March Madness bracket predictions: Final Four picks and odds for the 2024 NCAA Tournament

The 2024 men’s NCAA Tournament is down to the final weekend of action. Saturday’s Final Four games will set the opponents for the national championship game April 8.

This year’s Final Four includes two No. 1 seeds – the Purdue Boilermakers and UConn Huskies – as well as a No. 4 seed in the Alabama Crimson Tide and the No. 11 seed NC State Wolfpack. This year marks the second time in the last four years in which a No. 11 seed’s made the Final Four, as UCLA did so in 2021.

The Huskies have a chance to repeat as NCAA Tournament champions and become the first program since Florida in 2006-07 to do so. But will they be the first team in seven years to make consecutive national championship games? Here’s what experts are predicting:

2024 Men’s Final Four: Purdue-NC State predictions roundup

Detroit Free Press: Purdue 79, NC State 69

Tony Garcia says: “NC State is on an absolutely incredible run. A team that would’ve missed the tournament, it became the first to win five games in five days in the ACC tournament to earn an automatic berth. Then, it upset 6-seed Texas Tech and outlasted red-hot 14-seed Oakland in overtime. The Wolfpack then easily beat 2-seed Marquette, before dispatching conference foe and in-state rival Duke to go to the Final Four. Its a memorable stretch, much like that of coach Jim Valvano’s 1983 national championship team, but it doesn’t end with the same Disney finish.”

Bleacher Report: Purdue 85, NC State 68

Kerry Miller writes: “In all likelihood, though, this is where the incredible run ends for NC State, with DJ Burns Jr. unable to get anything going in the paint against Edey, and with the Wolfpack’s three-point defense regressing to the mean against an excellent perimeter attack.”

Action Network: NC State +9.5

Staff say: “All of this is a long-winded way of saying I think 9.5 points is too many. This is not some mid-major Cinderella that will be overmatched talent-wise on the sport’s biggest stage. The Wolfpack will certainly put up a fight in Phoenix,…

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Author : USA TODAY Sports

Publish date : 2024-04-03 02:42:47

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