2024 NCAA Tournament Bracketology

By Joe Lunardi Updated: 12/5/2023 at 6 a.m. ET

Bracketology is now in its 30th season on ESPN.com. From now until Selection Sunday on March 17, we'll keep you up to date on the postseason chances and projection of your favorite teams. Our brackets update Tuesday during the nonconference schedule before shifting to twice a week -- Tuesday and Friday -- once conference play hits in earnest in January. We culminate with daily updates throughout Championship Week in March, all with an eye toward the 2024 NCAA men's basketball tournament.

Bracket Watch

This week's release of NET rankings by the NCAA gives us bracketologists a reset of the season's first month. But we shouldn't overreact to any metrics at this point. (For example, Princeton, as good as the Tigers have been, isn't going to finish eighth, and conversely, UCLA isn't going to finish 103rd.) The early NET numbers are akin to April batting averages in Major League Baseball: There can be wild swings the same way a light-hitting shortstop can take a .500 average to the plate. The new numbers also overshadow significant wins by the Big 12 versus the Big East in last week's interconference battle. Specifically, Kansas and Houston beating UConn and Xavier lifted both Big 12 teams to the top line in this bracket, while UConn and Marquette are now 2-seeds (and Xavier fell out of the field entirely).

On the Bubble

Last Four Byes

Last Four In

First Four Out

Next Four Out

68-Team Bracket

WEST (LOS ANGELES)

Salt Lake City

Indianapolis

Spokane

EAST (BOSTON)

Omaha

Spokane

Charlotte

Brooklyn

MIDWEST (DETROIT)

Indianapolis

Pittsburgh

Memphis

SOUTH (DALLAS)

Omaha

Pittsburgh

Charlotte

Indianapolis

Conference Breakdown

Conference

Team

Photo illo by ESPN Illustration, additional photos courtesy of Getty Images, Associated Press, Imagn, USA TODAY Sports, Icon Sportswire, EPA/Shutterstock

RULES

ESPN's Bracketology efforts are focused on projecting the NCAA tournament field just as we expect the NCAA Division I basketball committee to select the field in March. ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi uses the same data points favored by the committee, including strength of schedule and other season-long indicators, including the NET and team-sheet data similar to what is available to the NCAA, in his projections of the field. Visit the NCAA's website for a fuller understanding of NCAA selection criteria.

68-Team Bracket

The 68-team bracket is the standard version of the NCAA tournament field that has been in place since 2011. If the 2021 field is comprised of 68 teams, there will be some key differences to past years, however.

The primary adjustment from a normal year is, of course, the playing of the entire NCAA tournament at a single site. This eliminates the need for geographical considerations in seeding. Additionally, there will be at least one fewer automatic qualifier this season, as the Ivy League's decision to forgo the 2020-21 season reduces the number of AQ entries to 31 for this season.

48-Team Bracket

In this projection, a condensed selection process would reduce the field by 10 at-large teams and 10 automatic qualifiers (the latter of which still receive a revenue unit). The top four seeds in each region would receive a bye into the second round, with four first-round games per region - 5 vs. 12, 6 vs. 11, 7 vs. 10 and 8 vs. 9 - being played without fans on the higher seed's home court.

To minimize travel, first-round pairings will be guided by geography to the greatest extent possible. And the reduced field results in only 32 teams competing at the central site. All participants must post a minimum .500 conference record - the "Lunardi Rule" - for at-large consideration.

16-Team Bracket

In this projection, the committee selects and seeds the 16 best available teams. There are no automatic qualifiers, although all non-competing conference champions receive the designated revenue unit.

To maintain some sense of national balance, conference participation is capped at four teams. And no region shall have more than one team from the same conference.

ESPN

Bracket Watch

Top Overall Seed

First Team Out

Last Team In

On the Bubble

Last Four Byes

Last Four In

First Four Out

Next Four Out

68-Team Bracket

WEST (LOS ANGELES)

Salt Lake City

Salt Lake City

Indianapolis

Spokane

EAST (BOSTON)

Omaha

Spokane

Charlotte

Brooklyn

MIDWEST (DETROIT)

Indianapolis

Pittsburgh

Memphis

Memphis

SOUTH (DALLAS)

Omaha

Pittsburgh

Charlotte

Indianapolis

Conference Breakdown

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