Bennett Stirtz scored 21 points and No. 11 seed Drake held on after blowing most of a 15-point lead to be sixth-seeded Missouri 67-57 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Drake men's basketball team is headed to the NCAA Tournament without its live mascot, Griff II, a six-year-old English Bulldog.

Madness is in the books, and there were two notable upsets. No. 12 McNeese provided the first big stunner of the NCAA men's tournament on Thursday afternoon, stifling No. 5 Clemson for an embarrassingly low 13 points in the first half and then holding on for a 69-67 win.

Drake beat Missouri in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night, led by a bunch of Division II transfers who followed their old coach to the Missouri Valley Conference school.

Ben McCollum won’t have to move very far for his next job. Iowa agreed to a deal to hire the Drake men’s basketball coach Monday morning, according to multiple reports, after he led the Bulldogs to a 31-win season and the second round of March Madness in his first season in Des Moines.

The Athletic has live coverage of the Men’s Sweet 16 NCAA Tournament games Unfortunately for March Madness fans who love underdogs, the opening weekend of the 2025 men’s NCAA Tournament was chalky and didn’t produce a lot of drama or memorable moments.