The 2025 NCAA Men’s basketball tournament is set to tip off one week from today. The beginning of March Madness is one of the most exciting times in sports because of the quality and quantity of games. Each team no matter how they did in the regular season will feel as if they have a chance to go the distance.
This year’s tournament has the potential to be one of the most unpredictable ever. Over half of the teams in the preseason top 25 are no longer ranked due to the rise of teams like St. John’s and Michigan State who will be rewarded with either a #2 or #3 seed in the tournament. Meanwhile some highly touted teams entering the season like Kansas and Baylor are still fighting to get an at-large bid into the tournament.
The amount of upsets in the first round of the tournament has spiked within the last five years when a record 14 teams were upset in both 2021 and 2022. Smaller schools are more talented than ever before. Saint Joseph’s Rasheer Fleming and Colorado State’s Nique Clifford are both potential first round picks that could possibly have the opportunity to showcase their talents on the biggest stage in college athletics.
Similarly to every other year there are favorites that seem to be head and shoulders above the rest of the pack. Auburn, Duke, and Houston are all equally talented in their own ways. Auburn is led by Morehead State transfer Johni Broome who is a menace on the offensive boards. Duke has the tallest roster in college basketball and is home to superstar and future 1st overall pick Cooper Flagg. Houston returned a ton of talent from last year including LJ Cryer who was on the roster of the national championship winning Baylor team from 2021.
UConn was the top overall seed in March Madness last season and ran through all of their opponents on their way to their second consecutive championship. The year before UConn was a four-seed in one of the strangest Final Four’s of all time. The 2023 Final Four teams were 4-seed UConn, 5-seeds Miami and San Diego State, and 9-seed Florida Atlantic. This just goes to show how unpredictable the tournament can be.
My early prediction for this year’s tournament is upsets galore. My prediction for champion is Tennessee because of their outstanding ability to shoot the ball. My prediction for the player of the tournament would be Tennessee Volunteer senior Zakai Zeigler. A possible darkhorse of the tournament is the Baylor Bears led by super athletic freshman VJ Edgecombe. But at the end of the day it really is anybody’s tournament.
