The first two days of the 2024 NCAA Tournament have been exciting in each region of the bracket. Oakland’s thrilling upset of Kentucky in the South region, Duquesne’s upset of BYU in the East region, and Oregon’s double-digit win over a better ranked and seeded South Carolina squad made for a thrilling start to March Madness.
Saturday’s slate of NCAA Tournament games is set with eight matchups spread out over the four regions. Of the eight, here are five that stand out as the best matchups ordered by their starting time:
The road to the Final Four in Glendale, Arizona for the 68 teams in this season’s NCAA men’s tournament will start in four different regions. It’ll take 64 games for the field to be whittled down to the quartet that will reach the final weekend where every team wants to go.
The path for any of the teams will be difficult as March Madness brings the guarantee of upsets, buzzer-beaters and surprising stories. Brackets surely will get busted as some teams will become Cinderella stories and favorites are sent home early.
Men’s college basketball launches fully into March Madness 2024 as the 68-team field for the NCAA Tournament was announced on the Selection Sunday.
UConn, which won the national championship last year, will enter the tournament with an even bigger target as the No. 1 overall seed. The Huskies will play in the East Regional, and they are joined as a top seed by Houston in the South, Purdue in the Midwest and North Carolina in the West.
When is Selection Sunday for 2024 men’s March Madness?
- What: Men’s college basketball selection show
- When: Sunday, March 17
- Time: 6 p.m. ET
- TV: CBS
- Stream: Hulu, Paramount+, YouTube TV, Fubo TV
FOLLOW THE MADNESS: NCAA basketball bracket, scores, schedules, teams and more.
When is Selection Sunday for 2024 women’s March Madness?
- What: Women’s college basketball selection show
- When: Sunday, March 17
- Time: 8 p.m. ET
- TV: ESPN
- Stream: ESPN app
Is ection Sunday a week later than usual?
It does feel that way, but the NCAA Final Four is always held during the first weekend in April, and this year that pushes things to their latest possible dates on the calendar.
Working backward, with the tournament running over three weekends, Selection Sunday falls on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17 – which many basketball fans associate with the tourney’s first weekend.
When does March Madness start?
- First Four: Tuesday, March 19 and Wednesday, March 20
- First round: Thursday, March 21 and Friday, March 22
- Second round: Saturday, March 23 and Sunday, March 24
- Sweet 16: Wednesday, March 28 and Thursday, March 29
- Elite Eight: Saturday, March 30 and Sunday, March 31
- Final Four: Saturday, April 6
- National championship: Monday, April 8 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona
- First Four: Wednesday, March 20 and Thursday, March 21
- First round: Friday, March 22 and Saturday, March 23
- Second round: Sunday, March 24 and Monday, March 25
- Sweet 16: Thursday, March 29 and Friday, March 30
- Elite Eight: Sunday, March 31 and Monday, April 1
- Final Four: Friday, April 5
- National championship: Sunday, April 7 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio
Who won March Madness tournaments last year?
Men: The Connecticut Huskies defeated the San Diego State Aztecs 76-59 at NRG Stadium in Houston.
Women: The LSU Tigers defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes 102-85 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
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While the afternoon wave of games mostly features women’s matchups, the evening skews more toward the men. Either way, it’s going to be another loaded day of NCAA tournament action from start to finish.
Here’s your complete guide for a long day of basketball-watching.
Saturday afternoon
Men’s schedule (all times Eastern)
12:45 p.m. — No. 2 Arizona vs. No. 7 Dayton (CBS)
3:15 p.m. — No. 4 Kansas vs. No. 5 Gonzaga (CBS)
Women’s schedule (all times Eastern)
12 p.m. — No. 6 Tennessee vs. No. 11 Green Bay (ESPN)
1 p.m. — No. 3 UConn vs. No. 14 Jackson State (ABC)
1:30 p.m. — No. 4 Indiana vs. No. 13 Fairfield (ESPN2)
2 p.m. — No. 8 Kansas vs. No. 9 Michigan (ESPNEWS)
2:15 p.m. — No. 2 Notre Dame vs. No. 15 Kent State (ESPN)
2:30 p.m. — No. 3 NC State vs. No. 14 Chattanooga (ESPNU)
3 p.m. — No. 1 Iowa vs. No. 16 Holy Cross (ABC)
3:30 p.m. — No. 6 Syracuse vs. No. 11 Arizona (ESPN2)
4 p.m. — No. 5 Oklahoma vs. No. 12 Florida Gulf Coast (ESPNEWS)
4:30 p.m. — No. 1 USC vs. No. 16 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (ESPN)
4:45 p.m. — No. 7 Ole Miss vs. No. 10 Marquette (ESPNU)
Saturday evening
Men’s schedule (all times Eastern)
5:30 p.m. — No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 9 Michigan State (CBS)
6:10 p.m. — No. 2 Iowa State vs. No. 7 Washington State (TNT)
7:10 p.m. — No. 11 NC State vs. No. 14 Oakland (TBS/TruTV)
8 p.m. — No. 2 Tennessee vs. No. 7 Texas (CBS)
8:40 p.m. — No. 3 Illinois vs. No. 11 Duquesne (TNT)
9:40 p.m. — No. 3 Creighton vs. No. 11 Oregon (TBS/TruTV)
Women’s schedule (all times Eastern)
5:30 p.m. — No. 8 West Virginia vs. No. 9 Princeton (ESPN2)
7 p.m. — No. 7 Creighton vs. No. 10 UNLV (ESPNEWS)
7:30 p.m. — No. 4 Gonzaga vs. No. 13 UC Irvine (ESPN2)
9:30 p.m. — No. 2 UCLA vs. No. 15 California Baptist (ESPN2)
10 p.m. — No. 5 Utah vs. No. 12 South Dakota State (ESPNU)
- Green Bay knocked off Creighton and Washington State in their non-conference schedule with one of the best offenses in the nation. They move the ball well (69.1 assisted shot rate ranks fourth), shoot it well (47.6 FG% ranks 11th) and rarely turn it over (14.3 turnover rate ranks eighth). The Phoenix never broke into the Associated Press poll, but did receive votes. The hot upset pick is showing why early.These two teams are scoring in bunches in the early going. It’s 17-17 with 4 minutes left in the first quarter.
From running open gyms at a prison to the NCAA tournament, a unique style has served Green Bay’s Kevin Borseth well
The Phoenix have a lot of experience and definitely won’t be wide-eyed in this one under head coach Kevin Borseth. The longtime head coach has a unique background that includes running open gyms at a prison.
Crooks led the Cyclones back from a 20-point deficit to knock off No. 10 Maryland 93-86 in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Friday at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, California. The comeback win marked the second-largest comeback in the history of the NCAA women’s tourney.
Texas A&M, which rallied from a 21-point hole in 2017, holds that record. Middle Tennessee rallied from 18 points down earlier on Friday to stun No. 6 Louisville in what was the third-largest comeback in tournament history.
Crooks dropped a career-high 40 points, had 12 rebounds and shot 18 of 20 from the field in the win. She matched Iowa State’s single-game points record for an NCAA tournament game, matched the most points scored by a Big 12 player in a tournament game and set the new school record for field goals made in a tournament game. And, according to ESPN, Crooks is the first player in the past 25 years to drop 40 points while shooting 90% or better from the field.
Maryland came flying out of the gate, and took a 13-point lead after dropping 33 points in the first quarter. The Terps pushed that lead to 20 points briefly before entering halftime up 52-36. Allie Kubek dropped 19 of her 29 points in the first half while shooting a perfect 5 of 5 from behind the arc.
Yet Iowa State slowly cut into that lead. Eventually, Kelsey Joens capped a quick 10-0 burst with a 3-pointer to tie the game. Then after finally pushing ahead slightly in the fourth quarter, the Cyclones ended the game on an 11-4 burst to seal the seven-point win.
Kubek led the Terps with 29 points and five rebounds while shooting 7 of 8 from behind the arc. Shyanne Sellers added 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists, and Faith Masonius finished with 14 points. Maryland had won 18 straight opening-round games at the NCAA tournament before Friday’s loss, which was the fifth-longest streak in the country.
Ryan finished with 18 points and had 14 assists to go with Crooks’ 40 piece. Joens added 12 points off the bench, and Hannah Belanger finished with 10 points. The Cyclones shot nearly 57% from the field as a team and still managed to pull off the win despite committing 17 turnovers.
Despite her big night, Crooks was quick to share credit.