March Madness is just two weeks away, and as a super fan, I couldn’t be more excited! The NCAA Tournament is the Superbowl of College Basketball and is known for bringing upsets, rivalries, and buzzer-beaters before crowning a champion. If you’ve never heard of March Madness or cared about college basketball, this year’s tournament will surely change that.
Last year’s Men’s Championship game drew in about 15 million viewers, but if two powerhouse teams make it to the Finals, even more people are expected to tune in. On the other hand, the Women’s Championship game had an all-time high of 12.6 million viewers. This year is expected to be no different with Caitlin Clark of Iowa ending her college career after this season. She’s just surpassed Hall of Famer Pete Maravich for the most points scored in a college career by a man or woman.
Legalized Sports Betting
This year’s tournament is different because six more states, including Florida, have legalized sports betting. Hard Rock Bet, Florida’s only legal sportsbook, promotes hundreds of prop bets and parlays that will likely bring a new level of excitement to March Madness.
If you’re in town, I highly recommend checking out the Sports Bar at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. The Sports Bar features a massive wall of LED TVs providing 360 degrees of live sports action, perfect for watching the first two rounds of the tournament.
Join a Bracket Pool
If you’re not big into gambling, don’t worry, I’ve got you. ESPN and CBS Sports are a couple of sites that make it easy to set up or join a Pool. Compete against friends, family, and colleagues as a great way to break the ice with people at the office or with your daughter’s new boyfriend.
You don’t need to know a thing about college basketball to be a winner. In fact, I find the more knowledge I have, the worse I do each year in selecting the winners for each game. For instance, my mother who likes to choose bracket picks based on mascots has done better than I have.
Don’t believe me, ask Warren Buffet. In 2014 the legendary investor offered 1 billion dollars to whoever could predict a perfect bracket. No super computer or basketball guru has ever been able to do so. The odds of selecting the correct winner for all 67 games is one in more than 147 quintillion. Like every other year though, I like to think this will be my year.
March Madness 2024 TV Schedule
Here’s the schedule for the 2024 men’s tournament:
- Selection Sunday: 6 p.m. ET Sunday, March 17 on CBS
- First Four: March 19-20; truTV
- First round: March 21-22; CBS, TNT, TBS, and truTV
- Second round: March 23-24; ; CBS, TNT, TBS, and truTV
- Sweet 16: March 28-29; TBS & CBS
- Elite Eight: March 30-31; TBS & CBS
- Final Four: April 6 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona; TBS
- NCAA championship game: April 8 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona; TBS
Here’s the schedule for the 2024 women’s tournament:
- Selection Sunday: 8 p.m. ET Sunday, March 17 on ESPN
- First Four: March 20-21
- First round: March 22-23
- Second round: March 24-25
- Sweet 16: March 29-30
- Elite Eight: March 31-April 1
- Final Four: Friday, April 5 at 7:30 and 9 p.m. ET on ESPN, hosted at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio
- NCAA championship game: Sunday, April 7 at 3 p.m. ET on ABC, hosted at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio
Full disclosure: The Hard Rock has a promotion going on. If you join Hard Rock Bet with this link, we both get a Bonus Bet up to $50.