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2024 March Madness Bracket: Teams, Seeds & Tournament Schedule

Sascha Paruk

By Sascha Paruk

Updated:


 

March Madness bracket as of 7:33 pm ET, March 31.

The 2024 men’s NCAA Tournament is scheduled to start on Tuesday, March 19, and finish with the national-championship game on Monday, April 8, 2024. This page displays the current 68-team  field, both as a bracket (above) and as a table (below).

This will mark the first year that online sports betting in North Carolina will be legal for the NCAA Tournament. Duke and North Carolina project as #3 seeds at the moment with Wake Forest a #6.

March Madness Seeds

Seed West Midwest South East
1 North Carolina Purdue Houston UConn
2 Arizona Tennessee Marquette Iowa State
3 Baylor Creighton Kentucky Illinois
4 Alabama Kansas Duke Auburn
5 Saint Mary’s Gonzaga Wisconsin San Diego State
6 Clemson South Carolina Texas Tech BYU
7 Dayton Texas Florida Washington State
8 Mississippi State Utah State Nebraska FAU
9 Michigan State TCU Texas A&M Northwestern
10 Nevada Virginia vs Colorado State Boise State vs Colorado Drake
11 New Mexico Oregon NC State Duquesne
12 Grand Canyon McNeese James Madison UAB
13 Charleston Samford Vermont Yale
14 Colgate Akron Oakland Morehead State
15 Long Beach State Saint Peter’s Western Kentucky South Dakota State
16 Howard vs Wagner Montana State vs Grambling Longwood Stetson

Remaining 2024 NCAA Tournament seeds as of 7:33 pm ET, March 31.

The table below shows a current list of the teams that have already qualified for the 2023 NCAA Tournament, along with their method of qualification. Teams are listed in alphabetical order.

Teams in 2024 March Madness

Team Method
Akron MAC Title
Alabama At-Large
Arizona At-Large
Auburn SEC Title
Baylor At-Large
Boise State At-Large
BYU At-Large
Charleston CAA Title
Clemson At-Large
Colgate Patriot League Title
Colorado At-Large
Colorado State At-Large
Connecticut Big East Title
Creighton At-Large
Dayton At-Large
Drake MVC Title
Duke At-Large
Duquesne A10 Title
FAU At-Large
Florida At-Large
Gonzaga At-Large
Grambling State SWAC Title
Grand Canyon WAC Title
Houston At-Large
Howard MEAC Title
Illinois Big Ten Title
Iowa State Big 12 Title
James Madison Sun Belt Title
Kansas At-Large
Kentucky At-Large
Long Beach State Big West Title
Longwood Big South Title
Marquette At-Large
McNeese Southland Title
Michigan State At-Large
Mississippi State At-Large
Montana State Big Sky Title
Morehead State OVC Title
NC State ACC Title
Nebraska At-Large
Nevada At-Large
New Mexico Mountain West Title
North Carolina At-Large
Northwestern At-Large
Oakland Horizon League Title
Oregon Pac-12 Title
Purdue At-Large
Saint Mary’s WCC Title
Saint Peter’s MAAC Title
Samford CAA Title
San Diego State At-Large
South Carolina At-Large
South Dakota State Summit League Title
Stetson Atlantic Sun Title
TCU At-Large
Tennessee At-Large
Texas At-Large
Texas A&M At-Large
Texas Tech At-Large
UAB AAC Title
Utah State At-Large
Vermont AE Title
Virginia At-Large
Wagner Northeast Title
Washington State At-Large
Western Kentucky C-USA Title
Wisconsin At-Large
Yale Ivy League Title

The table above will list all the teams to qualify for the 2024 NCAA Tournament as they book their tickets. The only way to receive an automatic bid into the NCAA Men’s Tournament is by winning one of the 32 conference tournaments.

The other 36 spots in the tournament will be filled by at-large bids. These are teams who did not win their conference tournament, but are deemed worthy of playing in the tournament.

When Does 2024 March Madness Start?

Round (Teams Remaining) Dates
First Four (68) March 19-20, 2024
First Round (64) March 21-22, 2024
Second Round (32) March 23-24, 2024
Sweet 16 March 28-29, 2024
Elite Eight March 30-31, 2024
Final Four April 6, 2024
Championship Game April 8, 2024

The 2023 NCAA Tournament officially starts on Tuesday, March 14, with two First Four games in Dayton, Ohio. The First Round, also known as the Round of 64, commences that Thursday (March 16).

The tournament wraps up with the Final Four and National Championship Game at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. (Note that Final Four odds are available all season long.)

When Do March Madness Brackets Come Out?

The official 2024  March Madness bracket will be released on March 17, also known as Selection Sunday. The selection show will begin at 6:00 pm ET and will air on CBS as usual.

When Do March Madness Brackets Lock?

This depends on the bracket contest you are entering. Most March Madness bracket pools allow brackets to be submitted and/or changed up to the minute before tip-off of the first game in the Round of 64. That’s because very few bracket contests actually factor in the results of the First Four, which are technically part of the tournament, nonetheless.

If you want to pick a First Four team to advance past the Round of 64, you will be able to select either of the two teams playing in the First Four contest. For instance, in the current iteration of SBD’s projected bracket, Cincinnati is playing Northwestern in the First Four in the East region; if you wanted to pick Cincinnati to advance to the Round of 32, you would still get the points if Northwestern beats Cincinnati in the First Four and then also wins in the Round of 64.

How Many Teams Are in March Madness?

Currently, the official answer to this question is 68 teams. The 32 teams that win their conference tournaments garner automatic berths into the field, and the March Madness Selection Committee chooses the other 36 at-large teams based on regular-season resumes. (Track the college basketball conference odds here.)

The number of teams in the NCAA Tournament has fluctuated over the years. Starting in 1985, the tournament increased from 32 teams to 64 teams. Then, in 2011, it was expanded to 68 with the introduction of the First Four.

This was largely a response to perennial outcries from the last few teams not to make the field. (Surprise! There are still equally loud outcries from teams that don’t make the field of 68.) For a time, the First Four was called the “First Round” but that caused too much confusion given that the Round of 64 had been the First Round for several decades.

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Archived March Madness brackets: 2022

When is the NCAA Tournament selection show?

The Selection Show starts at 6pm ET on Sunday, March 17.

Why hasn't anyone ever predicted a perfect NCAA bracket yet?

Simply put, the tournament is just too unpredictable. This is part of what makes it so exciting. Outside of a 16-seed taking down a 1-seed, which has only happened once, anyone can beat anyone. If you flipped a coin to make your selections, the odds of a perfect bracket are 1 in 9,223,372,036,854,775,808. This is because there are so many games in the tournament. Your true odds are slightly better than that since not all games in the first-round are true 50-50 splits.

How to study teams to make the best bracket for March Madness?

One of the quickest ways to identify potential upsets in your March Madness bracket is to study the odds for each of the first-round games as well as the odds to make the Final Four and to win the tournament.

Has an unranked team ever won the NCAA tournament?

All teams who get into the NCAA tournament are ranked. The lowest ranked team to ever win the tournament was no. 8 Villanova back in 1985. We have seen five no. 11 seeds reach the Final Four, but none advanced any further.

What are the odds of a team winning the NCAA tournament?

If you treat every game as a 50-50 chance, then that comes out to a 1.56% chance for a team to win the tournament. This is considering them having to win six games. However, not all games are a true 50-50. If we look at the odds, Houston is the favorite to win at 6-1 odds, which implies a 14.3% chance to win.

What is the best March Madness bracket scoring methodology?

The most common March Madness bracket scoring is 1 point for every correct winner picked in the first round, 2 points for every correct winner picked in the second round, 4 points for every correct winner picked in the third round, and it continues doubling with 32 points being awarded for having the correct winner of the tournament. This method keeps many brackets alive a little longer. Some people like to add bonus points for having correct matchups in the bracket as well. Others just do a simple 1 point for each correct winner picked, regardless of the round.

How long does the NCAA tournament last?

The NCAA tournament starts Tuesday, March 14 with the First Four and runs until the National Championship on Monday, April 3. Although, some people don't recognize the First Four as the official start of the tournament, instead calling Thursday, March 16, which is when the first round starts, the first day.

Sascha Paruk
Sascha Paruk

Managing Editor

Sascha has been working in the sports-betting industry since 2014, and quickly paired his strong writing skills with a burgeoning knowledge of probability and statistics. He holds an undergraduate degree in linguistics and a Juris Doctor from the University of British Columbia.

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