. 1 seed powerhouse Baylor takes on just-glad-to-be-here No. 16 seed Norfolk State. This is the sort of game that dreams are made of, but it’s more likely to be a nightmare for the Spartans as they’re mauled by the Bears.
The first round concludes Friday night, with a 9:57 p.m. tip-off game between No. 8 seed Seton Hall and No. 9 seed TCU. Will the Pirates skewer the Horned Frogs, or will the Texas team pull off the mild upset? One thing is for sure: It won’t top the drama of the two-day game that closed out the First Four.