North Carolina’s men and Alabama State’s men both won First Four games in the most recent completed March Madness (2025).

Quick Scoop: Who won the First Four in March Madness?

To answer “who won first four March Madness,” people usually mean: who came out on top in the opening First Four games of the latest NCAA men’s tournament. In 2025, two of the headline results were:

  • Alabama State 70–68 Saint Francis (PA) (a late-game thriller in Dayton).
  • North Carolina 95–68 San Diego State (a dominant performance that doubled as a statement that UNC was back in national-title-contender form).

Those games kicked off the 2025 March Madness and set the tone for the rest of the bracket, with one tight finish and one blowout showing how chaotic the First Four can be.

Think of the First Four as the “play-in spotlight”: win here, and you don’t just survive—you grab momentum and a bit of national buzz heading into the full 64-team field.

What the First Four is (in case you were asking that too)

  • The First Four is a set of play-in games held in Dayton, Ohio, before the round of 64.
  • It features the last four at‑large teams and the four lowest‑ranked automatic qualifiers, all battling for a spot in the main bracket.

Historically, some First Four winners have gone on big runs (like VCU in 2011 and UCLA in 2021, both reaching the Final Four), so these games can be more than just a warm‑up.

TL;DR: In the latest March Madness, Alabama State and North Carolina were among the teams that “won the First Four” in Dayton, with a nail-biter and a blowout respectively.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.