The 2024 NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments begin this weekend and millions of people around the country will be looking to complete that elusive perfect bracket.
Last season, the Cinderella story in the men’s tournament was written by a school from the Northeast Conference, when FDU stunned the nation by knocking out top-seed Purdue in the first round.
During the 2023-24 women’s basketball regular season, Iowa senior guard Caitlyn Clark captured the nation’s attention. She became the all-time leading scorer in NCAA history (men’s and women’s) several weeks ago and is now looking to lead the Hawkeyes to a national title.
So who will bring home the hardware?
“I don’t think anyone is stopping Caitlin Clark,” said junior Communications major Ben Lavelah. “This is her year.”
Senior Nico Nuzzo and junior Shawn Phillips both agree with Lavelah and believe that Clark will lead Iowa Women’s Basketball to the school’s first ever national title. The Hawkeyes finished runner-up in the NCAA Tournament a year ago.
On the men’s side, Connecticut is the defending national champion and the overall No. 1 seed. The Huskies won the Big East Tournament last week and carry momentum into the NCAA bracket.
If the UConn men repeat as national champions, it will mark the first back-to-back national titles on either the men’s or women’s side since the Connecticut women captured four straight crowns from 2013-16.
Junior Adrian Mejia said he is picking the UConn men to repeat, but he also acknowledged that he tends to go with the favorites on his bracket.
Junior Trey McLeer is a big North Carolina fan and will be rooting hard for the Tar Heels who, like UConn, are a No. 1 seed. UNC lost to rival NC State in the ACC championship game last Saturday.
Several higher-seeded teams have made deep runs in the men’s tournament in recent years and Philadelphia native Angelo Luster predicts that Nevada will be the Cinderella story in 2024.
The Wolf Pack are a No. 10 seed.
