March Madness 2024 bracket: NCAA Tournament picks, optimal predictions from advanced college basketball model

The UConn Huskies, Purdue Boilermakers, Houston Cougars, and North Carolina Tar Heels earned the four No. 1 seeds in the 2024 NCAA Tournament bracket on Selection Sunday. UConn went on a dominant run as a No. 4 seed to win last year’s national championship, and will try to become the first team to repeat as champions since the Florida Gators accomplished the feat in 2006 and 2007. Advancing through the East Region of the 2024 March Madness bracket will be no easy feat for the Huskies, with the likes of FAU, San Diego State, Auburn, and Iowa State in their way. Dan Hurley’s team finished the regular season with a 30-3 overall record and enter March Madness 2024 as the betting favorites to cut down the nets at the Final Four in Arizona.

Should the Huskies be among your top 2024 NCAA Basketball Tournament picks? Or will UConn fall victim to an early upset at the hands of a Cinderella team in the NCAA bracket 2024? Brackets are due at 12:15 p.m. ET on Thursday. Before filling out your NCAA Tournament bracket 2024, be sure to see the 2024 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.

There’s no reason to rely on luck when there’s proven technology to help you dominate your 2024 March Madness picks. Now, with the 2024 NCAA bracket revealed, the model is simulating the matchups and its results are in. You can only see it over at SportsLine.

Top 2024 March Madness bracket picksOne of the Midwest Region picks from the model: No. 3 seed Creighton goes on a surprise run to the Final Four. The Bluejays proved to be one of the top teams in the country down the stretch, but were upset by Providence early in the Big East Tournament. They notched blowout wins over UConn and Marquette, while going 7-1 to close out the regular season.

The Bluejays made it to the Elite Eight in 2023, where they fell to San Diego State, 57-56, in a heartbreaker. Doug McDermott returns his core from that team, and the Jays are hungry for more in 2024. Creighton is led by one of the most productive trio of veterans in the country, Baylor Scheierman, Trey Alexander, and Ryan Kalkbrenner. All three players average 17.1 or more points per game, with Scheierman, a 6-foot-7 guard, leading the way with per game averages of 18.4 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 4.0 assists. 

Another surprise: No. 5 Gonzaga gets past No. 4 Kansas in the Midwest. The Jayhawks were the preseason No. 1 coming into the 2023-24 season but wound up suffering 10 losses before the start of the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1988-89. That included losses in four of their last five games and things aren’t exactly looking up with Kevin McCullar (knee) and Hunter Dickinson (shoulder) ailing.

Meanwhile, the Bulldogs spent nearly six weeks unranked after starting the season 11-5 but have won nine of 10 entering the tournament, including a big win at St. Mary’s to end the regular season. Mark Few has led Gonzaga to 25 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances and eight consecutive Sweet 16s. Gonzaga is shooting 54.3% from the floor and 41.1% from the 3-point line over the last 10 games and the model predicts it extends its streak to nine consecutive Sweet 16s with wins over McNeese and Kansas. You can see the model’s 2024 NCAA bracket picks here.

How to make 2024 NCAA bracket predictions
Who wins every tournament-defining matchup, and which teams will make surprising runs through the 2024 NCAA Tournament bracket? 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.