The 2024 NCAA Tournament preview: a roundup

Summary posts are posts, too

Look, I was going to do a watchlist, but it seems more enjoyable to just do that on the twitter at this point. I’d like to do it on BlueSky, but no one minus Ken Pomeroy and a spare friend or two is there yet. Anyway, I wanted to put this here. It’s everything I’ve written that has relevancy to this year’s Tournament, all in one same spot.

This post is free, but a lot of these are paywalled. This year’s NCAA Tournament content, in all, clocks in at over 60,000 words. I think that’s an astounding amount of work for something that is not my day job. If you read any of what I do and feel compelled to support it, you can subscribe here.

A list of posts are below.

• February 2: The future NCAA Tournament field looks fine ($)

• February 20: Let's talk about the 20/20 Club and the power of a good narrative

• February 29: The curious case of Michigan State

• March 5: The curious case of South Carolina ($)

• March 13: Shot volume is back like it never left ($)

• March 16: The 2024 shooting variance all-stars ($)

• March 17: A historical analysis of the 2024 NCAA Tournament field ($)

• March 18: How stats and history would pick the 2024 NCAA Tournament ($)

• March 19: How stats and history would pick the 2024 women’s NCAA Tournament

• March 20: One (or more) key indicator of wins and losses for every team in the 2024 NCAA Tournament ($)

If you’re still somehow in need of content, I strongly, STRONGLY recommend reading Jordan Majewski (and Jon Fendler, and Bryce Hendricks)’ thoughts on every single game in the Round of 64. It’s the greatest Wordpress blog on the planet. You can go here to download Seth Fisher’s Bracket Assist Tool, which is a yearly favorite. You can go to Eamonn Brennan’s site, or read the work of Jordan Brenner and Peter Keating at The Athletic, or just read The Athletic, or go to about any of 5,000 resources out there. I also can never recommend the tremendous Hoop Vision newsletter enough. If you want to win bracket pools, talk to my friend Jon Fendler. I also adore the Eye on College Basketball podcast. I hate consuming sports-related audio/radio content unless it’s the MGoBlog podcast and even I will listen to Eye on CBB.

This is a horrible time to be striking it out on one’s own in media, or to be going out in media at all. Sites are shuttering every day, I seem to see a “just got laid off” tweet from someone I follow no less than every two weeks, and we’re all making it up as we go along. I am incredibly, incredibly lucky to be able to do what I do and to have a day job that helps me pay the bills. I feel 5,000% luckier after the support shown this March, and perhaps 50,000% luckier after the last year-plus.

Paid subscribers have doubled from last March to over 700 now. In terms of all subscribers, including our beloved freeloaders, it’s tripled. Apparently, I’m now nearing the top 80 of all sports Substacks, which is truly insane to me.

Look out, Seth Davis

I have no idea how we got here but I am wildly grateful. For years I thought this was my little Saturn Ion, puttering along in its own little world with a very defined ceiling. Turns out this might be a rocketship. I’ll take it wherever it goes.

Let’s have a great close to this season and a terrific Tournament.

By the way, here’s a ranking of the TV windows over the next two days.

1. Thursday early evening (6-9 PM ET), highlighted by McNeese-Gonzaga

2. Friday early evening (6-9 PM ET), highlighted by Charleston-Alabama

3. Friday late evening (9-11:59 PM ET), highlighted by James Madison-Wisconsin

4. Thursday late afternoon (3-6 PM ET), highlighted by Oregon-South Carolina

5. Thursday late evening (9-11:59 PM ET), highlighted by Drake-Washington State

6. Friday late afternoon (3-6 PM ET), highlighted by New Mexico-Clemson

7. Friday early afternoon (12-3 PM ET), highlighted by Northwestern-FAU

8. Thursday early afternoon (12-3 PM ET), highlighted by Michigan State-Mississippi State