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2024 NCAA Division I
men's basketball tournament

Season	2023–24
Teams	68
Finals site	State Farm Stadium Glendale, Arizona
Champions	UConn Huskies (6th title, 6th title game, 7th Final Four)
Runner-up	Purdue Boilermakers (2nd title game, 3rd Final Four)
Semifinalists	Alabama Crimson Tide (1st Final Four) North Carolina State Wolfpack (4th Final Four)
Winning coach	Dan Hurley (2nd title)
MOP	Tristen Newton (UConn Huskies)
Attendance	713,877
Top scorer	Zach Edey (Purdue Boilermakers) (177 points)
NCAA Division I men's tournaments «2023 2025»

The 2024 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 68 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's basketball national champion for the 2023–24 season. The 85th annual edition of the tournament began on March 19, 2024, and concluded with the UConn Huskies successfully defending their title to become the first repeat champion since Florida in 2007, defeating the Purdue Boilermakers 75–60 in the championship game on April 8, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

ASUN champion Stetson and SWAC champion Grambling State made their NCAA tournament debuts. Additionally, Duquesne made its first appearance since 1977, Samford made its first appearance since 2000, McNeese made its first appearance since 2002, and Wagner made its second-ever appearance, its first since 2003.

The first round of the tournament saw the Southeastern Conference (SEC) struggle, with only three out of the initial eight teams advancing to the next round. Three SEC teams suffered first-round upsets. On the other hand, the Pac-12 Conference saw all four of their teams advance to the second round, though Arizona was the only team in the conference to make the Sweet Sixteen.

This was the first NCAA tournament since 2019 to not see a 15-seed defeat a 2-seed. All the 1 and 2-seeds advanced to the Sweet Sixteen, marking only the fifth time it has happened and the first since 2019. Also, with No. 11 seeded NC State advancing to the Sweet Sixteen, this marked the 16th consecutive tournament where a double-digit seed made the regional semifinals. The Wolfpack eventually became the sixth 11-seed to reach the Final Four.

The Final Four consisted of UConn (second consecutive appearance), Alabama (their first Final Four appearance in program history), NC State (first appearance since 1983), and Purdue (first appearance since 1980).

With No. 1 overall seed UConn winning the championship, this was the first time that the top overall seed won the tournament since Kentucky in 2012.

Tournament procedure

A total of 68 teams entered the 2024 tournament. A total of 32 automatic bids are awarded to each program that won a conference tournament. The remaining 36 bids are issued "at-large", with selections extended by the NCAA Selection Committee. The Selection Committee also seeds the entire field from 1 to 68.

Eight teams (the four-lowest seeded automatic qualifiers and the four lowest-seeded at-large teams) played in the First Four. The winners of those games advanced to the main tournament bracket.

2024 NCAA Tournament schedule and venues

The following are the sites selected to host each round of the 2024 tournament:

First Four

• March 19 and 20
  • University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio (Host: University of Dayton)

First and Second Rounds (Subregionals)

• March 21 and 23
  • Spectrum Center, Charlotte, North Carolina (Host: University of North Carolina at Charlotte)
  • CHI Health Center, Omaha, Nebraska (Host: Creighton University)
  • PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Host: Duquesne University)
  • Delta Center, Salt Lake City, Utah (Host: University of Utah)
• March 22 and 24
  • Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York (Host: Atlantic 10 Conference)
  • Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana (Host: IUPUI, Horizon League)
  • FedExForum, Memphis, Tennessee (Host: University of Memphis)
  • Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, Spokane, Washington (Host: University of Idaho)

Regional Semi-Finals and Finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)

• March 28 and 30
  • East Regional
    • TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts (Host: Boston College)
  • West Regional
    • Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, California (Host: Pepperdine University)
• March 29 and 31
  • South Regional
    • American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas (Host: Big 12 Conference)
  • Midwest Regional
    • Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, Michigan (Hosts: University of Detroit Mercy, Oakland University)

National Semifinals and Championship (Final Four)

• April 6 and 8
  • State Farm Stadium, Glendale, Arizona (Host: Arizona State University)

Glendale hosted the Final Four for the second time, having previously hosted in 2017.

Qualification and selection of teams

The 68 teams came from 34 states and the District of Columbia.

Automatic qualifiers

Teams who won their conference championships automatically qualify.

Seeds

The tournament seeds and regions were determined through the NCAA basketball tournament selection process and were published by the selection committee after the brackets were released on March 17.

*See First Four
Source:

Tournament bracket

All times are listed in Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4)

First Four – Dayton, Ohio

The First Four games involve eight teams: the four lowest-seeded automatic qualifiers and the four lowest-seeded at-large teams.

East regional – Boston, Massachusetts

East regional final

East regional all-tournament team

• Donovan Clingan (MOP) - UConn
• Cam Spencer - UConn
• Stephon Castle - UConn
• Terrence Shannon Jr. - Illinois
• Jaedon LeDee - San Diego State

West regional – Los Angeles, California

West regional final

West regional all-tournament team

• Mark Sears (MOP) - Alabama
• Grant Nelson - Alabama
• PJ Hall - Clemson
• Chase Hunter - Clemson
• Ian Schieffelin - Clemson

South regional – Dallas, Texas

South regional final

Related article: Tobacco Road (rivalry)

South regional all-tournament team

• D. J. Burns (MOP) - N.C. State
• DJ Horne - N.C. State
• Jared McCain - Duke
• Jamal Shead - Houston
• Tyler Kolek - Marquette

Midwest regional – Detroit, Michigan

Midwest regional final

Midwest regional all-tournament team

• Zach Edey (MOP) - Purdue
• Braden Smith - Purdue
• Dalton Knecht - Tennessee
• Zakai Zeigler - Tennessee
• Baylor Scheierman - Creighton

Final Four – Glendale, Arizona

National semifinals

National championship

Final Four all-tournament team

• Tristen Newton (MOP) - UConn
• Stephon Castle - UConn
• Donovan Clingan - UConn
• Zach Edey - Purdue
• Cam Spencer - UConn

Source:

Record by conference

Game summaries and tournament notes

Tournament upsets

Per the NCAA, an upset occurs "when the losing team in an NCAA tournament game was seeded at least five seed lines better than the winning team."

The 2024 tournament saw a total of 9 upsets, with seven in the first round, one in the Sweet Sixteen and one in the Elite Eight.

Media coverage

Television

CBS Sports and TNT Sports have US television rights to the tournament. As part of a cycle that began in 2016, TBS televised the 2024 Final Four and the National Championship Game.

This was the first tournament with Ian Eagle as the lead play-by-play announcer.

For the first time since 1997, longtime studio host Greg Gumbel was not part of this year's March Madness coverage due to family health issues.

Beginning this tournament, Max will be streaming all of its games airing on its networks (TNT, TBS and TruTv) on its Bleacher Report Sports Add-On.

CBS will continue to stream all of its games on Paramount+ and for free on March Madness Live.

Television channels

• Selection Show – CBS
• First Four – TruTV
• First and Second Rounds – CBS, TBS, TNT and TruTV
• Regional Semifinals (Sweet 16) and Finals (Elite 8) – CBS, TBS, and TruTV
• National Semifinals (Final Four) and Championship – TBS, TNT, and TruTV

Studio hosts

• Ernie Johnson (New York City and Glendale) – First and second rounds, regionals, Final Four and national championship game
• Adam Lefkoe (Atlanta and Glendale) – First Four, first, second rounds, regional semifinals and Final Four
• Adam Zucker (New York City) – First and second rounds
• Jamie Erdahl – First and second rounds (game breaks)

Studio analysts

• Charles Barkley (New York City and Glendale) – First and second rounds, regionals, Final Four and national championship game
• Seth Davis (Atlanta and Glendale) – First Four, first and second rounds, regional semifinals and Final Four
• Clark Kellogg (New York City and Glendale) – First and second rounds, regionals, Final Four and national championship game
• Candace Parker (Atlanta and Glendale) – First Four, first and second rounds, regional semifinals and Final Four
• Bruce Pearl (Atlanta) – Regional Semifinals
• Kenny Smith (New York City and Glendale) – First and second rounds, regionals, Final Four and national championship game
• Gene Steratore (New York City and Glendale) (Rules Analyst) – First Four, first and second rounds, regionals, Final Four and national championship game
• Wally Szczerbiak (New York City) – Second round
• Jay Wright (Atlanta, New York City and Glendale) – First Four, first and second rounds, regionals, Final Four and national championship game

Broadcast assignments

• Ian Eagle/Bill Raftery/Grant Hill/Tracy Wolfson – First and second rounds at Brooklyn, New York; South Regional at Dallas, Texas; Final Four and National Championship at Glendale, Arizona
• Brian Anderson/Jim Jackson/Allie LaForce – First and second rounds at Charlotte, North Carolina; West Regional at Los Angeles, California
• Kevin Harlan/Dan Bonner/Stan Van Gundy/Andy Katz – First and second rounds at Indianapolis, Indiana; East Regional at Boston, Massachusetts
• Andrew Catalon/Steve Lappas/Evan Washburn – First and second rounds at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Midwest Regional at Detroit, Michigan
• Brad Nessler/Brendan Haywood/Dana Jacobson – First and second rounds at Salt Lake City, Utah
• Spero Dedes/Jim Spanarkel/Jon Rothstein – First Four at Dayton, Ohio; First and second rounds at Memphis, Tennessee
• Lisa Byington/Steve Smith/Robbie Hummel/Lauren Shehadi – First and second rounds at Spokane, Washington
• Tom McCarthy/Debbie Antonelli/Avery Johnson/AJ Ross – First and second rounds at Omaha, Nebraska

Most watched tournament games

(#) Tournament seedings and region in parentheses.

Radio

Westwood One had exclusive coverage of the entire tournament.

International

Internet

Video

Live video of games is available for streaming through the following means:

• NCAA March Madness Live (website and app, CBS games available for free on digital media players; access to all other games requires TV Everywhere authentication through provider)
• Paramount+ (only CBS games)
• Max (only TBS, TNT, and truTV games)
• Watch TBS website and app (only TBS games, required TV Everywhere authentication)
• Watch TNT website and app (only TNT games, required TV Everywhere authentication)
• Watch truTV website and app (only truTV games, required TV Everywhere authentication)
• CBS website and app (only CBS games, required TV Everywhere authentication)
• Websites and apps of cable, satellite, and OTT providers of CBS, TBS, TNT, and truTV (access required subscription)

For the app this year, a multiview which showed all games airing simultaneously was available for the second straight year.

In addition, the March Madness app will offer Fast Break, whiparound coverage of games similar to NFL RedZone on the First weekend of the tournament (First and Second rounds).

• Dave Briggs, Tony Delk, Randolph Childress, Josh Pastner (Atlanta)

Audio

Live audio of games is available for streaming through the following means:

• NCAA March Madness Live (website and app)
• Westwood One Sports website
• TuneIn (website and app, required TuneIn Premium subscription)
• Varsity Network app
• Websites and apps of Westwood One Sports affiliates

The March Madness app also supported Apple CarPlay and Android Auto through a native app.

See also

• 2024 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament
• 2024 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament
• 2024 NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament
• 2024 National Invitation Tournament

Notes

1. Louisville won the tournament the following year as the top overall seed; however, their title later was vacated due to a sex scandal.

References

1. ^ "Future Dates & Sites". NCAA. Retrieved March 30, 2012.
2. Patton, Andy (March 22, 2024). "Disaster performance by SEC in first round of 2024 NCAA Tournament". College Sports Wire. Retrieved April 7, 2024.
3. Collins, Mackenzie (March 23, 2024). "Alabama defeats Charleston 109-96, becomes third SEC team to advance in NCAA tournament". wtvm.com.
4. "March Madness winners and losers: Pac-12 riding high after perfect first round". USA TODAY. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
5. Walker, Teresa (March 25, 2024). "Houston gives top 8 seeds clean sweep to Sweet 16, holding off Aggies 100-95". AP. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
6. Salerno, Cameron (March 17, 2024). "March Madness 2024: Committee reveals official NCAA Tournament bracket seed list from 1-68". CBS Sports. Retrieved March 17, 2024.
7. Horos, Emily; Wolf, Jason (April 8, 2024). "UConn repeats with second men's basketball national title". Arizona Republic. Retrieved April 10, 2024.
8. Wittry, Andy (March 15, 2023). "Here's how to pick March Madness men's upsets, according to the data". NCAA. Archived from the original on March 12, 2023. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
9. Bonesteel, Matt (April 12, 2016). "CBS and Turner Sports lock down NCAA tournament through 2032". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
10. "CBS Sports and TNT Sports Announce 2024 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Commentator Teams | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. March 12, 2024. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
11. Glasspiegel, Ryan (March 12, 2024). "Greg Gumbel missing CBS' March Madness coverage due to 'family health issues'". New York Post. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
12. Roth, Emma (September 19, 2023). "Max will start offering a live sports tier in October". The Verge. Retrieved September 25, 2023.
13. "NCAA men's viewership up slightly through first weekend". March 26, 2024.
14. Lewis, Jon (April 2, 2024). "NC State-Duke hops to five-year high, 15 million, on Easter Sunday". sportsmediawatch.com. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
15. Maiman, Beth (March 8, 2017). "March Madness TV schedule: How to watch and live stream every game in the NCAA men's basketball tournament". NCAA. Archived from the original on March 9, 2017. Retrieved March 9, 2017.
16. Costa, Brandon (March 16, 2023). "March Madness Live Returns with Four-Game Multiview on Desktop; Greater Focus on Discoverability Across Devices". Sports Video Group. Archived from the original on March 17, 2023. Retrieved March 17, 2023.
17. "Roundup: March Madness, Irish Dancing, BMS Science Olympiad ..." 06880. March 18, 2024. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
18. Miller, Chance (March 10, 2023). "NCAA March Madness app will support Live Activities, CarPlay, and more this year". 9to5Mac. Archived from the original on March 17, 2023. Retrieved March 17, 2023.

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