NCAA bracket predictions: Model shares surprising March Madness 2025 tournament picks
Can the Auburn Tigers make a deep run in the 2025 NCAA Tournament bracket? Bruce Pearl led the Tigers to the Final Four in 2019, when they were ousted by Virginia, and they haven’t made it past the Round 32 since. That could change this season as the Tigers enter March Madness 2025 as the SEC regular-season champions. Auburn will play either Saint Francis or Alabama State in the first round on Thursday and will be eager to make a strong first impression in the NCAA Tournament bracket 2025.
Florida, Houston and Duke are the other three No. 1 seeds in the NCAA bracket 2025. Should you back these powerhouses when you fill out your 2025 March Madness bracket picks or are these four teams all due for one of the signature 2025 March Madness upsets? Before making any 2025 March Madness bracket predictions, be sure to check out the 2025 NCAA Tournament bracket picks from the proven computer model at SportsLine.
Their proven projection model has simulated every game in the tournament 10,000 times. It has absolutely crushed its March Madness picks recently, beating over 91 percent of all CBS Sports brackets in four of the past six tournaments. It was all over UConn’s championship run a year ago and nailed 13 teams in the Sweet 16. It also nailed Alabama’s Cinderella run to the Final Four as a 4-seed.
It knows how to spot an upset as well. The same model has produced brackets that have nailed 24 first-round upsets by double-digit seeds since its inception in 2016. There’s simply no reason to rely on luck when there’s proven technology to help you dominate your 2025 March Madness bracket picks.
Now, with the 2025 NCAA bracket revealed, the model is simulating the matchups and its results are in. You can only see it over at SportsLine.
Three 2025 March Madness bracket games to watch
One of the most intriguing 2025 March Madness matchups to watch: No. 5 Michigan vs. No. 12 UC San Diego in the South region. The Wolverines are coming off of an intense 59-53 win against Wisconsin for the Big Ten tournament title, while the Tritons handily won the Big West championship and ended their campaign with 15 straight victories. San Diego didn’t get in much work against ranked teams this season, although its defense ranks sixth nationally in points allowed per game (61.6). Michigan has only made it past the Sweet Sixteen once since 2018, so they will be eager to make a deep tournament run. With UCSD coming in hot, however, this promises to be a very interesting March Madness matchup.
Another 2025 NCAA Tournament matchup to keep an eye on is No. 8 Louisville vs. No. 9 Creighton in the South Region. Cardinals first-year head coach Pat Kelsey engineered an impressive turnaround this season after Kenny Payne was fired following an 8-24 campaign last year. The Cardinals entered the ACC Tournament having won 19 of their last 20 games, and they are led by All-ACC First Team member Chucky Hepburn. Creighton’s best player is center Ryan Kalkbrenner, who averages 19.8 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.7 blocked shots while winning the Big East Defensive Player of the Year award for the fourth time. The Bluejays lost guard Pop Isaacs to a season-ending knee injury in December, but guard Steven Ashworth has continued to step up as a leader.
Another 2025 March Madness game to watch out for: No. 4 seed Texas A&M will battle No. 13 seed Yale in the South Region. The Aggies have been tested throughout the season with ranked opponents in both conference and non-conference play. Texas A&M opened its season at 13-2, including 4-0 against ranked schools, and went 11-7 against an SEC conference that sent an NCAA Tournament record 16 teams into the big dance. But Yale won’t be afraid of going against a top SEC team after knocking off Auburn as a No. 13 seed during last year’s NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs return guard John Poulakidas, who had 28 points in the win over Auburn last year. The senior averaged 19.2 ppg this season. Yale ranked 22nd in college basketball in scoring (81 ppg) and ninth in 3-point percentage (38.5) as the Bulldogs could pull off another stunner against an SEC opponent. You can see the model’s 2025 NCAA bracket picks here.
How to make 2025 NCAA bracket predictions
Who wins every tournament-defining matchup? And which teams will make surprising runs through the 2025 NCAA Tournament bracket? With the model’s track record of calling bracket-busting upsets, you’ll want to see which stunners it’s calling this year before locking in any 2025 NCAA bracket picks.
So what’s the optimal NCAA Tournament 2025 bracket? And which NCAA Tournament Cinderella teams will shock college basketball? Visit SportsLine now to see which double-digit seeds you can back with confidence, all from the model that called UConn’s national title and nailed 13 Sweet 16 teams in 2024.
