2024 NCAA Survivor Strategy: Planning Out the Scheduling Grid
Winning a survivor pool for the NCAA Tournament requires some planning, so you do not run out of pick options.
If you want to security a V for Victory in Survivor, you need to plan (Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire)
Part of the challenge of playing in a NCAA Tournament Survivor Pool is planning out the schedule, with teams playing on different days, and potentially switching over the following week.
For example, you might pick one team on Thursday and another on Friday in Round 1, only to find that both are still alive, and playing on the same day in the Sweet Sixteen, severely limiting your options.
So those with a plan can gain an edge in survivor pools. With that in mind, we are showing you a sortable grid with the schedule outlook for each quadrant in the tournament (identified by the highest seed in that quadrant in each region).
Survivor Pool Schedule Grid
| Quadrant | Top Seed | Region | 1st/2nd Round | Regionals | Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Connecticut | East | FRI/SUN | THU/SAT | B |
| 4 | Auburn | East | FRI/SUN | THU/SAT | B |
| 2 | Iowa State | East | THU/SAT | THU/SAT | A |
| 3 | Illinois | East | THU/SAT | THU/SAT | A |
| 1 | North Carolina | West | THU/SAT | THU/SAT | A |
| 2 | Arizona | West | THU/SAT | THU/SAT | A |
| 3 | Baylor | West | FRI/SUN | THU/SAT | B |
| 4 | Alabama | West | FRI/SUN | THU/SAT | B |
| 3 | Kentucky | South | THU/SAT | FRI/SUN | C |
| 1 | Houston | South | FRI/SUN | FRI/SUN | D |
| 2 | Marquette | South | FRI/SUN | FRI/SUN | D |
| 4 | Duke | South | FRI/SUN | FRI/SUN | D |
| 1 | Purdue | Midwest | FRI/SUN | FRI/SUN | D |
| 2 | Tennessee | Midwest | THU/SAT | FRI/SUN | C |
| 3 | Creighton | Midwest | THU/SAT | FRI/SUN | C |
| 4 | Kansas | Midwest | THU/SAT | FRI/SUN | C |
We added a Code, and here’s how to use it:
- A & D teams pair well together
- B & C teams pair well together
Those pairs will always complement each other by playing on opposite days in both weekends. Picking teams within one set of those pairs on an entry, then, will do a better job of making sure you don’t end up with too many teams used on one of the Regional days. That’s not to say you can’t cross the pairs; you just introduce a little more risk when you do, of getting into scheduling trouble.
This information (day they play in R1, day of regional) is also available on our main Data Grid, but we also list it here in an easily sortable table to use as part of your pre-tournament planning.
Final Four Pairing Outlook This Year
Unlike some recent years, you will definitely need to have a pick in the championship game to win a survivor pool that is large enough to get that far. That’s because the East and West Regional Finals are played on the same day, and then meet in the Final Four, while the Midwest and South are played on the same day and then match up.
That hasn’t always been the case.
In a pool where everyone has to make a pick on each Elite Eight day last year, it was possible that no one would have a pick in the Championship Game. Connecticut and Miami played on different days in the Elite Eight, then played in the Final Four. It didn’t work out that way, but if Florida Atlantic had beaten San Diego State, in those types of pools no one would have a pick available. That’s because they would have had to have used one of Connecticut or FAU to advance from the Elite Eight, and the other as the winner in the Final Four.
Because that is not a possibility this year, it makes planning ahead to maximize your chances of having a pick even more important in 2024.