The 2024 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament opened with several upsets in the round of 64, eliminating millions of brackets submitted to major online challenge games.
The NCAA reported Friday that 36,037,683 brackets were submitted across NCAA.com, ESPN, CBS Sports and Yahoo Sports. After Thursday's 16 games on March 21, 15,713 brackets - or 0.044% - remained perfect.[1]
Among the upsets, No. 12 seed James Madison defeated No. 5 Wisconsin 72-61 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The win marked James Madison's first NCAA tournament victory; the Dukes earned an automatic bid as Colonial Athletic Association champions.[1][2][3]
| Matchup | Score | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| No. 12 James Madison def. No. 5 Wisconsin | 72-61 | Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio |
| No. 13 Yale def. No. 4 Auburn | 78-76 (OT) | Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, Spokane, Washington |
| No. 11 N.C. State def. No. 6 Texas Tech | 84-76 (OT) | PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
Yale, Ivy League champions, secured their second career tournament win. N.C. State, an at-large selection, advanced past Texas Tech in overtime.[3]
The single-elimination tournament continues with 16 first-round games on Friday, March 22, followed by second-round play starting March 23. The Final Four is scheduled for April 6 in Glendale, Arizona.[3]
For context, 42,120 brackets survived Thursday in 2023 out of 29,072,105 total, while 1,152 did so in 2021 from 20,593,260.[4][5]
Sources
- NCAA, "2024 NCAA men's Bracket Challenge Game: Perfect brackets after Thursday's first-round games", March 22, 2024, https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2024-03-22/2024-ncaa-mens-bracket-challenge-game-perfect-brackets-after-thursdays-first-round-games
- ESPN, "Wisconsin vs. James Madison (Mar 21, 2024) Final Score", March 21, 2024, https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore/_/gameId/401581425
- NCAA, "2024 NCAA Division I men's basketball bracket", accessed October 2024, https://www.ncaa.com/brackets/basketball-men/d1/2024
- NCAA, "NCAA men's Bracket Challenge Game: 2023 Thursday update", March 17, 2023, https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2023-03-17/ncaa-mens-bracket-challenge-game-2023-update-thursday
- NCAA, "2021 NCAA men's Bracket Challenge Thursday update", March 19, 2021, https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2021-03-19/2021-ncaa-mens-bracket-challenge-thursday-update