Right after the 2024 Division I men’s basketball bracket was unveiled on Sunday, NCAA.com’s March Madness guru Andy Katz live-streamed his March Madness picks for Bleacher Report.
He gets into each of his picks in the video, but for now, we’ll dive into his most notable predictions from each round and each region, as well as his Elite Eight and Final Four selections.
BRACKET: Check out the 2024 bracket
East region
- First round: No. 10 Drake over No. 7 Washington State
- Reasoning: “Tucker DeVries is an outstanding player, a big time scorer coached by his father Darian Reese, and they won the [Missouri] Valley tournament by beating Indiana State. I like Drake here.”
- Sweet 16: No. 3 Illinois over No. 2 Iowa State
- Reasoning: “I just love the way the Illini are playing right now.”
- Elite Eight: No. 1 UConn over No. 3 Illinois
- Reasoning: “These games will be in Boston, so it’s a de-facto home game for the Huskies. It will be an absolute war between these two teams, it’s going to be incredibly intense, but In a late-possession game I like UConn to get to the Final Four for a chance at back-to-back championships.”
West region
- First round: No. 10 Nevada over No. 7 Dayton
- Reasoning: “They [Nevada] have a team that’s already won a tournament (Diamondhead Classic). They’ve got a lot of momentum and I love the way they’re playing.”
- Second round: No. 11 New Mexico over No. 3 Baylor
- Reasoning: “There’s great guard play for both schools here, but I just think the momentum is going to continue for the Lobos. Richard Pitino has done an outstanding job resetting the season after the disappointing home loss to Air Force.”
- Elite Eight: No. 2 Arizona over No. 1 North Carolina
- Reasoning: “We get Caleb Love vs. RJ Davis, ACC player of the year vs. Pac-12 player of the Year, teammates a year ago — what a great storyline in Los Angeles. I think Arizona wins it.”
South region
- First round: No. 10 Colorado over No. 7 Florida
- Reasoning: “Florida’s sort of flew under the radar and had a really solid season — they played in the SEC title game — but here’s where I pick an upset. I think Colorado beats Boise and Colorado beats Florida.”
- Second round: No. 5 Wisconsin over No. 4 Duke
- Reasoning: “I think the Badgers have the ability to match Duke on the perimeter and be physical. Steven Crowl is playing very well right now and I think he can match up with [Kyle] Filipowski.”
- Elite Eight: No. 3 Kentucky over No. 1 Houston
- Reasoning: “Reed Sheppard gets there (to the Final Four) like his dad Jeff Sheppard did, as a three seed. Kentucky advances.”
PLAY TO WIN: Play the 2024 Bracket Challenge Game
Midwest region
- First round: No. 13 Samford over No. 4 Kansas
- Reasoning: “Here’s the upset: I don’t like the mojo right now with Kansas. We don’t know about Hunter Dickinson or Kevin McCullar Jr., and without them they are not the same basketball team I’m going with Samford.”
- Second round: No. 11 Oregon over No. 3 Creighton
- Reasoning: “Dante vs. Kalkbrenner: what a matchup inside. But Dante is a freak athlete, and I think Kalkbrenner is going to have some problems with him. I like Oregon dancing into the Sweet 16.”
- Elite Eight: No. 1 Purdue over No. 2 Tennessee
- Reasoning: “As much as I think Dalton Knecht, Purdue has the National Player of the Year Zach Edey. I like the Boilermakers.”
Final Four
- No. 1 UConn over No. 2 Arizona
- Reasoning: “I think the X-factor is going to be Cam Spencer, he’s going to make shots. In what I think will be a great high-level game, I think UConn advances to the national championship.”
- No. 1 Purdue over No. 3 Kentucky
- Reasoning: “Again, I think this is where Edey rises.”
National championship
- No. 1 UConn over No. 1 Purdue
- Reasoning: “This is the game that we’ve been wanting all season long between the two best, most consistent teams. And with the way UConn has played in the biggest moments, I think they win back-to-back championships.”
Contents
