The first round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament bracket is here, so fans are scrambling to complete their 2024 March Madness bracket strategy and lock in their 2024 March Madness upset picks. Florida Atlantic was one of the NCAA Tournament bracket busters last year, making a shocking run to the Final Four. The Owls are a No. 8 seed in the East Region of the NCAA Tournament bracket 2024, so a meeting with top overall seed UConn could be looming in the second round. The Huskies are the most-picked team to cut down the nets in 2024 NCAA Tournament predictions, despite having to potentially face No. 4 seed Auburn in the Sweet 16 and No. 2 seed Iowa State in the Elite Eight.
There are many tools you can use to build a winning 2024 NCAA Tournament strategy, but quality 2024 March Madness advice is at the top of the list. Which teams should you have advancing in your March Madness pools? March Madness brackets lock at 12:15 p.m. ET on Thursday. Before making any predictions for games in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, see the March Madness bracket picks from the proven computer model at SportsLine.
SportsLine’s projection model has simulated every game in the tournament 10,000 times. It has absolutely crushed its March Madness picks recently, beating over 92% of all CBS Sports brackets in three of the past five tournaments. In an upset-laden 2023 NCAA Tournament, the model was all over UConn’s shocking Final Four run as a 4-seed. It went an amazing 23-9 in the first round, including an astounding 12-4 in the Midwest and West regions.
It knows how to spot an upset as well. The same model has produced brackets that have nailed 20 first-round upsets by double-digit seeds since its inception in 2016.
Now, SportsLine’s advanced computer model has simulated the entire 2024 NCAA Tournament 10,000 times to come up with the perfect 2024 NCAA Tournament bracket and find out which teams will pull off the biggest upsets. You shouldn’t even think about making a pick without seeing what their model has to say.
Top 2024 NCAA Basketball Tournament bracket upset picks
One Midwest Region surprise the model has identified: No. 5 Gonzaga gets past No. 12 seed McNeese State and then beats No. 4 Kansas in the Round of 32. Gonzaga endured a tough middle part of the season to win 14 of its last 16 games. It’s your typical uber-efficient offensive unit for the Zags, who rank second in the country in field goal percentage (51.6) and also have a pair of players shooting over 40% from beyond the arc, Anton Watson and Nolan Hickman.
The one who truly makes the offense go is point guard Ryan Nembhard, who ranks in the top 10 among players in the 2024 NCAA Tournament in assist-to-turnover ratio. He has a 33:5 ratio over his last three games, logging double-doubles in each. Potentially facing a Kansas team that just lost its leading scorer due to injury, Gonzaga will try to make this game a track meet with Nembhard controlling the game’s flow. The Jayhawks simply won’t be able to match Gonzaga’s firepower, as Kansas is both undermanned and ill-equipped to win a shootout after it finished last in the Big 12 in made 3-pointers.
Another surprise from the Midwest Region: No. 3 Creighton runs the table in the region, getting past No. 2 Tennessee and No. 1 Purdue as the Bluejays punch their ticket to the Final Four in Phoenix. The Bluejays are playing in a region that features elite teams who lack recent NCAA Tournament success, as Purdue has not made the Final Four since 1980 and Tennessee has never made it.
Meanwhile, Creighton has won a game in the past three tournaments, including a Sweet 16 trip in 2021 and an Elite Eight run last year. The Bluejays have four seniors, one junior and one sophomore in their key six-man rotation, and all of them have prior tournament experience. KenPom ranks them as the eighth-most experienced lineup in college basketball, which is one reason why they can get past the Boilermakers and Vols in the Midwest Region. See which other 2024 March Madness upsets to target here.
How to make 2024 NCAA Tournament bracket predictions
SportsLine’s model is also predicting a stunning 4-seed that will reach the Final Four and has one region where the 1- and 3-seeds go down hard before the Elite Eight. With the model’s track record of calling bracket-busting upsets, you’ll want to see which stunners it’s calling this year before locking in any 2024 NCAA bracket picks.
So what’s the optimal NCAA Tournament 2024 bracket, and which NCAA Tournament Cinderella teams will shock college basketball? Visit SportsLine now to see which region the 1- and 3-seeds go down in flames before the Elite Eight, and which region features a 4-seed in the Final Four, all from the model that has beaten 92% of bracket players three of the last five tournaments.
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