2024 NCAA tournament instant bracket -- Jeff Borzello predicts how men's March Madness - ESPN

«Go with your gut.»

It's something you learn as a kid and are expected to carry with you the rest of your life, helping you make important decisions like whether to accept a job or which house to buy or which 12-over-5 upset to pick.

And, yes, it very much applies to NCAA tournament brackets. Every Selection Sunday for 30 years, I've filled out a blank bracket by hand. It used to be the one found in the morning paper, and later it was printed off ESPN.com. Either way, I would fill it out as it's being announced and make my picks right away. No need to tinker, no need to mull.

All the information is in. All the games, all the results, all the statistics, all the data points. Nothing is changing over the next three or four days; why not just go ahead and fill out the bracket?

So that's what we're doing here. A true instant bracket, filled out as the field was being announced. No second-guessing allowed!

SOUTH REGION
No. 10 Colorado 75, No. 10 Boise State 69

Jay Bilas, Jay Williams and Seth Greenberg look at No. 1 seed UConn's task ahead in the East Region of men's NCAA tournament.

FIRST ROUND PICKS
No. 1 UConn 91, No. 16 Stetson 63
No. 8 Florida Atlantic 77, No. 9 Northwestern 71

No. 10 Drake 72, No. 7 Washington State 70
No. 2 Iowa State 76, No. 15 South Dakota State 58

SECOND ROUND PICKS
No. 1 UConn 79, No. 8 Florida Atlantic 68
No. 4 Auburn 66, No. 5 San Diego State 63

No. 3 Illinois 84, No. 6 BYU 76
No. 2 Iowa State 70, No. 10 Drake 62

SWEET 16 PICKS
No. 1 UConn 76, No. 4 Auburn 69

No. 3 Illinois 71, No. 2 Iowa State 69

ELITE 8 PICK
No. 1 UConn 84, No. 3 Illinois 77

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

REGION ANALYSIS: UConn