These are my NCAA Tournament picks for 2025. I would suggest not picking Duke or Auburn to win if you’re playing in a pool with more than a 50 people. Duke and Auburn are the favorites, but everyone will be picking them to win. However, this is a one-and-done tournament, and anything could happen. You’re better off picking another team to win the tournament because you’ll have a good chance of finishing first in your pool if that team advances further in the field.
At any rate, here are my picks:
There could be a fair number of upsets in this bracket, as some of the higher seeds are dealing with injuries. This includes Auburn and Iowa State. Meanwhile, Michigan should be a No. 7 seed. UC-San Diego isn’t much worse, so this could be a classic 12-5 upset. Texas A&M is also very flawed, so we could see Yale be the latest Ivy League school to win a game in March Madness.
I like Michigan State to come out of this bracket. The Spartans are the healthiest of the top teams, and they were the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament for a reason.
If there’s going to be a 12-5 upset, it could easily be Liberty over Oregon. The Ducks should have been a No. 8 seed. The selection committee did a poor job seeding many of the teams in this tournament.
Of course, the elephant in the room is Duke and the injury to Cooper Flagg. I don’t think the Blue Devils will win the NCAA Tournament as a result, but they still could. It helps that their top competitor in this bracket, Alabama, also has a major injury. I nearly selected Wisconsin to come out of this bracket, so this region will be interesting to watch.
I mentioned some possible 12-5 upsets, but this one is the most likely to happen. KenPom ranks No. 12 Colorado State over No. 5 Memphis! Some of the 12-5 matchups can be close, but it’s very bizarre to see a 12 be rated better than a five.
Outside of Memphis and St. John’s, which is dealing with an injury, this bracket features some of the highest-rated teams at their seeds. Texas Tech, Maryland, and Kansas easily all could have been seeded higher.
This region should come down to Florida versus Texas Tech. It’s a tough call, but I went with the Gators.
I mentioned that the selection committee did a terrible job. What in the world is Gonzaga doing as a No. 8 seed? They should be a No. 3. They’ll get by Georgia, but they’ll run into the Houston buzzsaw after that.
The Cougars should come out of this region. Unlike the west, the midwest features some of the worst teams at their respective seeds, despite the Gonzaga misstep.
Sorry for the chalk, but I think that’s how this tournament unfolds. I like Houston to prevail, as the Cougars are the healthiest of the top teams.
Top Bets for the 2025 NCAA Tournament:
Houston +700 (1 Unit) – FanDuel Get $200 in bonus bets from FanDuel
Michigan State +3000 (0.5 Units) – FanDuel Get $200 in bonus bets from FanDuel
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