March Madness bracket predictions: Expert picks, upsets, winners, odds and more for 2024 NCAA Tournament

The 2024 NCAA Tournament is finally upon us. The first round of March Madness matchups will begin Thursday, which means you have just hours to submit a bracket to that person in the office who organizes the pool every year and sends a dozen e-mails about it in the process. 

We at The Sporting News have put together plenty of content to help prepare you to make relatively educated decisions when filling out your bracket — and to enjoy the tournament in general.

Here’s a roundup of our March Madness bracket predictions, regional previews, upset picks, tournament odds and more to help guide you through the NCAA Tournament. 

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Printable bracket
Updated betting odds
Expert bracket predictions
Most likely upset picks
Region-by-region guides
Betting tips
Latest news
Printable 2024 March Madness bracket

You can get a printable NCAA Tournament bracket here to fill out before and during tournament play. The Sporting News will continue to update the bracket as games are played.

Download Sporting News’ printable NCAA Tournament bracket (PDF) by clicking here.

SN’s MARCH MADNESS HQ
Live NCAA bracket news | TV schedule | Printable PDF

Who will win the NCAA Tournament in 2024?

Defending champion UConn opened with the best odds to win March Madness in 2024 at +400, according to the BetMGM sportsbook, but the Huskies still face a tall task: No men’s team has repeated as NCAA Tournament champions since Florida in 2006-07.

No. 2 overall seed Houston (+600) and No. 3 Purdue (+650) are next in line, followed by Arizona (+1100), a 2 seed, ahead of North Carolina (+1300), which has the longest odds among the No. 1 seeds. The next tier of Tennessee, Auburn, Iowa State and Kentucky are slightly sneakier bets to win it all but still have the high-end talent to erase the chalk.

A team seeded 3 or lower has won the NCAA Tournament only six times since 1990, but it’s always possible — as we saw just a year ago with No. 4 UConn’s title run. The lowest seed to win the NCAA Tournament was No. 8 Villanova in 1985.

March Madness odds 2024

Team
Odds
UConn
+400
Houston
+600
Purdue
+650
Arizona
+1100
North Carolina
+1300
Tennessee
+1500
Auburn
+1700
Iowa State
+1800
Kentucky
+2500
Marquette
+2500
You can check out the opening odds for the entire field of 68 here.

March Madness bracket predictions 2024

It wouldn’t be enough to have just one expert tell you who they think will win it all, so we got several writers to submit their NCAA Tournament predictions to help you deflect blame when your bracket busts in the first round. Here are our experts’ picks to reach the 2024 Final Four with links to their full bracket analysis.

Mike DeCourcy: UConn, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arizona

Bill Bender: UConn, Houston, Tennessee, Baylor

Vinnie Iyer: UConn, Houston, Tennessee, Arizona

The Sporting News’ experts are also breaking down individual game matchups to help make sense of the biggest toss-ups across your bracket.

EAST

8 FAU or 9 Northwestern?
7 Washington State or 10 Drake?
6 BYU or 11 Duquesne?
5 San Diego State or 12 UAB?
4 Auburn or 13 Yale?
SOUTH

8 Nebraska or 9 Texas A&M?
6 Texas Tech or 11 NC State?
5 Wisconsin or 12 James Madison?
4 Duke or 13 Vermont?
MIDWEST

8 Utah State or 9 TCU?
6 South Carolina or 11 Oregon?
5 Gonzaga or 12 McNeese?
4 Kansas or 13 Samford?
WEST

8 Mississippi State or 9 Michigan State?
7 Dayton or 10 Nevada?
6 Clemson or 11 New Mexico?
5 Saint Mary’s or 12 Grand Canyon?
4 Alabama or 13 Charleston?
UPSET PICKS: 10 seeds | 11 seeds | 12 seeds | 13 seeds

March Madness upset predictions

Upsets in the NCAA Tournament are never easy to predict. If they were, it wouldn’t be called March Madness. However, there are always at least a few under-seeded teams every year that pull off an upset or two in the first weekend and go on a Cinderella run. It’s just a matter of uncovering them.

The Sporting News’ Bill Bender broke down his nine sleeper teams most likely to pull off an upset in 2024.

No. 12 James Madison (31-3) 

Watch out for the Sun Belt tournament champions. Second-year coach Mark Byington has built a winner in two seasons, and the Dukes rank in the top-10 in scoring (84.4 points per game). James Madison beat Michigan State 79-76 overtime thriller in the opener Nov. 6. Junior guard Terrence Edwards (17.4) and Boston College transfer T.J. Bickerstaff (13.4 ppg.) are a dynamic back-court, and that always pays off in the tournament. James Madison got a No. 12 seed, which already makes for a popular upset pick against No. 5 Wisconsin in the first round. Would the Dukes be good enough to take out No. 4 Duke in the second round? 

No. 12 McNeese (30-3) 

Is this another 5-12 upset waiting to happen against No. 5 Gonzaga? The Cowboys are the other 30-win team worth watching given they rank third in the nation in turnover margin (6.7) behind Houston (7.1) and Iowa State (6.9). Coach Will Wade will be the focus given the former LSU coach is back in the Big Dance, and this is a high-scoring team that averaged 80.5 points per game. McNeese also ranked fifth in scoring defense (61.5 ppg). Four Cowboys average double figures, led by senior guard Shahada Wells (17.8 ppg.). The Cowboys beat Michigan, UAB and VCU in non-conference play before putting up a 17-1 record in the Southland Conference. 

Read the rest of The Sporting News’ sleeper picks here.

HISTORY OF UPSETS BY SEED:
16 vs. 1 | 15 vs. 2 | 14 vs. 3 | 13 vs. 4 | 12 vs. 5

NCAA bracket region guides

If simple picks aren’t your cup of tea, Mike DeCourcy has gone ahead and broken down all four of the bracket’s regions for some in-depth analysis of the best storylines, most likely upsets and more. We’ve also got stats and sleepers that could decide each region.

East Region: UConn sets out to become the first back-to-back NCAA Tournament champion since Florida in 2006-07. Don’t be surprised if the Huskies win every game in their relatively easy region by double-digit points.

South Region: Houston. Marquette. Kentucky. Duke. Any one of the top four teams can emerge from what’s arguably the most difficult region of 2024, but we like the 3-seed Wildcats to finally put it back together.

Midwest Region: A tantalizing potential No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup awaits with Purdue and Tennessee on a collision course for the Elite 8. Let’s see if Zach Edey and Co. can get over the hump with a deep March Madness run.

West Region: Is this Arizona’s year? There’s no good reason to trust the Wildcats, but then, that’s true of pretty much every high seed in this region, which includes vulnerable No. 1 North Carolina along with erratic Baylor and Alabama at the top.

NCAA Tournament bracket and betting tips

Play the odds: Know each seed’s history when picking your Final Four and championship teams. 

Upset alerts: These sleepers and Cinderella candidates are most likely to bust your bracket in Round 1, according to The Sporting News’ model.

Best Final Four bets: The Sporting News breaks down Vegas odds as well as our own projection model to come up with the most likely team to advance to the Final Four in each region.

Round 1 best bets, parlays: SN’s guide to the odds, lines, and point spreads for every game as well as the best bets and parlays to consider in Round 1 of March Madness.

Best, funniest names for your bracket: Having trouble coming up with a clever, punny name for your bracket? Let us help.

Perfect March Madness bracket odds: Here’s why it’s nearly impossible to pick all 63 games correctly.

Best March Madness bracket of all time: What is the longest an NCAA Tournament bracket has stayed perfect?

More March Madness news from Sporting News

Sporting News’ 2023-24 college basketball All-Americans: SN’s Mike DeCourcy names the 15 best players from the 2023-24 college basketball season.

Sporting News Player of the Year: Purdue’s Zach Edey joins elite company as the sixth back-to-back winner of our award along with Oscar Robertson, Jerry Lucas, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton and Ralph Sampson.

Sporting News Coach of the Year: The son of Bob Hurley Sr. is living up to his own standard while leading UConn in its national title defense, succeeding Rodney Terry of Texas and joining such legends as John Wooden, Lute Olson, Mike Krzyzewski and Jim Calhoun as Coach of the Year.

March Madness power rankings: SN’s Mike DeCourcy ranks all 68 teams in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, from No. 1 overall UConn down to First Four-bound Wagner.

37 best teams that didn’t win the NCAA Tournament: Sporting News picks teams from the past three decades that didn’t deliver a title. Which was the best? 

March Madness Cinderella players we’ll never forget: Stephen Curry is among the greatest Cinderella players in March Madness history, but he’s not No. 1 on our list.

Most hated college basketball players of all time: Sporting News looks at the most-hated college hoops players of all time. Don’t worry, there is a lot of Duke on this list.

10 best schools without a Final Four appearance: Who are the best schools that haven’t made a Final Four since the 64-team era began in 1984-85?

Best college players who never made the NCAA Tournament: Say hello to Ben Simmons, Noah Vonleh, Nerlens Noel, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and others who watched March Madness on TV. It’s quite a list.