Many people tune into March Madness for the chaos. It’s in the name. They were sorely disappointed on Friday.

All 16 NCAA tournament games of the Friday’s first-round slate saw the favorites emerge victorious, from No. 1 seeds Florida and Arizona to No. 9 seeds Utah State and Iowa. Before you note a No. 9 seed beating a No. 8 seed is definitionally an upset, be aware we are talking about the spreads on BetMGM.

Per ESPN’s David Payne Purdum, that’s the first time the first-round betting favorites have gone undefeated for a day since March 19, 1992.

Both Utah State and Iowa were favored in their games and prevailed, making them part of a four-game sweep for No. 9 seeds in the first round. It’s only the sixth time No. 9 seeds have gone 4-0 since the tournament expanded in 1985, along with 1989, 1994, 1999, 2001, and 2019.

Here’s every game and how it went down for the favorite:

• No. 7 Kentucky (-2.5) def. No. 10 Santa Clara, 89-84

• No. 5 Texas Tech (-7.5) def. No. 12 Akron, 91-71

• No. 1 Arizona (-30.5) def. No. 16 Long Island, 92-58

• No. 3 Virginia (-17.5) def. No. 14 Wright State, 82-73

• No. 2 Iowa State (-24.5) def. No. 15 Tennessee State, 108-74

• No. 4 Alabama (-11.5) def. No. 13 Hofstra, 90-70

• No. 9 Utah State (-1.5) def. No. 8 Villanova, 86-76

• No. 6 Tennessee (-11.5) def. Miami (OH), 78-56

• No. 9 Iowa (-1.5) def. No. 8 Clemson, 67-61

• No. 5 St. John’s (-9.5) def. No. 12 Northern Iowa, 79-53

• No. 7 UCLA (-5.5) def. No. 10 UCF, 75-71

• No. 2 Purdue (-25.5) def. No. 15 Queens (NC), 104-71

• No. 4 Kansas (-13.5) def. No. 14 Cal Baptist, 68-60

• No. 1 Florida (-35.5) def. No. 16 Prairie View A&M, 114-55

• No. 2 UConn (-20.5) def. No. 15 Furman, 82-71

• No. 7 Miami (FL) (-2.5) def. No. 10 Missouri, 80-66

Overall, the favorites went 12-4 against the spread, with Virginia, UCLA, Kansas and UConn failing to cover. Florida, meanwhile, posted the largest blowout the NCAA tournament has seen since 1963.

It’s not like there wasn’t drama, though. Just watch how Kentucky forced overtime.

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It was a familiar story on the women’s side as well for the day, as the betting favorites went 15-1 in the first full day of action. The lone upset was No. 7 NC State over No. 10 Tennessee, which was favored by 1.5 points despite the seeding. The higher-seeded team won all 16 games.

The 2026 World Baseball Classic was once again a win for the sport of baseball, and ultimately a loss for Team USA. That bore out in the ratings.

The championship game of this year’s tournament, in which Venezuela defeated the U.S., 3-2, drew an average of 10.78 million viewers on Tuesday, Fox Sports announced. The telecast viewership reportedly peaked with 12.15 million at the game’s end in the 10:30-10:45 p.m. ET window.

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That’s a 128% increase over the American numbers of the previous World Baseball Classic final, Japan’s win over Team USA in 2023. That game’s 4.48 million average viewers was itself seen as a record-shattering number, and this year it was more than doubled.

To be clear, these are just the U.S. numbers. The WBC often also sees strong numbers in Latin America.

Al Bello via Getty Images

In fact, 10.78 million viewers puts this year’s WBC final above several past World Series games in 2020, 2021 and 2023, seasons which represent the ratings nadir of the Fall Classic. The numbers of the 2024 and 2025 World Series — held between the Los Angeles Dodgers and two big-market East Coast teams — have been much stronger, with 2025’s Game 7 landing 26.88 million average viewers.

Still, it’s not far off to say the WBC is now producing World Series-level ratings for MLB and its broadcast partner, at a time of year when the league usually has only little-watched spring training games.

Per Fox, the tournament overall drew an average of 1.29 million viewers across Fox, Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports 2, a 156% increase from 2023’s 506,000. Attendance also set records with 1,355,266 total attendees and 28,835 per game.

It’s an event the undeniably has momentum, though changes could also be coming down the line.