March Madness 2024: Viewer’s Guide Day one, Round one of men’s NCAA Tournament action
It’s finally time for the men’s NCAA tournament to kick off. Mackenzie Salmon highlights her games to watch on the first day of round one action.
Men’s March Madness tips off Thursday with 16 first-round games. We have more than 12 hours of hoops on deck, highlighed by top-seeded UNC taking on Wagner in the afternoon. Although the other three top seeds aren’t in action unti Friday, today’s slate includes No. 2 seeds Iowa State, Arizona and Tennessee.
Men’s NCAA tournament games are airing and streaming across CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV. USA TODAY Sports will provide the latest news, scores, analysis and more all day. Follow along.
Thursday’s action kicks off with No. 8 Mississippi State taking on No. 9 Michigan State at 12:15 p.m. ET on CBS. The game is at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte.
You don’t have much time left to fill out your bracket before Thursday’s games get rolling. Need a printed bracket? Here you go.
ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas is never shy about challenging conventional wisdom whenever he’s in front of a microphone.
His 2024 NCAA men’s basketball tournament picks, however, don’t stray too far from the norm. In his annual ESPN.com column, Bilas has three No. 1 seeds – Connecticut, Houston and Purdue – reaching the Final Four, along with No. 2 seeded Arizona. And he has the defending champion UConn Huskies cutting down the nets once again in Phoenix.
One of the biggest questions surrounding March Madness every year is: Where on earth can I find truTV on my television? CBS and Turner Sports have the broadcasting rights to the men’s NCAA Tournament, and they broadcast the games on four channels. Three of them are familiar to fans – CBS, TNT and TBS. But truTV is the one exception.
TruTV can be found on several cable providers, and has the same channel number nationwide on some of the providers. Here are the channels:
AT&T U-Verse: 164/1164
FIOS: 183/683
Cox: Varies by location
DISH: 242
DirecTV: 246
Spectrum: Varies by location
Xfinity: Varies by location
TruTV is also available to stream on YouTube TV, iOS App Store, Google Play, Amazon App Store, Chromecast, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku and Android TV.
Our aim here is to attempt to identify the true first-round upset candidates in the men’s tourney field seeded 11th or lower. There are usually a few, but finding the right ones isn’t always easy. (Full disclosure: we went 0-for-5 in this space last year – but we press on.) Here are five upset candidates to consider as you fill out your bracket.
No Jim Nantz? No “hello, friends”? As the men’s NCAA Tournament begins, fans may be wondering about the voice synonymous with one of the most popular events in college sports.
Nantz decided the 2023 NCAA Tournament would be his last so he could focus on his family and other broadcasting commitments. Nantz didn’t retire from broadcasting; he’s still calling The Masters and serves as the lead play-by-play person for CBS’ NFL coverage alongside Tony Romo.
Nantz became the lead voice for CBS’ coverage of the NCAA Tournament in 1991, serving as the No. 1 play-by-play man who called every Final Four since. But this year, you will likely only see and hear Nantz during commercial breaks.
The NCAA men’s tournament is all about chaos and unpredictability. There are sure to be upsets And if there was one lesson to learn from last season’s edition, it’s that nothing is guaranteed and anything can happen. We saw the second No. 16 seed win over a No. 1 seed in tournament history and no No. 1 seeds made it to the Elite Eight. These predictions may sound crazy − and it’s very unlikely they all are correct − but with the unexpected nature of the tournament, who’s to say they can’t happen? Here are bold predictions.
Here is the complete scoreboard for Thursday’s first-round games.
Here is Thursday’s full schedule.
- No. 1 UNC vs. No. 16 Wagner, 2:45 p.m. ET on CBS
- No. 2 Iowa State vs. No. 15 South Dakota State, 7:35 p.m. ET on truTV
- No. 2 Arizona vs. No. 15 Long Beach State, 2 p.m. ET on TBS
- No. 2 Tennessee vs. No. 15 Saint Peter’s, 9:20 p.m. ET on TNT
- No. 3 Kentucky vs. No. 14 Oakland, 7:10 p.m. ET on CBS
- No. 3 Creighton vs. No. 14 Akron, 1:30 p.m. ET on TNT
- No. 3 Illinois vs. No. 14 Morehead State, 3:10 p.m. ET on truTV
- No. 4 Kansas vs. No. 13 Samford, 9:55 p.m. ET on TBS
- No. 5 Gonzaga vs. No. 12 McNeese State, 7:25 p.m. ET on TBS
- No. 6 Texas Tech vs. No. 11 North Carolina State, 9:40 p.m. ET on CBS
- No. 6 BYU vs. No. 11 Duquesne, 12:40 p.m. ET on truTV
- No. 6 South Carolina vs. No. 11 Oregon, 4 p.m. ET on TNT
- No. 7 Dayton vs. No. 10 Nevada, 4:30 p.m. ET on TBS
- No. 7 Texas vs. Colorado State, 6:50 p.m. ET on TNT
- No. 7 Washington State vs. No. 10 Drake, 10:05 p.m. ET on truTV
- No. 8 Mississippi State vs. No. 9 Michigan State, 12:15 p.m. ET on CBS
CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV will air first- and second-round games. CBS and TBS will air Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games. CBS will air the men’s Final Four and championship game.
You can catch every second by streaming every game through a few different options. All games will be broadcast across CBS, TBS, TNT and TruTV, but here are additional streaming options to watch all the action on your devices.
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The experts have dissected the men’s NCAA Tournament bracket, providing sleepers, Final Four matchups and upset predictions. Your chances of filling out a perfect bracket are miniscule, but maybe you need a few tips to win your office pool. We’ve got you covered with a look at how to pick an upset and a look historically at how the seeds have performed in the NCAA Tournament. Three of our five USA TODAY experts have UConn as their picks to win the national title on April 8. Here are our expert picks.
As Americans cast their ballots in presidential primaries and special elections across the country, they’re also predicting winners on the basketball court. President Joe Biden released his brackets for the NCAA men and women’s basketball tournaments too, and before March Madness picks up steam, let’s take a look at his predictions.
Biden chose a group of highly rated teams for his Final Four, picking UConn, North Carolina, Houston and Tennessee. The president predicted that UConn will defeat North Carolina, while Houston will beat Tennessee, with UConn ultimately winning the men’s tournament. In the women’s championship, Biden selected South Carolina, Stanford, UCLA and UConn to make it to the Final Four. The president forecast that South Carolina would defeat Stanford, and UConn would defeat UCLA, choosing South Carolina as his champion.
Vice President Kamala Harris released her picks on Wednesday. On the women’s side, Harris took the South Carolina Gamecocks over the USC Trojans in the final. The bracket features a notable upset pick in the Elite Eight as the former junior Senator from California took the UCLA Bruins over all-time leading NCAA scorer Caitlin Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes.
In the men’s tournament, the Vice President has a Final Four of UConn, North Carolina, Marquette and Tennessee. Harris took UConn over Tennessee in the final, picking the Huskies to defend their 2023 crown.
Former President Barack Obama also shared his brackets. He gave UConn, Baylor, Kentucky and Purdue his Final Four men’s spots, ultimately choosing UConn to win it all. In the women’s tournament, Obama selected South Carolina, Southern California, Iowa and Stanford for the Final Four, choosing South Carolina as the champion.
One of the hottest teams the last few weeks, Colorado needed every late-season win to make the tournament. Wednesday’s win was Colorado’s ninth in its last 10 games. Can the Buffaloes keep it rolling and make a run deep into March Madness?
Boise State is now 0-10 in March Madness play.
Head coach Tad Boyle credited his team’s defense on getting the win, despite Boise State getting a whopping 19 offensive rebounds.
“We really started playing tougher on the glass. Boise State’s a physical team, they keep coming at you, and we made just enough plays down the stretch. I thought our defense was great all night, our guys were locked in,” Boyle said.
How about not only making your first NCAA Tournament, but getting the team’s first March Madness win?
The Grambling State Tigers used a second-half rally to force overtime and defeat Montana State in the First Four, 88-81, in its first-ever NCAA Tournament game and secure a date with No. 1 seed Purdue on Friday.
The win continued what has been a dream season for Donte Jackson’s squad, getting through a tough start of the regular season to its best year in school history. The team was led by Jimel Cofer, who came off the bench and scored a season-high 19 points to lead Grambling State to the historic victory.
“I just know my team has my back. Anybody on this team can get hot, and today was just my night,” Cofer said after the win.
