View, download and print the 2024 NCAA Tournament bracket

Associated Press
·2 min read

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Defending champion Connecticut, along with Houston, Purdue and UNC-Chapel Hill, are the top seeds in a March Madness bracket that started going haywire even before the pairings came out Sunday.

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Click here for the full 2024 NCAA Tournament bracket (pdf file)

Of the four top seeds, only UConn heads into the tournament coming off a win. That played into the Huskies receiving the No. 1 overall seed. The other three top seeds lost in their conference tournaments.

UNC chosen as a top seed in NCAA Tournament; Duke, NC State in South region

Those were hardly the only surprises over the final weekend of hoops before the sport’s main event hits center stage.

West Region top seed UNC to play in Charlotte on Thursday

Unexpected titles placed teams like Oregon, North Carolina State and even Duquesne, none of whom were projected to make the field, into the field of 68 via the automatic bid that goes to conference champions. The teams they beat gobbled up a handful of the 34 at-large bids, thus shrinking the number of spots available to teams on the so-called bubble.

RELATED: Click here for the full 2024 NCAA Tourament bracket (pdf file)

“It was one of the most difficult that I’ve been involved in,” said Charles McClelland, the chairman of the selection committee. “And I talked to some of the staff that’s been in that room for the last 20 years, and they said this is probably the most difficult selection process that they’ve been a part of.”

The last teams in included Colorado, Virginia and, surprisingly, Boise State, which wasn’t widely considered a bubble team. Those missing out included Oklahoma, St. John’s, Pittsburgh and Indiana State, all of whom were projected by many to make it as recently as Friday.

RELATED: Click here for the full 2024 NCAA Tourament bracket (pdf file)

“Under normal circumstances, with those additional bids, they would’ve been in,” McClelland said of Indiana State.

The tournament starts Tuesday with two First Four games, including a matchup between Virginia and a Colorado State team that few thought was on the bubble. The 32 first-round games take place Thursday and Friday. The Final Four is set for April 6-8 in Glendale, Arizona.

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