2024 March Madness bracket facts for men's NCAA tournament - ESPN

Welcome to March Madness. As you prepare to fill out your 2024 men's NCAA tournament brackets — might I suggest ESPN Tournament Challenge, where you can submit up to 25? — we have a boatload of facts and trends for you to sink your teeth into.

It's been such an exciting season, one in which we saw top-10 teams lose to unranked opponents at a record rate. Now that the Big Dance is here, why should we expect the upsets to stop?

Complete your bracket by selecting the winner for each game of the 2024 men's NCAA tournament. Play Men's Tournament Challenge

The usual disclaimer applies: This column is designed to inform and entertain, not to predict. You will hear from many ESPN personalities throughout the week, but this piece is all about historical nuggets we hope you will find interesting.

Note: Unless otherwise noted, all stats referenced are since 1985 (also called the «modern era» throughout the column). In addition, any historical reference to the «first round» relates to the round of 64, and «second round» to the round of 32. The First Four stands on its own to avoid confusion. Lastly, all results mentioned ignore any subsequent vacating by the NCAA. For example, we consider Louisville the winner of the 2013 national championship game, even though its appearance has been vacated.

1. In 11 of the 12 tournaments when the First Four has existed, at least one of its participants has advanced to the second round.

Two have advanced to the Final Four (UCLA in 2021 and VCU in 2011)

Three others reached the Sweet 16

2023 marked the first time that two First Four participants reached the second round (11-seed Pittsburgh, 16-seed FDU)

2. Not only has a No. 15 seed won a first-round game in three consecutive years for the first