NCAA Tournament action picks up Thursday and continues through Friday, with the Sweet 16 schedule halfway through the first half and by the end of the night the final 12 teams have been whittled down to eight teams preparing for the Sweet 16. It will be arranged. The penultimate weekend of the college basketball season.
If your bracket is not completely broken yet, please tighten the buckle. March Madness seems to have found a way to fix that. No. 6 seed Clemson's win over No. 2 seed Arizona on Thursday night, eliminating one of the Final Four teams, certainly worked for me. So if something like that happens to you, take comfort in the fact that you are not alone.
Our CBS team hasn't been perfect in the past, but we're going to give a shout out here. we are very good. As you can see in our expert bracket below, each of us is still looking for championship contenders as we prepare for the final cutdown of the Sweet 16 on Friday. You can also find all our picks for spreads here.
Now let's get to the good part: parentheses. …
2024 NCAA Tournament standings prediction
Click on each bracket to enlarge it.
gary parrish
It would be great to see UConn become the first back-to-back national champions since Florida in 2006 and 2007. And let the record prove that the Huskies are the favorites of the betting market. So I understand that it might be foolish to disagree with them. But acknowledging that, I'm going to continue to do what I've been doing for most of this season and trust the Boilermakers. Isn't it a great story that Purdue won the 2024 NCAA Tournament after losing in the opening game of the 2023 NCAA Tournament to a No. 16 seed? Zach Eady is a two-time National Player of the Year Are you holding a trophy as a player? Has Matt Painter shed his label as the best coach not to make the Final Four by becoming the first coach since 1980 to lead Purdue to the final weekend of the season? It's all very good. Just making it to the Final Four will be difficult considering Tennessee, Creighton, and Kansas are also in the Midwest region. But I'm still arriving in Arizona with the Boilermaker in tow. And once we get there, I think we'll win two more games and be in the net on the second Monday of April.
matt norlander
A locomotive screams as it runs along the tracks. The reigning national champions, 31-3, enter this NCAA Tournament as the strongest team with the best chance of repeating any team since Florida in 2007. Dan Hurley's Huskies are led by All-American guard Tristen Newton (15.2 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 6.0 apg), who holds the school record for triple-doubles. In the center is Dongvan Klingan, a 7-foot-2-inch “Klingcon.” He's a threat to defenders and the type of player you can't imitate in practice. The Huskies boast the most efficient offense in the nation (126.6 adjusted points per 100 possessions, via KenPom.com) and dominate teams in a variety of ways. Sophomore Alex Karaban (39.5%) and his senior Cam Spencer (44.4%) are both good 3-point shooters. The Huskies have lost to Kansas, Seton Hall and Creighton, but all of those were road games, and there are no more road games left this season. UW will seek to become his fourth overall No. 1 seed to win a national title, joining the University of Florida in 2007, the University of Kentucky in 2012 and the University of Louisville in 2013.
Kyle Boone
My hostile side initially chose Purdue over Collegiate Con in the title game. But when I sat down and thought about it, I couldn't make a rational case for picking any team other than UConn as champion. Of course, that doesn't guarantee the Huskies will win it all and become their first back-to-back championship since Florida in 2007. There's a lot that could happen in the coming weeks. But they have electric attacks, guard depth, downsizing, and shooting. [takes breath] ..Pass and pizza from a team that is the best in the country and knows it. All of the top teams in this area can play at a high level, but none are in top gear like UConn.
Get every pick, every play, every upset and fill your slots with our help! Visit SportsLine now to see which teams will win or break your spot and who will cut the net. All of this is from the model that led to his incredible 20 first-round upsets by double-digit seeds.
david cobb
Purdue is looking for revenge after a humiliating loss to No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson in the first round in 2023. This time, the Boilermakers are a much better team in his 3-point shooting and have a better path than his No. 1 overall seed, UConn. The Huskies were the most dominant team leading into the Big Dance, where the East bracket is fraught with danger.
jelly palm
This isn't the Purdue we've seen in recent years. Brayden Smith has made a huge leap from last season to this season. Fletcher Royer is better. Lance Jones will serve as Purdue's defense, shooter and other ball handler. And Zach Eady is also excellent. This is a team with a mission. This is the year they accomplish that.
Dennis Dodd
What's not to like? The Heels won the ACC regular season. They beat Tennessee and dominated Duke. RJ Davis is an elite guard and the ACC Player of the Year. Hubert Davis appeared in the national championship game in his first season and settled down after missing the tournament in his second season. This is his best team. There will always be pressure on him to win everything.
Armando Bacot is not as dominant as he used to be. Harrison Ingram (Stanford) and Cormac Ryan (Notre Dame) are big additions to the portal. The West Region is friendly, but we're assuming Alabama and Michigan State get out of the way before the regional finals in Los Angeles. An interesting regional final game against Arizona is coming up. I may end up using chalk. UNC has the most Final Four appearances (21) and No. 1 seeds (18) in history. They are tied with Kentucky for the most wins in the tournament (131). This is what heels do.
chip patterson
The selection committee put a lot of obstacles in front of the reigning champions, choosing what I think is the best No. 1 seed, the best No. 2 seed (Iowa State), the best No. 3 seed (Illinois), and the best seed. Placed. 4th seed (Auburn) in the Huskies slot. And even if it takes such an epic journey to accomplish such a historic feat as back-to-back title wins for the first time since 2007, UConn has all the skills and tools it needs to get back to the top of the mountain. Equipped with: UW can win in any number of ways, whether it's overwhelming teams with its offense in high-scoring track meets or outsmarting opponents with low-possession grinders, each can step up as needed toward a title shot. It has a small number of major contributors. .
Cameron Salerno
Defense wins championships. That's part of the reason I'm picking Houston to win it all. The Cougars have one of the top-ranked scoring defenses in the country and a great guard offensive play to complement it. Jamal Shehed is probably the best point guard in the nation, and Juwan Roberts is the X-Factor on both ends of the floor. Houston's path to the Final Four is on track. The Cougars didn't make it to the Final Four in their home state last spring, but this year will be the year they climb the standings and win the first national championship in program history.
