It’s that time of year again: March Madness is back, and it’s going to be bigger than ever.
The only thing more certain than America signing up to watch is that the entire country is looking for a spot to fill in and compete against its friends.
Don’t worry, Mail Sport is ready with our own downloadable bracket, ready to download and print while you try to get one for your friends.
With the action kicking off on Tuesday, there’s no better time to set up your bracket competitions…
March Madness is just around the corner, so it’s time to fill out and print your brackets
And here’s everything you need to know about the seedlings…
Defending champion UConn earned the No. 1 overall seed for the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
The Huskies excelled again this season, bringing a 31-3 record into this year’s version of March Madness.
UConn opens defense against 16th-seeded Stetson (22-12) on Friday at the home of the Brooklyn Nets in New York.
Houston (30-4) in the South, Purdue (29-4) in the Midwest and North Carolina (27-7) in the West also earned No. 1 seeds.
The No. 2 seeds are Iowa State (27-7) in the East, Marquette (25-9) in the South, Tennessee (24-8) in the Midwest and Arizona (25-8) in the West.
There are 68 teams set to compete in the men’s side of the NCAA Tournament this week
Earning the third seeds were Illinois (26-8) in the East, Kentucky (23-9) in the South, Creighton (23-9) in the Midwest and Baylor (23-10) in the West.
Three of last season’s Final Four teams are in the East region.
San Diego State (24-10), which lost to UConn in the 2023 title game, is the No. 5 seed and will play UAB (23-11) in the first round on Friday in Spokane, Wash.
Florida Atlantic (25-8), which lost to San Diego State in the Final Four, landed the No. 8 seed in the East. The Owls face ninth-seeded Northwestern (21-11) on Friday in Brooklyn.
Miami, last season’s other Final Four team, is not part of this year’s field.
The Big 12 and Southeastern Conference have the most teams in the field, with eight apiece. The Big Ten has six. That includes the Mountain West, which marks its highest number of bids ever. The Atlantic Coast Conference has five teams and the Pac-12 has four in its final season as a bona fide league.
Teams from across the country are celebrating booking their spots at the 2024 March Madness
Colorado State of the Mountain West was the last team to make the 68-team field.
The first four outs were Oklahoma, Seton Hall, Indiana State and Pitt.
In the Midwest, Tennessee opens against 15th-seeded Saint Peter’s on Thursday in Charlotte. The Peacocks (19-13) tore up the brackets in the 2022 tournament as they reached the Elite Eight.
Another intriguing 15-seed is Long Beach State (21-14), which faces Arizona on Thursday in Salt Lake City. The school and 17-year coach Dan Monson announced a mutual separation after the regular season before the Beach went on a run and won the Big West Tournament to claim the NCAA berth.
The tournament begins with the First Four in Dayton, Ohio. Colorado State faces Virginia on Tuesday and Wagner plays Howard. A day later, Colorado faces Boise State and Grambling plays Montana State.