Who will advance to the Final Four? Nearly 30 experts give us their NCAA predictions.
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NCAA Tournament preview: Kentucky vs. Oakland
Click below to read more coverage from the Lexington Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com ahead of Kentucky’s NCAA Tournament opener against Oakland University in Pittsburgh on Thursday night.
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Can the Kentucky Wildcats make it back to the Final Four for the first time in nine years?
Will UConn — the No. 1 seed in the entire March Madness field — become the first school since Florida in 2007 to repeat as national champions?
Maybe fellow 1 seeds Houston or Purdue — neither of which has won an NCAA Tournament — will finally break through and claim the trophy on April 8?
Perhaps this year’s tournament will end up like the 2023 version, which was packed with major upsets and featured a 4 seed, two 5 seeds and a 9 seed in the Final Four?
Over the next two and a half weeks, the 2024 NCAA Tournament field will shrink from 68 teams to one national champion. Before the games began, the Herald-Leader asked dozens of reporters who cover college basketball — both in Kentucky and nationally — to predict which teams would advance to the Final Four and who would ultimately cut down the nets in Phoenix.
Here’s what the experts had to say:
John Clay, Herald-Leader: Auburn, Arizona, Purdue and Kentucky
Title game: Purdue over Auburn
Mark Story, Herald-Leader: UConn, Arizona, Creighton and Houston
Title game: UConn over Houston
Ben Roberts, Herald-Leader: UConn, North Carolina, Creighton and Houston
Title game: UConn over Houston
Cameron Drummond, Herald-Leader: UConn, Baylor, Purdue and Marquette
Title game: UConn over Purdue
Darrell Bird, Cats’ Pause: UConn, North Carolina, Creighton and Kentucky
Title game: Kentucky over UConn
Rick Bozich, WDRB: UConn, Arizona, Creighton and Houston
Title game: UConn over Creighton
Jeff Drummond, Cats Illustrated: Iowa State, Baylor, Creighton and Houston
Title game: Houston over Iowa State
Aaron Gershon, Cats’ Pause: UConn, North Carolina, Creighton and Florida
Title game: UConn over Florida
Mark Mathis, Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer: UConn, Arizona, Purdue and Kentucky
Title game: UConn over Purdue
Cole Parke, Kentucky Kernel: UConn, Baylor, Creighton and Houston
Title game: UConn over Creighton
Kyle Tucker, The Athletic: UConn, Arizona, Purdue and Marquette
Title game: UConn over Purdue
Larry Vaught, Vaught’s Views: UConn, Baylor, Purdue and Houston
Title game: UConn over Houston
Nicole Auerbach, The Athletic: UConn, Arizona, Creighton and Marquette
Title game: UConn over Marquette
Rodd Baxley, Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer: UConn, North Carolina, Creighton and Kentucky
Title game: UConn over Kentucky
Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times: UConn, Alabama, Tennessee and Houston
Title game: Houston over UConn
David Borges, New Haven Register: UConn, Baylor, Purdue and Marquette
Title game: UConn over Marquette
Matt Cohen, AL.com: UConn, Arizona, Purdue and Kentucky
Title game: Purdue over UConn
Luke DeCock, Raleigh News & Observer: UConn, Arizona, Creighton and Houston
Title game: Houston over Arizona
Mike DeCourcy, The Sporting News: UConn, Arizona, Tennessee and Kentucky
Title game: UConn over Tennessee
Chris Dortch, Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook: UConn, Arizona, Purdue and Houston
Title game: UConn over Purdue
Tom Hart, SEC Network: Illinois, New Mexico, Tennessee and Kentucky
Title game: Tennessee over Illinois
Bob Holt, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: Auburn, North Carolina, Purdue and Marquette
Title game: Purdue over Auburn
Clark Kellogg, CBS Sports: UConn, North Carolina, Purdue and Kentucky
Title game: UConn over Purdue
Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star: Iowa State, Arizona, Tennessee and Houston
Title game: Houston over Arizona
Jim Meehan, The Spokesman-Review (Wash.): UConn, Arizona, Tennessee and Houston
Title game: UConn over Tennessee
Matt Norlander, CBS Sports: UConn, Saint Mary’s, Creighton and Houston
Title game: UConn over Houston
Jerry Palm, CBS Sports: UConn, Arizona, Purdue and Houston
Title game: Purdue over Arizona
Adam Zagoria, ZagsBlog: UConn, Arizona, Purdue and Houston
Title game: UConn over Houston
This story was originally published March 20, 2024 at 7:00 AM.
