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MAIN Sports Basketball NCAA Brackets - 2024 March Madness

College basketball fans will find out which 68 teams participate in the "Big Dance" when they are announced on Selection Sunday, March 17, 2024.

This year's madness kicks off with the First Four games in Dayton on Tuesday, March 14 and Wednesday, March 15 (see March Madness TV schedule, below).

With matches set, the first round begins on Thursday, March 19. The second round kicks off that weekend on Saturday, March 21.

As the teams drill down to the favored few, watch for the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight matchups to happen the week after.

Wrapping it all up are the Final Four games at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona on Saturday, April 6 followed by the championship game on Monday, April 8

2024 March Madness key dates & locations

FIRST FOUR

March 19 and 20
University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio (Host: University of Dayton)

FIRST & SECOND ROUNDS

March 21 and 23
Spectrum Center, Charlotte, North Carolina (Host: University of North Carolina at Charlotte)
CHI Health Center, Omaha, Nebraska (Host: Creighton University)
PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Host: Duquesne University)
Vivint Arena, Salt Lake City, Utah (Host: University of Utah)

March 22 and 24
Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York (Host: Atlantic 10 Conference)
Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana (Host: IUPUI, Horizon League)
FedExForum, Memphis, Tennessee (Host: University of Memphis)
Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, Spokane, Washington (Host: University of Idaho)

SWEET SIXTEEN & ELITE EIGHT

March 28 and 30
East Regional
TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts (Host: Boston College)
West Regional
Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, California (Host: Pepperdine University)

March 29 and 31
South Regional
American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas (Host: Big 12 Conference)
Midwest Regional
Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, Michigan (Host: University of Detroit Mercy, Oakland University)

FINAL FOUR & CHAMPIONSHIP

April 6 and 8
State Farm Stadium, Glendale, Arizona (Host: Arizona State University)

2024 March Madness TV schedule

As usual, the First Four rounds will air on truTV. Sharing first and second round coverage will be CBS, TNT, TBS, and truTV.

Thereafter, the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 rounds will air on TBS and CBS.

Watch for the Final Four (Saturday, April 6) and the Championship game (Monday, April 8) to air exclusively on TBS this year.

Meanwhile, keep it here for complete times and TV channels along with team matchups and final scores for every game of the 2024 Men's NCAA basketball tournament.

March Madness tickets - watching the games live

The initial scramble for March Madness tickets for the first four, second/third round and regional games begins in late summer or fall of the year before.

Meanwhile, scoring tickets to local games means getting ready to pounce as venues are announced in March - whether its smaller college arenas, or mega-venues such as Madison Square Garden in New York City.

FINAL FOUR: For the most sought-after finals, the NCAA annually puts about 40% of allotted Final Four tickets up for grabs in a random selection process the year before. The rest are managed by their official partner, Prime Sport. They provide a safe venue for fans to swap or sell tickets for popular final game tickets. Don't forget that as the tournament heats up, prices can range anywhere from $30 and upwards to $15,000!

BUT BE CAREFUL OUT THERE: As usual, be wary of the unscrupulous ticket seller on Craig's list or any other person looking to score on the frenzy for March Madness tickets. Say no to cash payments and only use a credit card to have record of your purchase and to contest any argument. Pro Tip: Buy from reputable sites like StubHub and TicketsNow which offer guarantees for refunds or exchanges on ticket errors or canceled games.

March Madness trivia & fun facts

The phrase “March Madness” was coined by Henry V. Porter in 1939 to describe an Illinois high school basketball tourney. Brent Musburger first used it during NCAA coverage in 1982 causing a legal battle almost as insane as the playoffs.

But everyone finally worked things out and the madness was official. There isn't a good record of who first called the playoffs "The Big Dance", but it does describe the action.

The 5 schools who have the winningest history in NCAA Division I Men's basketball are:

• UCLA with 11 championships;

• Kentucky who won the March Madness games 7 times;

• Indiana with 5 Big Dance victories;

• North Carolina outlasted all the other teams 4 times, including their championship win in 2005, and

• Duke with 5 titles, the most recent in a nail biter over Wisconsin in 2015.

Although past history is no guarantee in this Cinderella-laced NCAA tournament, number one seeds have won every time in the first round for the past 16 years and number two seeds have only lost three first round games... a 95% win average.

What makes the brackets exciting are the number 13 and 14 seeds who came out winners in the first round 20 times since 1992... a sweet 16% that leads to dreams of glory. Watch for them in your brackets. Also look for teams from smaller conferences or those who had a bad start to the season, but got their game on during the last weeks to pull off an invitation. A power player in a slump or on a injury roster can mean a lower seed for a solid team.

also see -> NBA playoffs | NBA draft

More about March Madness around the Web:

March Madness 2024 NCAA.com - Check out the official site for ticket information, the latest updates, scores, ranking and related pictures, videos, and feature stories, interviews and more.

NCAA Basketball - CBS Sports - Here's headline reports & predictions, opinion and news, plus the latest scores at a glance and key dates for major games.

NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship - Wikipedia's excellent overview of March Madness features tons of stats, facts and incredible depth of trivia answers.