2024 NCAA Tournament bracket strategy: Top leverage plays include Michigan State over North Carolina

It's almost time for the 2024 NCAA Tournament to get underway, but if you're making tweaks to your brackets before they lock, make sure you know about which picks will give you the most leverage in your pools. By comparing odds in the betting market to the percentage of bracket entries advancing teams to certain rounds, you can find an edge on the competition.

SportsLine data scientist Mike McClure has done the heavily lifting to unearth the best leverage plays to win the tournament, make the Sweet 16 and win in the first round.

McClure is a DFS professional with over $2 million in career winnings. He's also a predictive data engineer at SportsLine who uses a powerful prediction model that simulates every minute of every game 10,000 times, taking factors like matchups, statistical trends and injuries into account.

One leverage play we can share: Michigan State is the top leverage play to make the Sweet 16. Their market odds to survive the first weekend, which would include beating North Carolina in the Round of 32, are at 30%, while only 8% of bracket entries have advanced them to the Sweet 16. That +22% leverage play is more than any other potential Sweet 16 participant among the field of 64.

McClure has also identified one potential first-round winner with more than 25 points of leverage on the field! You ABSOLUTELY need to see who it is before locking in your brackets.

What are the best leverage plays for the first round and to make the Sweet 16? And which potential title winner provides your bracket with the most leverage? ... Join SportsLine now to see DFS pro Mike McClure's top leverage plays for the 2024 NCAA Tournament!