March Madness Easiest Paths to Final Four

The 2024 NCAA Tournament brackets are set! 

Here at FTN, our incredible team of college basketball experts will take you through each bracket, talking favorites, sleepers and upsets. Make sure you check out our March Madness Betting Guide where all our incredible content for the 2024 NCAA Tournament will be continuously updated throughout March Madness.

It’s all about the matchups, which means there is a tremendous amount of variance in Final Four paths. Some teams have an easier road to Arizona, depending on who the initial and subsequent matchups are as they advance through the region. The NCAA Tournament Seeding Committee prioritizes variables such as limiting travel and ensuring teams in the same conference avoid early matchups, which produces some very strong and very weak regional structures.

Let’s take a look at which teams have the easiest path to the Final Four in Glendale, Arizona!

March Madness Easiest Paths to Final Four

East Region

Easiest Path: None

I present to you, this year’s Region of Death. With the top four teams all winning their conference tournaments, and 11 teams overall winning their conference tournaments, I can’t justify giving anyone an “easy” path to the Final Four. Imagine the winner of Connecticut vs. Auburn having to battle the winner of Illinois vs. Iowa State. Per our FTN Power Rankings, the East Region contains the No. 2, No. 4 and No. 5 teams in Expected Win Percentage. That is just brutal. 

West Region

Easiest Paths: North Carolina, Arizona

Just because it’s easy, doesn’t mean it will happen. The Tar Heels got a gift being sent to the West, getting joined by a No. 4 seed Alabama squad that is allergic to defense and a No. 5 seed Saint Mary’s still playing without forward 6-foot-8 power forward Joshua Jefferson (knee surgery). North Carolina’s biggest challenge will come in Round 2 against Mississippi State or Michigan State. If they can navigate the Round of 32, the Tar Heels should cruise to the Elite Eight. 

Arizona also gets an easy draw with an inconsistent No. 3 seed Baylor and a slumping No. 6 seed in Clemson. Similar to UNC, their second-round matchup against Dayton of Nevada will be their biggest challenge before a potential high-scoring thriller against the Tar Heels. 

South Region

Easiest Path: Marquette

Houston has a tough draw, especially if they face Texas A&M in the second round. The Aggies only lost to the Cougars 70-66 earlier this year and played that game without second-leading scorer Tyrese Radford (16 PPG). The Cougars now are without freshman forward Joseph Tugler (1.1 BPG) and sophomore guard Terrance Arceneaux (5.5 PPG), who they had in that matchup. If they get by the Aggies, they would face either No. 4 seed Duke or a scalding-hot No. 5 seed Wisconsin. That is not an easy path. 

The bottom part of this bracket is much easier for No. 2 seed Marquette and No. 3 seed Kentucky. Assuming point guard Tyler Kolek is healthy, the Golden Eagles impressed on the defensive end in their Big East Tournament run to the finals. Head coach Shaka Smart turned Kolek’s absence into an opportunity, and Marquette now has increased staying power as a result. While their potential matchup with the play-in winner makes me nervous, I think Marquette would dispose of the defenseless Kentucky Wildcats fairly easily in the Sweet 16. 

Midwest Region

Easiest Paths: Purdue, Tennessee

This region sets up for No. 1 seed Purdue and No. 2 seed Tennessee to meet in the Elite Eight with little resistance. The Boilermakers have the easiest second-round matchup of any No. 1 seed with either Utah State or TCU. The No. 4 seed in their region is a Kansas team with major injury concerns, and No. 5 seed Gonzaga could lose to McNeese State in the first round. 

Tennessee should glide to the Sweet 16 where they would face a soft Creighton team or a familiar foe in SEC rival South Carolina. I don’t think either team has enough balance to beat the Volunteers. While everyone is referencing the fact that no team that has lost their opening conference tournament game has ever won a national title, I submit this for your review.