March Madness bracket predictions 2024: Picks for every game, Final Four and more

March Madness bracket predictions: Elite Eight picks

1 UConn vs. 3 Illinois (East Region)

If you don’t respect UConn, you simply haven’t been paying attention this season. They are the best offense in the country and also happen to support a Top 15 defense as well. But March Madness is so often about right place, right time, and I believe Illinois, again, is hitting the right notes there. Terrence Shannon Jr. is a matchup problem for the Huskies while the Illini defense has shown improvement of late. This one would definitely be tight, but there’s a feeling I can’t escape with Illinois how they’re currently playing. 

Pick: Illinois advances

1 North Carolina vs. 2 Arizona (West Region)

Is Caleb Love familiar at all with the Tar Heels? Oh yeah, he knows this UNC team pretty well and had some big moments in March of his own while he was in Chapel Hill. But now at Arizona, this should be a fascinating matchup with two extremely balanced, highly talented, and dangerous teams with playmakers galore. RJ Davis vs. Love, Armando Bacot vs. Oumar Bello and so on should be great, but I trust the depth for North Carolina just slightly more and expect the No. 1 seed to take the region.

Pick: North Carolina advances

1 Houston vs. 10 Colorado (South Region)

Unfortunately for Colorado and how highly I think of the Buffaloes, especially with how things have recently started to fully coalesce, Houston is just a different animal. Kelvin Sampson’s team has a uniquely devastating ability to control the pace and force opponents to make mistakes. The Buffs have a balanced enough attack to not get blown out, surely, but the experience perimeter play and overall team buy-in for Houston is just an animal Colorado isn’t capable of handling for 40 minutes.

Pick: Houston advances

1 Purdue vs. 3 Creighton (Midwest Region)

Zach Edey and Purdue could be on a redemption path a la Virginia in 2018 and 2019, but Creighton is an extremely tough matchup for the Boilermakers. The versatility of Baylor Scheierman can stretch out Purdue in uncomfortable ways and Ryan Kalkbrenner is as good of a matchup as anyone for the likely soon-to-be two-time National Player of the Year. I think Creighton can limit the easy looks for the Boilermakers and, at the end of the day, reel off an upset that punches a Final Four ticket. 

Pick: Creighton advances