NCAA bracket predictions: Model gives out surprising March Madness 2024 tournament picks

No. 3 seed Kentucky enters the 2024 NCAA Tournament bracket with one of the most talented rosters in college basketball, headlined by potential lottery picks Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham. They have been coming off the bench for most of the season, providing a scoring punch behind leading scorer Antonio Reeves. Head coach John Calipari has the highest NCAA Tournament winning percentage among active coaches, so the Wildcats could be primed for a deep run through the NCAA Tournment bracket 2024. However, their reliance on freshmen could lead to an early March Madness upset.

Veteran-led teams are popular picks to cut down the nets in the 2024 March Madness bracket, with teams like Houston among the top-picked teams to win the title. Are the Cougars the best NCAA Tournament 2024 pick to make before the Big Dance begins on Thursday at 12:15 p.m. ET? 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 picks. 

Now, with the 2024 NCAA bracket revealed, the model is simulating the matchups and its results are in. You can only see it over at SportsLine.

Three 2024 March Madness bracket games to watch

One of the most intriguing 2024 March Madness matchups to watch: No. 5 San Diego State versus No. 12 UAB. San Diego State head coach Brian Dutcher has won at least 20 games in each of his seven seasons with the school, and he is coming off a surprising run to the national championship last season. The Aztecs became the first team in Mountain West history to win a game in the Sweet 16, Elite Eight and Final Four, so they have high expectations this year. UAB has not made the Sweet 16 since 2004, and it is making just its second appearance in the Big Dance since 2015.

Another 2024 March Madness matchup to keep an eye on is No. 8 Florida Atlantic vs. No. 9 Northwestern in the East Region. This is the highest-scoring Northwestern team in 30 years, averaging 73.7 points per game. The Wildcats are in the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back years for the first time in school history, and this is just their third appearance ever. Florida Atlantic proved that a lack of tournament experience is not necessarily a bad thing, making a run to the 2023 Final Four in its second-ever tournament appearance.

Another 2024 March Madness matchup to watch out for: No. 4 seed Auburn will battle No. 13 seed Yale in the East Region. Auburn is led by three-time SEC Coach of the Year Bruce Pearl, who led the Tigers to the Final Four in 2019. They are getting set for their fifth tournament appearance since 2018 after making zero trips to the Big Dance in the previous 14 seasons. Yale has only advanced to the second round once in school history (2016), but it leads the Ivy League in victories (107) and winning percentage (.704) since 2018-19.  You can see the model’s 2024 NCAA bracket picks here.

How to make 2024 NCAA bracket predictions

Who wins every tournament-defining matchup? And which 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’s calling this year before locking in any 2024 NCAA bracket picks.

So what’s the optimal NCAA Tournament 2024 bracket? And which NCAA Tournament Cinderella teams will shock college basketball? Visit SportsLine now to see which double-digit seeds you can back with confidence, all from the model that’s called 20 upsets by double-digit seeds.