Which Teams Make Sense to Lock In on Opening Night of the NCAA First Four: Umbc and Texas Matchups Take Center Stage
The unofficial start of the NCAA men’s tournament opens with two First Four games that will determine who advances to the first round. umbс headlines a competitive night that also features Texas in a rematch of last year’s play-in experience.
Opening Night Matchups, Times and Stakes
The First Four begins Tuesday night with two play-in games that send winners into the tournament’s first round on Thursday. The evening schedule lists the opener at 6: 40 pm ET and the later game at 9: 15 pm ET. Both games will air on TruTV. The winner of the 6: 40 pm ET matchup will move on to play the No. 1 seed Michigan, while the 9: 15 pm ET winner draws the No. 6 seed BYU.
Umbc vs Howard: Keys, Recent Form and Matchup Notes
The Retrievers meet the MEAC champion Howard Bison in a matchup framed by contrasting strengths. Howard enters the First Four on an eight-game win streak and carries 11 straight victories against MEAC opponents. The Bison won both the regular-season and tournament crowns in their league and beat North Carolina Central 70-63 in the conference championship. Their last loss came Feb. 9 in overtime to Yale.
Howard’s attack is led by guards Bryce Harris and Cedric Taylor, who each average 17 points and six rebounds per game. The Bison are relatively undersized — only one of their top six scorers is taller than 6-5 — but they compensate with offensive rebounding and prolific trips to the free-throw line, attempting more than 25 free throws per game and shooting 73% from the stripe as a team.
UMBC’s profile is familiar: the program is best known for its 2018 upset of Virginia when it became the first No. 16 seed to knock off a No. 1 seed in men’s tournament history. That 2018 team was coached by Ryan Odom, who is now coaching the Cavaliers. Jim Ferry took over after Odom’s tenure ended following the 2020-21 season, and UMBC is making its first tournament appearance since that 2018 run.
On the defensive side, the Retrievers have held opponents to an average of 67 points per game and have outscored foes by 13 points per game across the season. UMBC does not rely on creating opponent turnovers — the team averages about five steals per game, a figure that ranks below most programs — but it protects the ball well itself, turning it over fewer than 10 times per game.
Texas vs NC State: Recent Slide, First Four Experience and What to Watch
The late slot pairs Texas against NC State in a matchup that follows contrasting trajectories. NC State once extended a winning streak to six after a victory over Virginia Tech, but the Wolfpack only won two of their final nine regular-season games and dropped four straight to close that stretch. In the conference tournament they beat Pitt before losing to Virginia, and that 10-point win may have been what secured their place in Dayton.
NC State arrives with balance in scoring: four players average at least 13 points per game, and the team shoots 39% from three on about 27 attempts per game. Texas returns to the First Four as an 11 seed for a second consecutive year. Last season’s Texas team lost in a play-in game to Xavier in what was Rodney Terry’s final game as head coach; Texas subsequently hired the coach who had been leading Xavier that night.
Texas features a clear scoring leader in forward Dailyn Swain, who averages 17. 8 points and 7. 6 rebounds per game. The Longhorns will be aiming to avoid a second straight play-in exit and to convert their First Four trip into a run into the main bracket.
Winners from both games will immediately face top-seeded opposition in the first round, amplifying the stakes of opening-night performance and preparation. Expect Tuesday’s winners to shift quickly to first-round planning for matches against Michigan and BYU on Thursday.
