Over the weekend, men’s college basketball teams from the sport’s major conferences will wrap up their 2024-25 regular seasons and, with that, March’s beloved and trademark madness will be upon us.
As mid- and low-major leagues from across the country tipped off their conference tournaments this week, the reminders of the men’s NCAA Tournament’s impending arrival have been everywhere.
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Teams competing in conference tournaments are looking to secure their league’s automatic berth to the Big Dance. Bubble teams are working feverishly to polish their NCAA Tournament resumes. Even those squads that are safely in the 68-team field have bracket positioning to worry about, with a huge win or a deflating loss potentially elevating or knocking them down a seed line.
There’s a heated battle to secure the tournament’s coveted No. 1 seeds, with Auburn, Duke and Houston leading the way. A couple of the nation’s most historically decorated programs, Indiana and North Carolina, are squarely on the bubble. The team led by one of the sport’s most recognizable faces, Arkansas’ John Calipari, is in that same precarious position. In what’s likely the best season ever for the conference, how many teams will the SEC land in the tournament? And will it be enough to eclipse the Big East’s record 11 inclusions from 14 years ago?
Here’s a look at the latest NCAA tournament bracket predictions, which take into account games played through Thursday, March 6:
March Madness Bracketology
** Participating in a play-in game
Last four in
- Indiana
- Arkansas
- Boise State
- Xavier
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First four out
- Texas
- Oklahoma
- North Carolina
- Nebraska
REQUIRED READING: NCAA Tournament bubble watch: Who’s in, out of March Madness field as Selection Sunday nears?
No. 1 seeds
- Auburn (27-3, 15-2 SEC)
- Duke (27-3, 18-1 ACC)
- Houston (26-4, 18-1 Big 12)
- Florida (26-4, 13-4 SEC)
No. 2 seeds
- Tennessee (24-6, 11-6 SEC)
- Michigan State (24-5, 15-3 Big Ten)
- Alabama (23-7, 12-5 SEC)
- Texas Tech (23-7, 14-5 Big 12)
No. 3 seeds
- St. John’s (26-4, 17-2 Big East)
- Wisconsin (23-7, 13-6 Big Ten)
- Texas A&M (21-9, 10-7 SEC)
- Kentucky (20-10, 9-8 SEC)
No. 4 seeds
- Iowa State (22-8, 12-7 Big 12)
- Purdue (21-9, 13-6 Big Ten)
- Arizona (20-10, 14-5 Big 12)
- Maryland (23-7, 13-6 Big Ten)
No. 5 seeds
- Michigan (22-8, 14-5 Big Ten)
- Missouri (21-9, 10-7 SEC)
- Clemson (25-5, 17-2 ACC)
- Oregon (22-8, 11-8 Big Ten)
No. 6 seeds
- Marquette (22-8, 13-6 Big East)
- Saint Mary’s (27-4, 17-1 West Coast Conference)
- UCLA (21-9, 12-7 Big Ten)
- Louisville (24-6, 17-2 ACC)
No. 7 seeds
- Memphis (25-5, 15-2 American)
- Ole Miss (21-9, 10-7 SEC)
- Illinois (19-11, 11-8 Big Ten)
- BYU (22-8, 13-6 Big 12)
No. 8 seeds
- Kansas (19-11, 10-9 Big 12)
- Mississippi State (20-10, 8-9 SEC)
- UConn (21-9, 13-6 Big East)
- Creighton (21-9, 14-5 Big East)
No. 9 seeds
- Gonzaga (23-8, 14-4 West Coast Conference)
- New Mexico (24-6, 16-3 Mountain West)
- Vanderbilt (20-10, 8-9 SEC)
- Baylor (18-12, 10-9 Big 12)
No. 10 seeds
- VCU (25-5, 15-2 Atlantic 10)
- Utah State (24-6, 14-5 Mountain West)
- West Virginia (18-12, 9-10 Big 12)
- Georgia (19-11, 7-10 SEC)
No. 11 seeds
- Drake (27-3, 17-3 Missouri Valley)
- UC San Diego (22-4, 12-2 Big West)
- San Diego State (20-8, 13-6 Mountain West)
- Ohio State (17-13, 9-10 Big Ten)
No. 12 seeds
- McNeese (25-6, 19-1 Southland)
- Yale (19-7, 12-1 Ivy League)
- Indiana (18-12, 9-10 Big Ten)**
- Arkansas (18-12, 7-10 SEC)**
- Boise State (22-8, 14-5 Mountain West)**
- Xavier (20-10, 12-7 Big East)**
No. 13 seeds
- High Point (26-5, 14-2 Big South)
- Lipscomb (23-9, 14-4 ASUN)
- Arkansas State (22-9, 13-5 Sun Belt)
- Akron (24-6, 16-1 MAC)
No. 14 seeds
- Utah Valley (21-7, 13-1 WAC)
- Chattanooga (23-8, 15-3 Southern)
- Jacksonville State (20-10, 12-5 Conference USA)
- Northern Colorado (23-8, 15-3 Big Sky)
No. 15 seeds
- Towson (21-10, 16-2 CAA)
- Bryant (20-11, 14-2 America East)
- Robert Morris (23-8, 15-5 Horizon)
- Central Connecticut State (24-6, 14-2 Northeast)
No. 16 seeds
- Omaha (19-12, 13-3 Summit)
- Southeast Missouri State (20-11, 15-5 Ohio Valley)
- Norfolk State (20-10, 10-3 MEAC)**
- Quinnipiac (18-11, 14-4 MAAC)**
- Bucknell (17-14, 13-5 Patriot)**
- Southern (19-10, 14-2 SWAC)**