March Madness: First Four Games Wrap Up

March Madness First Four: Howard, Texas Secure Spots; Miami of Ohio, SMU Face Challenges The First Four games of March Madness are concluding tonight, with Howard and Texas already securing their spots in the sixty-four-team bracket. Howard made history by winning their first-ever NCAA tournament game, defeating UMBC, and will face top-seeded Michigan next. Texas survived a close call against NC State on a buzzer-beater jumper, setting them up against sixth-seeded BYU. Tonights action begins at six forty p.m. Eastern with Prairie View A and M taking on Lehigh, and Miami of Ohio meeting SMU. The winners will face defending champion Florida Gators and sixth-seeded Tennessee, respectively. Miami of Ohio, with a thirty-one and one record and an undefeated eighteen and oh mark in the MAC, earned an at-large bid despite a lighter schedule. Howard, meanwhile, notched their fifth tournament trip overall and third in four years, always as a number sixteen seed until this breakthrough win. Lehigh enters as a three and a half point favorite over Prairie View, while SMU holds a seven and a half point edge on Miami of Ohio according to betting lines. Even artificial intelligence models like Claude are picking Lehigh and Miami to advance. These matchups could spark early Cinderella stories, especially from underdogs like Miami with their hot streak. Keep an eye on TruTV tonight as the full bracket takes shape for first-round thrills starting Thursday. Support the show:Get a discount at https://solipillow.com/discount/dnn. Advertise on DNN:[email protected] This is an automated, high-level news summary based on public reporting.Report issues to [email protected]. View sources & latest updates:https://sources.thednn.ai/32472cc3109f3519