March Madness Projections 2025: Predicting the Field of 68 ahead of major showdown ft. Duke, Auburn, and more

With March Madness just around the corner, men’s college basketball teams are gearing up for the highs and lows that come with Selection Sunday.

Some will celebrate securing a top seed after a dominant season. Others will breathe a sigh of relief after just barely making the cut. And then there are those who will feel snubbed, convinced they deserve a spot in the Big Dance.

So, which teams will punch their ticket to the NCAA tournament? A lot depends on how they perform in conference tournaments next month. But based on their overall season — both in and out of conference play — here’s a look at the teams with the best shot at making the final bracket.

2025 March Madness men's bracket predictions

Seed	East	South	Midwest	West
1	Duke	Auburn	Alabama	Florida
16	Southern/Omaha	American/Southeast Missouri State	Quinnipiac	Bryant
8	Connecticut	Creighton	Oregon	Louisville
9	Utah State	West Virginia	Gonzaga	Baylor
5	Marquette	Kansas	Missouri	Ole Miss
12	Yale	George Mason	Akron	UC San Diego
4	Michigan	Michigan State	St. John's	Arizona
13	High Point	McNeese	Arkansas State	Lipscomb
6	UCLA	Maryland	Memphis	Clemson
11	BYU	Oklahoma/Wake Forest	Ohio State	Vanderbilt/UC Irvine
3	Texas Tech	Kentucky	Wisconsin	Purdue
14	Utah Valley	Cleveland State	Chattanooga	Jacksonville State
2	Tennessee	Houston	Texas A&M	Iowa State
15	Towson	Montana	Central Connecticut	Norfolk State
7	Illinois	Mississippi State	Saint Mary's	New Mexico
10	Drake	Nebraska	San Diego State	Texas

March Madness 2025: Field of 68 projections

1. Auburn (1, SEC)
2. Alabama (1, SEC)
3. Duke (1, ACC)
4. Florida (1, SEC)
5. Tennessee (2, SEC)
6. Texas A&M (2, SEC)
7. Houston (2, Big 12)
8. Wisconsin (2, Big Ten)
9. Purdue (3, Big Ten)
10. Iowa State (3, Big 12)
11. Texas Tech (3, Big 12)
12. Kentucky (3, SEC)
13. Arizona (4, Big 12)
14. Michigan (4, Big Ten)
15. St. John’s (4, Big East)
16. Michigan State (4, Big Ten)
17. Marquette (5, Big East)
18. Missouri (5, SEC)
19. Kansas (5, Big 12)
20. Ole Miss (5, SEC)
21. Maryland (6, Big Ten)
22. Illinois (6, Big Ten)
23. UCLA (6, Big Ten)
24. Clemson (6, ACC)
25. Mississippi State (7, SEC)
26. Louisville (7, ACC)
27. Memphis (7, American)
28. Creighton (7, Big East)
29. Saint Mary’s (8, WCC)
30. Oregon (8, Big Ten)
31. Baylor (8, Big 12)
32. New Mexico (8, MWC)
33. Gonzaga (9, WCC)
34. Ohio State (9, Big Ten)
35. West Virginia (9, Big 12)
36. UConn (9, Big East)
37. Nebraska (10, Big Ten)
38. Utah State (10, MWC)
39. Vanderbilt (10, SEC)
40. Texas (10, SEC)
41. BYU (11, Big 12)
42. Oklahoma (11, SEC)
43. San Diego State (11, MWC)
44. Wake Forest (11, ACC)
45. Drake (11, MVC)
46. Georgia (11, SEC)
47. George Mason (12, A10)
48. UC San Diego (12, Big West)
49. Yale (12, Ivy)
50. McNeese (12, Southland)
51. Akron (13, MAC)
52. High Point (13, Big South)
53. Arkansas State (13, Sun Belt)
54. Lipscomb (13, ASun)
55. Jacksonville State (14, CUSA)
56. Chattanooga (14, Southern)
57. Utah Valley (14, WAC)
58. Montana (14, Big Sky)
59. Towson (15, CAA)
60. Central Connecticut (15, Northeast)
61. Norfolk State (15, MEAC)
62. Cleveland State (15, Horizon)
63. Southern (16, SWAC
64. Bryant (16, America East)
65. Quinnipiac (16, MAAC)
66. Nebraska-Omaha (16, Summit)
67. Southeast Missouri State (16, OVC)
68. American (16, Patriot)

Conferences with the most projected teams in March Madness 2025

Conference	No. of teams	Teams
SEC	13	Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Missouri, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt
Big Ten	10	Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oregon, Purdue, UCLA, Wisconsin
Big 12	8	Arizona, Baylor, BYU, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, Texas Tech, West Virginia
ACC	4	Clemson, Duke, Louisville, Wake Forest
Big East	4	Creighton, Marquette, St. John's, UConn
Mountain West	3	New Mexico, San Diego State, Utah State
WCC	2	Gonzaga, Saint Mary's

Bubble teams for the 2025 NCAA Tournament

UNC (17-11, 10-6 ACC)

North Carolina is on a roll after dominating NC State on Wednesday and following it up with a big win against Virginia on Saturday. However, nine of its 11 losses came against top 50 teams — four of them against top 10 opponents like Auburn, Alabama, Duke and Florida. Given that it's played the 12th-toughest schedule in the country, its 17-11 record might be more impressive than it looks.

Pittsburgh (16-11, 7-9 ACC)

Pittsburgh’s tournament hopes are slipping fast after losing to Notre Dame on Saturday. The Panthers have dropped nine of their last 13 games, and their chances of making March Madness are now slim. At this point, they’re in a tight race with North Carolina for what could be the conference’s final tournament spot — if there even is one.

Cincinnati (16-11, 6-10 Big 12)

Cincinnati bounced back from a tough loss at West Virginia by taking down TCU at home on Saturday, keeping its March Madness hopes alive. Still, it has only won two of its 11 games against top 50 teams, and it ranks ninth in NET among Big 12 schools — where only eight teams are likely to make the tournament.

Arkansas (16-11, 5-9 SEC)

Arkansas kept its March Madness hopes alive by beating a red-hot Missouri team fresh off a win against Alabama. Its odds of making the tournament are now about 50-50. The Razorbacks have five wins in what is considered the toughest conference in college basketball, and the SEC is projected to send 13 teams to the tournament.

TCU (15-12, 8-8 Big 12)

TCU had been building momentum, winning five of six games before Saturday’s loss to Cincinnati. But after falling behind 13-0 early, the Frogs never recovered. That’s a tough setback against another Big 12 bubble team with a better NET ranking. TCU still has the 23rd-ranked strength of schedule, which helps its case, but it needs to get back to winning.

Indiana (16-11, 7-9 Big Ten)

Indiana’s March Madness hopes were fading fast after losing eight of its last 10 games, but it turned things around in a big way with a huge comeback win over Purdue on Sunday. The Hoosiers erased a 12-point halftime deficit to give their tournament chances a big boost.