What time is it? It’s MARCH MADNESS TIME, the biggest month in college basketball you’ll ever witness. Every college basketball fan is looking forward to the NCAA championship going to Kentucky, but what if the #16 seed Manhattan shocks the world? This month is sure to be full of surprises.  

The first qualifier round, on March 17, is known as the First Four and was set to take place the night of March 17. In the first four,  qualifier #16 Hampton took on #16 Manhattan. Hampton is trailing Manhattan by 3.5 games with a record of 16-17 while Manhattan sits strong with a record of 19-13. The winner of this game was Hampton winning 74-64. Hampton will go on to face the #1 undefeated 34-0 Kentucky.

BYU went up against the young and hungry Ole Miss. Ole Miss is struggling so far with a record of 20-12, and  BYU is shocking the world by having 25 wins and only 9 losses, 14 wins more than last season, which was a great comeback. BYU played strong in the first half but fell to the Black Bears in the second as they went on to get the win with a score of 94 to 90. The Ole Miss Black Bears will go on to face the lean mean #6 seed Xavier.

Next, Robert Morris took  on North Florida. North Florida is performing great, but with a record of 23-11 everyone is having their doubts. These two battled their hearts out, but Robert Morris went on to win the battle 81-77, sending North Florida packing. Robert Morris will go on to face #1 Duke Blue Devils in the second round.

The finale of the first four was a battle between Dayton and Boise. Dayton and Boise have the exact same record and seed number, but who is the better college? Dayton proved to everyone that they were better by beating Boise by ONE point. This game went down to the wire, but Dayton pulled out the win. Dayton will now go into the second round facing #6 Providence.