[gambcom-standard rankid=”3011″ ]
The 2024 NCAA Tournament is here, and Field of 64 begins to pare down to 32 teams Thursday into Friday at 8 different venues across the country. The madness is here, and it’s time to make some money as we move closer to crowning a champion.
You might have already filled out your brackets, but USA TODAY has another unique NCAA Tournament contest in which you can win $2,500.
Can you survive? USA TODAY Sports’ Men and Women’s Basketball Tournament Survivor Pools are here with a $2,500 prize for each contest! Free to enter, 21+. Terms apply, void where prohibited by law. See Official Rules. Play now!
As an employee, I’m not eligible to win, but there’s no rule against me helping you win $2.5K.
Here is my strategy of how to win the Men’s Basketball Tournament Survivor Pool.
Each round, you’ll pick a set number of teams. For the 1st round, you have to pick 3 teams to simply win their games — no spread involved. If one of your teams loses, you’re eliminated. However, once you select a team, similar to an NFL survivor pool, you can’t use that team again.
In the 2nd round, you must pick 2 teams to win outright. After that, you have to pick 1 team per round — in the Sweet 16, the Elite 8, the Final Four and the championship game.
Another tricky rule is that you earn points based on the seed number of your winning team. Successfully pick a No. 12 seed to knock off a 5 seed, and you get 12 points. Pick a No. 1 seed and you only get 1 point if it wins.
Starting with the 1st round, I’m not going to worry about points. My goal is to survive and advance. There are often too many upsets and I’m not going to take that risk of getting knocked out on Day 1.
Let’s treat this as a short marathon, not a 60-yard dash. We’ll earn our points in the later rounds.
[gambcom-standard rankid=”3012″ ]
First-round picks
PICK 1: SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS (26-7)
Who they play: Oregon Ducks (23-11)
When: Thursday, 4 p.m. ET (TNT)
Where: PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh
The 6th-seeded Gamecocks are a battle-tested bunch, rattling off 6 Q1 wins this season, including victories over top-10 teams Kentucky and Tennessee.
South Carolina never really had a bad loss this season, and it uses a combination of methodical, careful offense and lockdown defense to get the job done. If the Gamecocks have an Achilles’ heel, it’s guarding against the 3-pointer, allowing teams to hit at a 33.4% clip in the regular season.
However, the 11th-seed Ducks were super inconsistent. While Oregon caught fire in the Pac-12 Tournament, topping UCLA, Arizona and Colorado, it actually had a losing record in its final 15 regular-season games, going 7-8 straight up (SU).
Oregon isn’t a very good 3-point shooting team, hitting at just a 34.7% clip, so it won’t be able to take advantage of South Carolina’s soft spot. Plus, the Ducks are horrific on defense, especially in the interior, allowing opponents to hit 45.7% from the field, and 35.1% from behind the 3-point line.
THE BRACKETS ARE BACK! The USA TODAY Sports Bracket Challenge is back! $1 MILLION grand prize for a perfect bracket, $25,000 prize for top bracket. Free to enter, 21+. Terms apply, void where prohibited by law. See Official Rules. Play now!
PICK 2: GONZAGA BULLDOGS (25-7)
Who they play: McNeese Cowboys (30-3)
When: Thursday, 7:25 p.m. ET (TBS)
Where: Delta Center, Salt Lake City
Traditionally, a 12 vs. 5 matchup in the 1st round of the NCAA Tournament has been the sexy pick for an upset by amateur bracket players.
This season, 12th-seeded McNeese has been the team a lot of people have been touting as the upset special, even though most fans haven’t even seen the Cowboys play and are just taking the word of a lot of talking heads.
No offense to the Cowboys, who won 30 games, but they had a single Quad 1 game, beating VCU in the opener way back on Nov. 6. They did beat UAB on the road for a Q2 win, while also topping Michigan, the worst team in the Big Ten. Other than that, it’s hard to figure what exactly people are seeing about McNeese.
Gonzaga was having some issues around the holidays, falling in marquee games against UConn and San Diego State. This Zags just weren’t hitting on all cylinders. But they topped Kentucky, they topped Saint Mary’s, and they got their act together down the stretch.
Remember, this contest doesn’t require our picks to cover the spread. We simply just need Gonzaga to advance, and the Zags will do just that in their NCAA opener.
Stream select live college basketball games and full replays: Get ESPN+
PICK 3: AUBURN TIGERS (27-7)
Who they play: Yale (22-9)
When: Friday, 4:15 p.m. ET (TNT)
Where: Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, Spokane, Wash.
The 4th-seeded Tigers won the SEC Tournament, picking up a 31-point win (86-55) over South Carolina, a 7-point win (73-66) over Mississippi State, and a 19-point win (86-67) over Florida in the title game. All 3 victories came against NCAA Tournament teams, and all 3 wins were impressive. The Tigers are a team on an absolute roll.
The Bulldogs, on the other hand, are playing with house money. If you watched the Ivy League Championship Game, you know Brown lost; Yale didn’t win it. Well, it did, with a last-second shot, but it should never have come to that. Brown had a chance to ice it, or at least make things extremely difficult, but missed free throws, turnovers and bad defense turned an NCAA Tournament bid into a title game loss. Yale hit a buzzer beater in the paint, and that’s why it is here.
It would be unfair to say Yale has no shot, because then why play the games? Last season’s NCAA Tournament should serve as a cautionary tale that anything can truly happen. But the Ivy League representative is smallish, and it will be going up against a Tigers team playing with a ton of confidence.
All right. Let’s get these 3 wins, rack up a few points and then make sure to check back before Round 2 for our next winning picks. Play now!
[gambcom-standard rankid=”5″ ]
For more sports betting picks and tips, check out SportsbookWire.com and BetFTW.
Follow Kevin J. Erickson on Twitter. Follow SportsbookWire on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
College sports coverage from USA TODAY Sports Media Group:
Alabama / Arkansas / Auburn / Clemson / Colorado / Florida / Georgia / Iowa / LSU / Michigan / Michigan State / Nebraska / North Carolina / Notre Dame / Ohio State / Oklahoma / Oregon / Penn State / Rutgers / Tennessee / Texas / Texas A&M / USC / Wisconsin /
College Sports Wire: Men’s hoops / Women’s hoops / High School
[lawrence-newsletter]
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1667]