March Madness 2024 Tournament Schedule. Is it too early to start talking about March Madness? The NFL playoffs and Super Bowl were full of surprises and upsets, but it has nothing on the NCAA Men’s basketball tournament. This tournament has many more teams to watch and a shorter time to get to the winner. Get ready for the intensity to turn up to 11.
March Madness Starts in Less Than a Month
The top teams in the country are already in tournament mode as they prepare for their conference championships. Every game counts in their attempts to win their conference and get ranked as top seeds for the NCAA tournament.
The 68 teams will be decided on Selection Sunday, followed quickly by the first four games. Once those are done, it’ll bring the total number of teams down to 64, and the First Round of the tournament can begin.
2024 March Madness Schedule
- Selection Sunday: Sunday, March 17
- First Four: March 19-20
- First round: March 21-22
- Second round: March 23-24
- Sweet 16: March 28-29
- Elite Eight: March 30-31
- Final Four: Saturday, April 6
- NCAA championship game: Monday, April 8
Many sports fans love to bet on futures and try to guess which team will win the championship, or often, they will pick the teams that will make it to the Final Four, Elite Eight, or even Sweet Sixteen. The payoffs aren’t as good, but the odds are much better.
Here are the current top teams and their odds to win the whole enchilada.
No. 1 UConn Huskies (+500)
Although they aren’t as dominant as last year, they are more consistent. They’ve been at or near the top for most of the season and now have pulled away from the Boilermakers. They have one of the best-scoring offenses in the country, putting up over 80 points per game. On the weekend, they blew out the No. 4 ranked Marquette by a margin of 28 points.
No. 2 Purdue Boilermakers (+800)
This weekend’s loss to Ohio State distanced them from No. 1. UConn and Purdue were neck-and-neck for the top spot until this loss that broke Purdue’s nine-game winning streak. And they lost to a team near the bottom of the Big East. They didn’t drop down from the No. 2 spot because the No. 3 ranked team, Houston, doesn’t have a win against this week’s top 16.
Plus, they have arguably the country’s best player in Zach Edey, who is averaging 23.2 points and 11.9 rebounds. So they’ll stay at No. 2 for now. But they’re in the spotlight and must keep winning to remain here.
No. 3 Houston Cougars (+1000)
It’s impressive that a team can make it to a top-three position without being an offensive powerhouse. Their offense is good, too, but they can go without adding points for long stretches. Houston’s defense ranks no. 1 in most stats, including scoring, shooting, and turnovers. However, as mentioned earlier, they don’t have a win against a top-16 team. That may change this week as they take on Iowa State at home and then Baylor.
Madness Trivia
- Thirteen teams have been able to defend their national championship. UConn is in the running this year to be the fourteenth team.
- The UCLA Bruins might have the most NCAA titles (11), but they haven’t won since 1995. Kentucky is in second place (8) and at least is showing signs of moving up in rankings this year with their two recent wins against Ole Miss at home and Auburn on the road. UConn has five wins, trying for number six.
- A No. 1 seeded team has won the national championship 59.1% of the time. UConn is looking better all the time.
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