March Madness 2025: Previewing every 1st round matchup
The 2025 NCAA Men's National Basketball Tournament is one of the most wide open we've seen in a long time. Sure, you have your Dukes and Auburns and Floridas; your dominant teams who come into this year's tournament as the presumptive favorites. But the field is as stacked as any year in recent memory.
Take the Midwest, for example. You have Gonzaga seeded eighth, Kentucky and Tennessee careening towards an epic Sweet 16 clash as the two and three seeds, an Illinois team who can hang with and beat anyone, and a pair of potential Cinderellas in High Point and McNeese State. You have UCLA sitting at the seven, and Purdue sitting fourth. That's a LOT of name cachet, and plenty of talent to go around.
And the scary part is, that isn't even the best region in the tournament. That honor goes to the West, which has four legitimate Final Four contenders in Florida, St. John's, Texas Tech, and Maryland. And that's before you get to Kansas sitting down at seven, two-time defending champs UConn sitting at eight, or high-octane, high-pressure Missouri sitting at six.
But maybe high-major contenders aren't what you're looking for. Maybe you, like most Americans, really want to see some mid-major Cinderellas.
Fortunately, we've got some legit contenders across the bracket. From UC San Diego's funky offense to New Mexico's high-pressure, super speedy transition attack to Yale's surprisingly balanced side, the South region has plenty of potential to whet your appetite for chaos.
If you want offense, we've got Wisconsin, Duke, Alabama and BYU in the East. If you want defense, we've got St. Mary's, Houston, Tennessee and more scattered throughout.
With all those teams, it can be a lot to sort out. Fortunately, we have you covered. Check out our handy guides to each region so you know what you're getting into.