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The 2024 NCAA Tournament has been pared down to the Final Four. Only 68 entries in USA TODAY’s NCAA Men’s Tournament Survivor Pool contest remain out of the 7,821 who signed up.
The Final Four will be played Saturday at State Farm Arena in Glendale, Ariz. Surprising 11th seed NC State Wolfpack and fan favorite F DJ Burns Jr. take on the top-seeded Purdue Boilermakers and behemoth C Zach Edey in the opener at 6:09 p.m. ET.
In the nightcap, the 4th-seeded Alabama Crimson Tide will square off with the defending national champions and No. 1 seed UConn Huskies. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:49 p.m. ET. Both games will be on TBS.
I was bumped out of the Survivor Pool in the 1st round with upsets by 11th-seeded Oregon and 13th-seeded Yale. They knocked out my 2 SEC picks of No. 6 seed South Carolina and No. 4 seed Auburn, respectively.
Though unofficially eliminated — I couldn’t win as an employee anyway, but my goal was to steer you in the right direction for the $2.5K first prize — I continued to offer out picks.
I bounced back in Round 2 with NC State (for 11 points) and No. 5 seed San Diego State (5 points). In the Sweet 16, I scored with Illinois (3 points). In the Elite 8, Alabama (4 points) was a winner for me.
Here’s my strategy of how to advance in the Final Four and eventually win the Men’s Basketball Tournament Survivor Pool.
Remaining entries are required to pick 1 winner out of Saturday’s semifinals and then the winner of the National Championship Game — if they still have an eligible team to select.
Points are earned equal to your winning teams’ seeds. At this point, there actually aren’t many points available in the Final Four and championship game, especially if you’ve already used NC State in a previous round.
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Final Four pick
PICK: PURDUE BOILERMAKERS (33-4)
Who they play: NC State Wolfpack (26-14)
I’ve already used both NC State and Alabama, so my strategy is to play Purdue, hope UConn gets the job done in the other game, and then play the Huskies against the Boilermakers in the title game Monday.
If the Tide beat the Boilermakers, I won’t have a team left to play in the championship and I’ll be eliminated (again).
The Boilermakers got the job done against Tennessee 72-68 in the Elite 8, hitting 45.3% (24-of-53). That made up for the fact Purdue hit just 20% (3-of-15) from behind the 3-point line, and a dismal 63.6% (21-of-33) from the free-throw line. That simply won’t do against a red-hot NC State team playing with house money.
Edey was a one-man wrecking crew, posting 40 points with 16 rebounds and a blocked shot. He got to the free-throw line 22 times, hitting 14 of those attempts. With 40 of his team’s 72 points, Edey was good for 55.6% of the team’s offensive production.
NC State beat Duke 76-64 in the Elite 8 for the biggest stakes yet in that ACC rivalry. Burns continues to be a star, going for 29 points — on 13-of-19 shooting — with 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks. G D.J. Horne ended up with 20 points, while G Michael O’Connell pulled down 11 boards with 6 assists and 6 points.
It’s been an amazing run, as the Wolfpack have partied like it’s 1983, but all good things come to an end. The Boilermakers were dumped by a 16 seed last season, and appear to be motivated to go from rock bottom to the cusp of a championship — just like Virginia did in 2019 after losing to a 16 seed the year before.
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