March Madness is here, and the field of 68 is set. It’s time to fill out those brackets, get those first-half unders bets in, and, most importantly, get those upsets right. Picking the right upsets will be good for your betting card and help you win your bracket challenge. Let’s take a look at the 2024 NCAA March Madness Tournament and which teams we should pick for first-round upsets and parlays.
One of everyone’s favorite things about the NCAA Tournament is the upsets. Which team will be this year’s Cinderella? Which team will be the biggest upset? Who will be this year’s Fairleigh Dickenson at 25/1 odds, the No. 16 seed upsetting the No. 1 seed? Last year also saw No. 2 Arizona go down in the first round to Princeton (+750), who turned around and took down No. 7 Missouri in round two (+225).
PRINTABLE PDF OF 2024 MARCH MADNESS BRACKET
SGPN SUBSCRIBER ONLY MARCH MADNESS CONTEST
EAST REGION PREVIEW AND BEST BETS
SOUTH REGION PREVIEW AND BEST BETS
WEST REGION PREVIEW AND BEST BETS
MIDWEST REGION PREVIEW AND BEST BETS
2024 NCAA March Madness Tournament First-Round Upset Picks and Parlays
Oakland (14) Over Kentucky (3) (+725)
It’s been a rough few seasons for the Wildcats in the NCAA Tournament lately. Last season was a round-two exit for Kentucky as they lost to K-State. In 2022, they were victim to St. Peters’ magical run, losing to the No. 15 seed in the first round. The Wildcats were bounced in their first game in the SEC Tournament by No. 7 seed Texas A&M.
Kentucky will have to try to keep Oakland from getting hot from the three-point line. Oakland is led by Horizon League Player of the Year Trey Townsend, who scored 38 in the Golden Grizzlies Horizon League championship game win.
The most dangerous teams are those that can get hot from beyond the arc. If buckets start raining for a team like Oakland, it can spell trouble for this Wildcat team.
UAB (12) Over San Diego State University (5) (+220)
The 12 seed over the five seed is one of the most common upsets in the March Madness Tournament. Per ESPN, 53 times, the No. 12 seed has upset the No. 5 seed for an average of 1.4 per year. Historically, it is more than twice as likely that there will be multiple such upsets (it happened 16 times) than none (six times).
I actually like this San Diego State team as one that could make a run in this March Madness Tournament, as they did last season by making it all the way to the Final Four. They are also on upset alert. The Blazers made a run to the NIT championship game last year where they suffered a close loss.
The Blazers went 20-12-1 ATS this season, so I love taking them at +7 as well. SDSU is only 12-16-1 ATS. If they can’t put away teams, like they haven’t done most of the season, a Blazer might just jump up and bite them.
Morehead State (14) Over Illinois (3) (+550)
The Eagles have been sneaky underdogs this season. In three games, they’ve entered as dogs of +554 or bigger. In two of those three games, the Morehead State Eagles have pulled off the money line upset.
Commandment number eight from Sean Green’s March Madness Commandments article is Thou Shalt Fade Major Conference Tournament winners.
When a team that isn’t supposed to win a big conference tournament like the BIG10 goes on a magical run to win it all, they’ve often blown their wad or won their Super Bowl already.
It took all that work and effort to get to the top and punch that ticket to March Madness. Then they turn around, lay an egg against a feisty team like Morehead State, and end up a bracket buster. I don’t know about you, but when I’m watching this game on Thursday, I’m going to be chanting “More-head, More-head” as I root for this upset.
Oakland (14) + UAB (12) + Morehead (14) (+16540)
I’ll be playing these each separately, of course, but parlaying these three games together gives you a whopping +16540 odds. Can you say DegensOnly?
Throw a little 10$ bet on that, and the return will be $1,664.00. Not a bad day’s work if you can make just three March Madness upset picks correctly.
North Carolina State (11) + Washington State (7) + James Madison (12) + (+1605)
If you are looking for a slightly less risky, smaller money line play, combining these three teams is a nice way to get in on some first-round upsets. NCST takes on Texas Tech. This one departs from the commandment mentioned above, but maybe they can stretch that magic one more game.
Washington State is the higher-seeded team in their matchup against Drake and I made a case for them to win the East Region. James Madison is another 12-seed, again that popular upset seed.
Wisconsin had an impressive tournament run (uh-oh), but their offense was sluggish down the stretch of the regular season. They are a team on upset alert, no doubt. 10$ on this NCAA Tournament upset picks parlay will net you a cool $170.52.
Even More College Basketball Content
SGPN has you covered with all the best college basketball content. Our team of degens, experts, and handicappers have been diving deep to know all the teams in advance of March Madness.
So, who are you going to roll with as we get into the Conference and NCAA Tournaments? Some Johnny-Come-Lately Corporate Gambling Shill, or the Degens.
We are LIVE every night at midnight Eastern, breaking down EVERY SINGLE GAME. Ride with Degen Nation, and SGPN will not let you down.
