NCAA Tournament 2024 Sweet Sixteen Betting Preview And Matchups

March Madness has played to more form as just one longshot has made the Sweet Sixteen. All four No. 1 seeds and No. 2 seeds have advanced to the Sweet Sixteen in the 2024 NCAA Tournament – No. 1 Connecticut and North Carolina and No. 2 Iowa State and Arizona in the East and West Regions, and No. 1 Houston and Purdue along with No. 2 Marquette and Tennessee in the South and Midwest regions.

I provide more Sweet 16 matchups, betting lines, picks and updated NCAA men’s basketball championship odds in my NCAA Tournament coverage in Forbes.

I add more Sweet Sixteen coverage in OSGA, along with tips and trends with top teams stats and scoring margins.

Last year I was featured in CBS News for Sweet Sixteen and NCAA Tournament betting coverage.

Check out all the coverage for additional details, updates and information you can bet on. That includes some of the bets I made ahead of the Sweet Sixteen.

NCAA Tournament – Updated Bracket, Schedules and Scores

Sweet Sixteen Match-ups and Odds

Betting lines, odds and over/under game totals by region courtesy of Circa Sportsbook. Odds are subject to change. All times Eastern. 

Thursday, March 28

East

• No. 1 Connecticut (-1) vs. No. 5 San Diego State | Total 135.5 | 7:40 p.m. | TBS
• No. 2 Iowa State (-1.5) vs. No. 3 Illinois | Total 146 | 10:10 p.m. | TBS

West

• No. 1 North Carolina (-4.5) vs. No. 4 Alabama | Total 173.5 | 9:40 p.m. | CBS
• No. 2 Arizona (-7.5) vs. No. 6 Clemson | Total 152 | 7:10 p.m. | CBS

UCONN opened -9.5
Iowa State opened -2.5
Arizona opened -6.5

Illinois, Alabama and San Diego State are still alive from the East and West regions No. 3-5 seeds.

Friday, March 29

South

• No. 1 Houston (-4) vs. No. 4 Duke | Total 134.5 | 9:40 p.m. | CBS
• No. 2 Marquette (-6.5) vs. No. 11 NC State | Total 151 | 7:10 p.m. | CBS

Midwest

• No. 1 Purdue (-5.5) vs No. 5 Gonzaga | Total 154.5 | 7:40 p.m. | TBS
• No. 2 Tennessee (-3) vs. No. 3 Creighton | Total 143.5 | 10:10 p.m. | TBS

Houston opened -3.5
Marquette opened -7.5
Purdue opened -4.5
Tennessee opened -2.5

Duke, Creighton and Gonzaga are still dancing from the South and Midwest regions 3-5 seeds.

Stay tuned for more NCAA Tournament game coverage and information you can bet on.

Sweet Sixteen Picks

Early picks and opinions were on Alabama (+4.5), Purdue (-4.5) and Arizona/Clemson under game total.

Saturday, March 30 (Elite 8)

• TBD vs. TBD live stream | 6 p.m. | TBS
• TBD vs TBD | 8:30 p.m. | TBS

Sunday, March 31 (Elite 8)

• TBD vs TBD | 2 p.m. | CBS
• TBD vs TBD | 5 p.m. | CBS

No. 1 Seeds

No. 1 seeds are now 89-27 SU in the Sweet 16 (1-4 SU/0-5 ATS last 2 years). That includes 74-27 SU vs. teams seeded #4 or #5 (1-4 SU/0-5 ATS last 2 years). Until 2015, #1 seeds were getting bounced out of this round going back to 2010, but in the last eight editions (not including 2020 with no tournament) #1 seeds are #1 seeds are 19-5 SU (0-2 last year) and 14-10 ATS (0-2 last year) in the Sweet Sixteen. That included a 10-0 SU and 9-1 ATS run from 2015-2017 (or 9-0-1 as Gonzaga line closed 3 in 2017).

Scoring Margin

Check out more NCAA Tournament coverage in OSGA where I provide how to use the scoring margin for select picks.

• No. 1 Connecticut (+17.7)
• No. 1 Houston (+16.4)
• No. 1 Purdue (+14.4)
• No. 1 North Carolina (+11.8)
• No. 2 Arizona (+15.7)
• No. 2 Iowa State  (+14.3)
• No. 2 Tennessee (+12.0)
• No. 2 Marquette (+8.7)
• No. 3 Illinois (+11.2)
• No. 3 Creighton (+11.1)
• No. 4 Duke (+13.3)
• No. 4 Alabama (+9.8)
• No. 5 Gonzaga (+14.7)
• No. 5 San Diego State (+7.4)
• No. 6 Clemson (+6.6)
• No. 11 NC State (+4.0)

Included are stat profiles and noting that 19 of the last 20 National Champions have finished in the Top 20 in Ken Pom’s offensive and defensive adjusted efficiency rankings.

• Connecticut (2, 11 off/def)
• Houston (15, 1)
• Arizona (9, 9)
• Purdue (3, 16)
• North Carolina (17, 6)
• Marquette (19, 20)

Close:

• Duke (8,22)
• Tennessee (30, 3)
• Creighton (11, 23)

Houston, UCONN, Purdue and Arizona are also the four teams rated 1-4 in the current NET rankings.

I’ll try to update more ahead of the Elite Eight.