March Madness buzzer-beater tracker: Notre Dame opens the tourney with a First Four thriller that spilled into St. Patrick's Day
- March Madness has officially arrived.
- The NCAA tournaments earned the "Madness" moniker because anything can happen in the field of 68.
March Madness is back, and with it, the wild endings that only college basketball can deliver.
Heading into the tournament, some teams gave us an early preview of what chaos was to come, with Chattanooga delivering a buzzer-beater victory in the SoCon Championship to earn their spot in the bracket.
With many more buzzer-beaters likely to come, we're tracking every thrilling ending in both the men's and women's tournament deliver this year.
Notre Dame steals a spot in the field of 64 with a double-overtime thriller that spilled into St. Patrick's Day
March Madness got off to an early start this year, with Notre Dame and Rutgers needing double-overtime, and not one, but two buzzer-beaters to decide which team would advance into the field of 64.
In the final seconds of the first overtime period, Rutgers took a 79-77 lead on a three-pointer from Paul Mulcahy. Rather than call a timeout, the Irish ran the floor before Rutgers could set their defense, with Blake Wesley driving for a layup to tie the game again with just four seconds left in the first extra period.
Double-overtime, here we come.
In the waning seconds of double-overtime, the clock in Dayton ticked past midnight, meaning it was officially St. Patrick's Day.
The Irish responded in kind, with Paul Atkinson Jr. following a miss by Blake Wesley with an offensive rebound and putting in the game-winning basket with just two seconds left on the clock.
Rutgers wouldn't get a shot off to respond.
After the game, Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey was elated with his team's performance.
With the win, Notre Dame reaches the field of 64 as an 11-seed. They will face No. 6 Alabama in the first round.