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March Madness first round: Dates, times, scores for 2024 NCAA Tournament
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- March Madness first round: Dates, times, scores for 2024 NCAA Tournament
Following the conclusion of the First Four , the traditional 64-team brackets for the NCAA men's and women's basketball tournaments are officially set.
Now it's time to start filling those brackets in.
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One thing that makes March Madness special is the potential for upsets – and there's no better place to find them than in the opening round. The matchups pit the top seeds against the bottom ones in descending order. So the No. 1 seeded team in each region plays the No. 16 seed. The No. 2 team takes on No. 15 and so on.
Only twice in men's NCAA Tournament history has a No. 1 seed lost in the opening round – Virginia in 2018 and last year, when top-seeded Purdue was stunned by Fairleigh Dickinson. On the women's side, it's only happened once, when Harvard knocked off No. 1 Stanford in 1998.
IT'S BRACKET MADNESS: Enter USA TODAY's NCAA tournament bracket contest for a chance at $1 million prize
Zach Edey and top-seeded Purdue were upset in last year's NCAA Tournament by Fairleigh Dickinson.
When is first round for men's March Madness?
The men's NCAA Tournament first round will have 16 games on Thursday, March 21 and 16 more games on Friday, March 22.
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Men's March Madness first round schedule
WEST REGION BRACKET
Thursday in Charlotte
No. 1 North Carolina 90, No. 16 Wagner 62
No. 9 Michigan State 69, No. 8 Mississippi State 51
Friday in Spokane
No. 4 Alabama 109, No. 13 College of Charleston 96
No. 12 Grand Canyon 75, No. 5 Saint Mary's 56
Friday in Memphis
No. 3 Baylor 92, No. 14 Colgate 67
No. 6 Clemson 77, No. 11 New Mexico 56
Thursday in Salt Lake City
No. 2 Arizona 85, No. 15 Long Beach State 65
No. 7 Dayton 63, No. 10 Nevada 60
MIDWEST REGION BRACKET
Friday in Indianapolis
No. 1 Purdue 78, No. 16 Grambling 50
No. 8 Utah State 88, No. 9 TCU 72
Thursday in Salt Lake City
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No. 5 Gonzaga 86, No. 12 McNeese State 65
No. 4 Kansas 93, No. 13 Samford 89
Thursday in Pittsburgh
No. 3 Creighton 77, No. 14 Akron 60
No. 11 Oregon 87, No. 6 South Carolina 73
Thursday in Charlotte
No. 7 Texas 56, No. 10 Colorado State 44
No. 2 Tennessee 83, No. 15 Saint Peter's 49
SOUTH REGION BRACKET
Friday in Memphis
No. 9 Texas A&M 98, No. 8 Nebraska 83
No. 1 Houston 86, No. 16 Longwood 46
Friday in Brooklyn
No. 4 Duke 64, No. 13 Vermont 47
No. 12 James Madison 72, No. 5 Wisconsin 61
Thursday in Pittsburgh
No. 14 Oakland 80, No. 3 Kentucky 76
No. 11 North Carolina State 80, No. 6 Texas Tech 67
Friday in Indianapolis
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No. 2 Marquette 87, No. 15 Western Kentucky 69
No. 10 Colorado 102, No. 7 Florida 100
EAST REGION BRACKET
Friday in Brooklyn
No. 9 Northwestern 77, No 8 Florida Atlantic 65
No. 1 Connecticut 91, No. 16 Stetson 52
Friday in Spokane
No. 5 San Diego State 69, No. 12 Alabama-Birmingham 65
No. 13 Yale 78, No. 4 Auburn 76
Thursday in Omaha
No. 11 Duquesne 71, No. 6 Brigham Young 67
No. 3 Illinois 85, No. 14 Morehead State 69
Thursday in Omaha
No. 2 Iowa State 82, No. 15 South Dakota State 65
No. 7 Washington State 66, No. 10 Drake 61
Men's March Madness first round locations
There are eight regional sites, which will host a total of six games in the first and second rounds.
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Thursday's games will be played in:
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Charlotte, North Carolina
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Omaha, Nebraska
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Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
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Salt Lake City, Utah
Friday's games will be played in:
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Brooklyn, New York
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Memphis, Tennessee
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Indianapolis, Indiana
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Spokane, Washington
How to watch first round for men's March Madness
The men's first round will be broadcast on CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV with the first game of the day on Thursday and Friday starting at 12:15 p.m. ET. Tip-off times will be staggered throughout the day, with the final games slated to begin at 10:05 p.m. ET.
All games will be streamed live on the NCAA's website .
When is first round for women's March Madness?
In one of the iconic moments of last year's NCAA women's tournament, Angel Reese of LSU points to her ring finger as Iowa's Caitlin Clark can only watch during the national championship game. LSU defeated Iowa 102–85.
The women's NCAA Tournment first round will have 16 games on Friday, March 22 and 16 more games on Saturday, March 23.
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Women's March Madness first round locations
The 16 regional sites are the home courts of the tournament's top 16 seeds. They will host a total of four games in the first and second rounds.
Friday's games will be played in:
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Columbia, South Carolina
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Corvallis, Oregon
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Austin, Texas
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Palo Alto, California
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Manhattan, Kansas
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Baton Rouge, Louisiana
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Blacksburg, Virginia
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Columbus, Ohio
Saturday's games will be played in:
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Bloomington, Indiana
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South Bend, Indiana
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Spokane, Washington
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Raleigh, North Carolina
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Iowa City, Iowa
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Los Angeles, California (UCLA)
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Los Angeles, California (USC)
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Storrs, Connecticut
How to watch first round for women's March Madness
Women's NCAA Tournament games will be broadcast on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPNews with the first game of the day on Friday and Saturday starting at 11:30 a.m. ET. Tip-off times will be staggered throughout the day, with the final games slated to begin at 10:30 p.m. ET..
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All games will be streamed live on ESPN Plus .
Women's March Madness first round schedule
ALBANY 1 REGION BRACKET
ALBANY 2 REGION BRACKET
PORTLAND 3 REGION BRACKET
PORTLAND 4 REGION BRACKET
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: March Madness first round: When, where, how to watch NCAA Tournament
