The men's US college basketball national championship tournament has tipped off with early surprises, living up to the event's nickname of March Madness.
Montana, seeded 12th in the Minneapolis region, upset fifth seed Nevada, 87-79, Thursday. In the same region, tiny Wisconsin-Milwaukee beat sixth seed Oklahoma, 82-74. Fourth seeded Boston College survived a double overtime scare, getting past Pacific, 88-76.
In the Washington D.C. region, No. 2 Tennessee nearly was toppled by 15th seed Winthrop. Tennessee advanced, 63-61.
Other first round winners included Florida, Alabama and Wichita State. The top regional seeds, Duke, Connecticut, Villanova and Memphis, play their first round games later.
The 65-team tournament will be cut to 16 teams by Sunday. The championship is April 3 in Indianapolis.