First day of NCAA men's tournament was filled with chaos, and it was beautiful | Opinion

The first day of the NCAA men’s tournament was a flaming hot mess of upsets, overtime games and brackets busted beyond redemption.

And oh, my word, was it glorious.

Instead of the awkward silence – literal and figurative – of the last two years, this was March Madness as we know and love it. It was raucous and chaotic and thoroughly entertaining, from the first tip until the Mountain and the West went to bed.

The time zones, that is, not the conference. The Mountain West had cashed it in way earlier, all four of its schools out before the last games even began.

“Tonight, right?” Saint Peter’s coach Shaheen Holloway said when asked what March Madness means after his Peacocks knocked out second-seeded Kentucky, a trendy pick for the Final Four, in overtime.

“Every team that made it to the NCAA Tournament thinks that they could advance. You just have to be good on this night,” Holloway said. “It's not about your record. It's not about what school you at. It's whoever is good on that night, and tonight, it was our night.”

Really, though, it was all our nights.

Much of the country has lived the last two years as if holding our breaths, uncertain when – or if -- it would be OK to relax and let down our guards. The COVID-19 pandemic has killed nearly 1 million people in the United States alone, and everyone’s life has been disrupted in some way.

Oh, a semblance of normalcy returned. Schools re-opened, people went back to their offices and sports were once again played in full stadiums and arenas. But it still felt … off. Like we were watching technicolor in black and white.

“Fake crowd noise through a speaker does not sound too good,” said Gonzaga’s Drew Timme, who qualifies as something of an expert after playing in last year’s “Muted Madness,” an NCAA Tournament played within a bubble.

But in recent weeks, as the last mandates have lifted, it really has felt as if we’ve made it through the worst of it. And this first day of the tournament underscored that. It was as if we’d picked back up where we left off in 2019 – right down to Kentucky having an unexpected clunker in the NCAA Tournament.

WHO IS SAINT PETER'S?:Meet the No. 15 Peacocks, who upset No. 2 Kentucky

MORE:Winners and losers from Thursday's NCAA Tournament games

“This is true March Madness,” Memphis guard Alex Lomax said, describing himself as “a happy kid at the candy store” after the Tigers held off Boise State, 64-53. “This is the March Madness we all grew up watching. With the commentators, a packed house, when the game is going back and forth, when it's like a roller coaster on the basketball court.”

And one big roller coaster the day was.

It started with Michigan, a team some – OK, many – didn’t think even belonged in the tournament after it skidded to the end of the season. The Wolverines didn’t do much to change that opinion early against sixth-seeded Colorado State, falling behind by 15 while turning the ball over nine times in the first 12½ minutes.

But Michigan roared back, taking the lead midway through the second half and coasting to the win.

Not long after, 12th-seeded Richmond took out fifth-seeded Iowa. There would be another 12-5 upset Thursday night, when New Mexico State beat UConn. No. 4 seeds Arkansas and UCLA both eked out wins over 13 seeds. Creighton and Murray State both needed overtime to advance. 

And while the final score might not indicate it, there were some definite Virginia-UMBC vibes for the first half of top-seeded Gonzaga’s game against Georgia State.

The ‘Zags reached the national championship game last year and have – had? – what sure seemed like a direct path to the title this year. But Georgia State ran the Bulldogs around the court for the first half and then some.

The longer the Panthers hung around, the more likely it seemed that after however many decades it took for a 16 to beat a 1, we were going to have it happen twice in four years!

Alas, Mark Few and the ‘Zags hate fun, and Gonzaga slowly pulled away.

“I kept telling people that's not a 16 seed. I think they showed it tonight,” Few said.

The day's real doozy was Kentucky and Saint Peter’s.

Kentucky is one of college basketball’s blue bloods, with eight national titles and a coach known by just one name. Saint Peter’s had people scrambling to figure out where the school is located, let alone learn about the players.

Therein lies the beauty of the NCAA Tournament, though. In a survive-and-advance format, it really is possible for a small school or mid-major to beat the best teams.

Maybe not likely, but possible.

“It was just fun being out there, getting a W,” said New Mexico State’s Teddy Allen, who made the W possible with a steal, three-point play and four free throws, all in the last 30 seconds. 

“Hella fun.”

Total chaos. Pure joy. 

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on Twitter @nrarmour.