NCAA - March Madness is here, and Oklahoma hosted a handful of games.

All was quiet on Tuesday as staff at the Paycom Center worked to finish up before the madness begun Thursday morning. A decade ago, the sounds of madness and teams pushing for a title run filled that very arena.

In 2016, Texas A&M and Alex Caruso erased a 10-point deficit with 30 seconds to go and won. Soon, fans will fill the seats again, hoping that same magic happens.

“We’re really excited. I mean, we got the bid for this years ago, so this has been a long process and even started a year ago,” Lucy Albers with the Paycom Center said.

Houston’s Kelvin Sampson knew there was a strong possibility his Houston men’s basketball team would play in Oklahoma City in the NCAA Tournament.

“After we beat BYU and after we beat Kansas, I thought that probably put us in Oklahoma City,” Sampson said. “That put a smile on my face.”

He reflected on what it means to be back in Oklahoma, where he raised his two kids for a large part of their childhood.

“You know, Kellen and Lauren are both University of Oklahoma graduates,” Sampson said. “They were raised with ‘Boomer Sooner.’ We’ll go somewhere and, next thing you know from 100 feet away somebody will scream ‘Boomer’ at us. They’s very few basketball games that I go to, especially in the Big 12, that I don’t get a “Boomer’. And I always scream “Sooner” back at them.”

It’s common for Sampson to hear from some old friends, too.

“Bob Stoops, I get more texts from Bob Stoops after winning,” Sampson said. “I think Bob must watch every game, because he’s a big Cougar fan. He texts me all the time after games.”

The first round of the 2026 NCAA Tournament, emanating from various neutral sites across the country, begins on Thursday, as the road to the Final Four in Indianapolis is officially underway. By the end of Friday, 32 teams will have advanced to the second round, while the other 32 will see their seasons come to a premature close.

Some teams that advanced to the NCAA men’s tournament started their journey toward a national title at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City.

While the University of Oklahoma men’s basketball team and Oklahoma State University’s men’s basketball team did not make the NCAA tournament, both OU and OSU women did.

March Madness in Oklahoma City

The games will be played on March 19 and March 21. Below is a look at the first day of games.

March 19 Games at the Paycom Center

11:40 a.m. - Troy (13) vs. Nebraska (4) Nebraska won 76-47. 2:15 p.m. - McNeese (12) vs. Vanderbilt (5) Vanderbilt won 78-68. 6:35 p.m. - Texas A&M (10) vs. St. Mary’s (7) Texas A&M 63-50.

9:10 p.m. - Idaho (15) vs. Houston (2) Houston won 78-47.

March 21 Games at the Paycom

Nebraska vs Vanderbilt at 6:10 p.m. (TNT) Houston vs Texas A&M at 8:45 p.m. (TNT) Select teams that advanced to the NCAA women’s tournament will start their journey at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman.

March Madness in Norman

The Lloyd Noble Center will host games as part of the Regional 4 - Sacramento. The first round of games will be held on March 20, and the second round will be played on March 21.

March 20 Games at the Lloyd Noble Center

6:30 p.m. - Colorado State (12) vs. Michigan State (5) 9 p.m. - Idaho (13) vs. Oklahoma (4)

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