NCAA Tournament 2024 bracket picks, upsets, top Cinderella teams: Model simulates March Madness 10K times

Nov 8, 2019; Annapolis, MD, USA; Auburn Tigers head coach Bruce Pearl reacts during the first half against the Davidson Wildcats at Alumni Hall.

The 2024 NCAA Tournament bracket is set and first-round action begins on Thursday. The four No. 1 seeds in the 2024 March Madness bracket are UConn, Purdue, Houston and North Carolina. Houston has been ranked in the AP Top 25 for the last 84 weeks, the longest active streak in college basketball. Kelvin Sampson has already secured his third 30-win season in a row and his team has made it to at least the Sweet 16 in the last four years the NCAA Tournament has been held. How far can Houston advance in the 2024 March Madness bracket and who else has Final Four potential this season?

Winning your 2024 NCAA Tournament picks is all about understanding the 2024 March Madness matchups and optimizing your 2024 NCAA bracket for success against your friends, family and coworkers. Before making any 2024 March Madness bracket predictions, be sure to check out the 2024 NCAA Tournament bracket picks from the proven computer model at SportsLine.

Their proven projection model has simulated every game in the tournament 10,000 times. It has absolutely crushed its March Madness picks recently, beating over 92 percent of all CBS Sports brackets three of the past five tournaments. In an upset-laden 2023 NCAA Tournament, the model was all over UConn’s shocking Final Four run as a 4-seed. It went an amazing 23-9 in the first round, including an astounding 12-4 in the Midwest and West regions.

It knows how to spot an upset as well. The same model has produced brackets that have nailed 20 first-round upsets by double-digit seeds since its inception in 2016.

There’s simply no reason to rely on luck when there’s proven technology to help you dominate your 2024 March Madness pools. Now, with the 2024 NCAA bracket being revealed, the model is simulating the matchups and its results are in. You can only see it over at SportsLine.

2024 March Madness bracket games to watch

One of the 2024 March Madness matchups to keep an eye on: No. 4 seed Duke vs. No. 13 seed Vermont in the South Region. This is Jon Scheyer’s second season at the helm after Mike Krzyzewski led the Blue Devils to 13 Final Fours and five national championships. Kyle Filipowski returned after last year’s second-round loss to Tennessee and is averaging 17.1 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. Meanwhile, the Catamounts went 28-6 overall and 15-1 in conference play to win the AEC. This is Vermont’s third NCAA Tournament appearance in a row and John Becker’s squad nearly upset Arkansas (75-71) two years ago as a No. 13 seed.

Also in the South Region, Wisconsin vs. James Madison figures to be yet another pivotal 5 vs. 12 matchup. The Badgers played the toughest schedule in the country this season and should be battle-tested for the NCAA Tournament 2024. However, they were only 5-9 in Quad 1 games and will take on a mid-major that already has a win over a Big Ten tournament team this year. James Madison opened its season with an overtime win over Michigan State and that should be a confidence-building experience. Terrence Edwards had 24 points in that contest and went on to win Sun Belt Player of the Year honors.

The third matchup to watch in the South Region features No. 3 seed Kentucky vs. No. 14 seed Oakland. The Wildcats showed flashes of brilliance this season, with a neutral-site win over North Carolina and road wins over Auburn and Tennessee in SEC play. However, they also had a home loss to UNC-Wilmington and allowed 97 points to Texas A&M in their first game of the 2024 SEC Tournament. Meanwhile, Oakland won the Horizon League regular-season and tournament titles and is led by one of the best mid-major players in the country. Trey Townsend averaged 16.9 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game to win Player of the Year honors in his conference and scored 38 points in the tournament title game to lead Oakland to the 2024 NCAA Tournament. You can see how far all these teams go over at SportsLine.

How to make 2024 NCAA bracket predictions

How far will those major programs go? And which Cinderella teams will make surprising runs through the 2024 NCAA Tournament bracket? With the model’s track record of calling bracket-busting upsets, you’ll want to see which stunners it is calling this year before locking in any NCAA bracket picks.

So what’s the optimal NCAA Tournament bracket 2024? And which March Madness underdogs will shock college basketball? Visit SportsLine now to see which teams you can back with confidence, all from the model that’s nailed 20 upsets by double-digit seeds since its inception and beat over 92 percent of players three of the last five tournaments.