It’s Selection Sunday! – March 17

At 6:00 p.m. ET, the 68 teams that will make up the NCAA tournament bracket will be announced. It is Selection Sunday, baby! The 2023-24 college basketball season began back in November. If anyone remembers, the preseason AP No. 1-ranked team was Kansas. Now, the Jayhawks (22-9) are ranked No. 16, didn’t win the Big 12, and will limp into March Madness with their top two scorers injured.

But, that’s the beauty of the tournament. It’s also the draw of Selection Sunday. There are teams out there that are definitely in the tourney. Five more automatic bids will be determined today in five conference championship games today. The ACC tournament, among several others, finished last night with a story worthy of March Madness.

NC State, the No. 10 seed in the ACC tournament, made its way to the conference title game last night. The Wolfpack capped off an unbelievable run through the tourney, beating top seed North Carolina 84-76 last night to earn the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. That will make Selection Sunday that much more exciting.

Selection Sunday Preview

The 68-team NCAA tournament field will be revealed today on the Selection Sunday show on CBS beginning at 6 p.m. ET. Thirty-two of the teams automatically qualify by winning their season-ending conference tournament. So far, 27 of those teams have been decided. 

No. 2 UConn won the Big East tournament yesterday and will likely be the NCAA tournament’s No. 1 overall seed. That is a direct result of No. 1 Houston getting knocked off in the Big 12 tournament championship game yesterday by Iowa State. The Cyclones get the Big 12’s automatic bid and the Cougars will most likely still be a No. 1 seed in one of the four regional brackets. 

North Carolina and Purdue, despite losing in their respective conference tournaments, will also be No. 1 seeds in the Big Dance. What makes Selection Sunday so exciting are the 36 at-large bids determined by the selection committee. The committee takes into account a team’s body of work, their schedule, competition, and much more to determine whether or not they get in. 

According to the latest Bracketology, the last four teams that will receive at-large bids are TCU, Michigan State, Colorado, and Oklahoma. The last four teams that will not make the tournament are St. John’s, Virginia, Seton Hall, and Indiana State. Don’t forget, when the bracket is officially released, you can jump into Sports Hub’s March Madness Bracket Contest.

Plenty of Action on This Selection Sunday

It’s Selection Sunday, but there is a lot of sports action today other than college basketball. In fact, the college basketball schedule is pretty light. There is a lot going on for a Sunday in March. We’re getting closer to the start of the 2024 MLB season. Teams continue their spring training with a number of games today.

Sundays at this time of year also mean that there is a NASCAR race. Read on to find out more. Don’t forget, you can tackle some niche sports today. There are golf and tennis tournaments that will be decided today. Check out our Sports Hub experts for the best picks available.

Here’s what’s on tap on this Selection Sunday.

1. Conference tournaments: There are five conference tournaments with championship games today. The SEC and Big Ten finals are today. All five winners today will find out who they will play in the first round of the NCAA tournament on the Selection Sunday show.
2. Selection Sunday: Again, beginning at 6 p.m. ET, you can watch as the entire 68-team field for the NCAA tournament is announced. The Selection Sunday show will reveal all of the brackets, seeds, game locations, and more.

3. Wait, there’s pro basketball too: The NBA is almost an afterthought today, but savvy bettors can jump on board with seven games on the schedule. ABC will carry an afternoon doubleheader beginning with Phoenix at Milwaukee at 1 p.m. ET. The second game features Western Conference leader Denver at Dallas at 3:30 p.m. 
4. Slow day on the ice: Sundays are always a lighter day in the NHL but, like the NBA, there are seven games today and there is also an afternoon doubleheader which fans and bettors can watch on TNT. The Rangers and Islanders will play at Madison Square Garden at 1 p.m. ET and New Jersey is in Vegas starting at 3:30 p.m. ET. 
5. Lots of soccer: The top soccer leagues around the world are playing today. Two matches in the Premier League have been postponed, but West Ham United will take on Aston Villa. Two top five teams – Atletico Madrid and Barcelona – are among the five matches in La Liga today. Bundesliga and MLS have two matches each. Check the members’ area to see if our soccer expert Geovanny Araya has picks available.
6. Sunday baseball: Yes, there are spring training games all day long in MLB. We have Sports Hub handicappers that are winning MLB picks in the exhibition season. Just sayin’.
7. Food City 500: Yeah, I know. If you’re not a NASCAR fan, that’s an odd race name. However, NASCAR betting is a great opportunity to pick up some wins. The Food City 500 runs today at 3:30 p.m. Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney are co-favorites at +450.
8. Final round of the PLAYERS Championship: They are already underway at TPC Sawgrass. Wyndham Clark shot a 70 yesterday after 65s in Rounds 1 and 2. Scottie Scheffler is still in the mix and Rory McIlroy still has a shot with a big final round.
9. Tennis finals: The finals of the BNP Paribas Open are today. No. 1 Iga Swiatek will take on No. 9 Maria Sakkari in the women’s final at 2 p.m. ET. The mens final starts at 5 p.m. ET and pits No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz against No. 4 Daniil Medvedev. 

Grant, Ricci Gearing Up for March Madness

Al Grant and Tonny Ricci made yesterday’s Daily Leaderboard Top 5 and they are Sports Hub’s top two basketball handicappers over the last seven days. In addition to our March Madness Bracket Contest, our expert cappers, like Al and Tonny, will offer up expert March Madness picks throughout the entire tournament.

Both Tonny and Al have been smoking hot recently. Tonny went 4-1 and Al was 3-0 and both added another $300 to their bankrolls. They weren’t yesterday’s overall leader though. That spot went to our top soccer handicapper.

Let’s take a look.

• Soccer books, look out: Geovanny Araya went 5-1 on six soccer picks yesterday and cleared $720 in profits. Geo is our top soccer expert and, for the week, he is now up $1086.
• The computer rules: Sports Hub’s Computer Picks use a complex algorithm that takes into account stats and other data to derive its picks. Only the most valuable of these picks are released to Sports Hub members. Yesterday, if you played all of our Computer Picks, you went 9-2 and profited $680. That’s not a bad day at the office.
• Where is Diego?: Our expert Diego Garcia went 4-0 – two of those wins were on college basketball. Diego earned $400 to take the third spot on the board yesterday.
• Tail these two: As mentioned, Al Grant and Tonny Ricci have been rocking and rolling lately, especially when it comes to college basketball. Al, who is now No. 2 on the overall 30-day leaderboard ($2036), hit his lone CBB pick yesterday. Tonny, who is the overall 7-day leader ($1226), hit both of his NCAAB picks yesterday. Al is the 7-day basketball leader with $925 in hoops profits and Tonny is second with $845.

Selection Sunday Is Trending

Today is one of the days on the sports calendar that fans and bettors really look forward to. For college basketball fans, it’s one of the most exciting times of the year. You get to find out if your team makes the NCAA tournament. 

Now, basketball definitely rules this Selection Sunday, but there are a few other things trending on this sports Sunday. 

Take a look at these.

• Survive & advance: Remember the 1983 NC State Wolfpack? Coach Jimmy V led the Pack to one of the most incredible runs in college basketball history. NC State did it again 41 years later. The Wolfpack upset No. 4 North Carolina last night to win the ACC tournament. 
• Fired but going to the Big Dance: Long Beach State head coach Dan Monson will not be the team’s head coach after this season. First, Monsoon will take his team to the NCAA tournament. The school and Monson had agreed before the Big West tournament that he would not return as the school’s coach. Long Beach beat UC-Davis yesterday to earn the Big West’s automatic bid to March Madness.

• Cyclone frenzy: Houston entered the Big 12 tournament championship game ranked No. 1 in the country. The Cougars won the conference regular season title outright and they were favored by 8.5 going into yesterday’s game. Iowa State would have none of it. The Cyclones beat Houston handily, 69-41. 
• Steelers trade for Fields: After signing Russell Wilson to a one-year deal, the Pittsburgh Steelers traded a sixth-round conditional draft pick to the Bears for QB Justin Fields. Things are getting very interesting in Pittsburgh.

Sit back and enjoy today. At 6 p.m., tune into the Selection Sunday show and then get on your bracket. Enter our March Madness bracket contest and then start doing your research. You can do it right here at Sports Hub with great content from all of our college basketball handicapping experts. See our tomorrow!