Ask any sports fan, “What are you most excited about in March?” and you could get a variety of answers. Some will say the Masters, others will say the start of the Major League Baseball season, but others will respond instantly with March Madness, the NCAA Division I Men’s basketball tournament.
Here we will look at how teams are doing, who’s on the bubble and huge games coming up that could determine if a team makes the cut or not. Seeding mentions are taken from bracketology by Joe Lunardi, which are accurate as of Feb. 25, 2025.
The University of Connecticut Huskies: The two-time defending national champions are not at risk of missing the tournament, but they certainly will find themselves in different positions than last. Rather than being a 1-seed, Lunardi names the Huskies as an 9-seed. Their loss against The Seton Hall University Pirates, who came into the Huskies’ contest only having one win in the Big East conference, knocked the Huskies out of the AP Poll. Their hardest game coming up will be on March 5, against Marquette.
The Michigan State University Spartans: After an amazing start to the season, the Spartans started 9-0 in the Big Ten, and they now stand in first place after their win against in-state rivals The University of Michigan Wolverines. They are playing under the direction of Tom Izzo in his 30th season with the Spartans, who just became the winningest coach in Big Ten Conference history. Their worst loss of the season was given to them at The University of Southern California, where the Trojans beat them 70-64. The Spartans seem to be locked in the NCAA tournament, currently a projected 2-seed, and 14th in the NET ratings.
The Auburn University Tigers: Led by national player of the year candidate Johni Broome, with their huge win against the University of Alabama Crimson Tide, who is also projected to be a 1 seed, the Tigers showed the college basketball crowd why they are number one. They soundly beat the Tide on their home floor, where the Tide never led in the game. The final was 94-85. Auburn will play Alabama again on their home floor, on March 8, the last game until the SEC Conference Tournament.
The Purdue University Boilermakers: In their first year without two-time former national player of the year Zach Edey, the Boilermakers started Big Ten Conference play with an 11-6 start. They are currently on a three-game skid, with losses against the Spartans, Wolverines and the Wisconsin Badgers. Under veteran players Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer and Trey Kaufman-Renn, the Boilermakers seem to be a lock for the NCAA tournament, currently being a 4-seed, but they need to find more wins coming into the end of regular season play to maintain a high seed in the tournament.
The Saint John’s University Red Storm: The best team in the Big East Conference, with losses only to the Villanova Wildcats and the Creighton Bluejays, the Storm is 15-2 in the Big East. Their toughest game coming up is against the Marquette Golden Eagles, which will take place on March 8. Rick Pitino, the Head Coach of the Red Storm, has coached the team to a fantastic season being one of the favorites in the Big East. The Storm is currently projected as a 4-seed, but anything can happen in the last three weeks.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison Badgers: The Badgers are the best team in the Big Ten, ranked seventh, and 11th, respectively, according to KenPom and NET. The Badgers are currently projected to be a 3-seed, only losing four games in Big Ten Conference play. With John Tonje and John Blackwell, the Badgers are some of the most dominant front courts in the college game right now. They will go far in the tournament if they can stay healthy.
Duke University Blue Devils: Cooper Flagg. The number one overall pick favorite. The best freshman to ever play NCAA ball has led the Blue Devils to another historic season–a near-perfect season in the Atlantic Coast Conference, with their only loss to the Clemson University Tigers, after Flagg slipped while driving to the basketball and traveled on the game-tying play. Although people then questioned Flagg’s reliability, there is no doubting his impact on the team, and if Duke can keep the 1-seed, they have a big chance of getting to San Antonio in April, especially after their more-than-dominant 43-point victory, 110-67, against projected 7-seed University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Fighting Illini at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 22.
Others in the Big Ten Conference: The Big Ten Tournament, unlike all other conferences, will exclude three of the 18 teams. But other teams looking good are University of Michigan Wolverines, The University of Maryland Terrapins and The University of Illinois Fighting Illini, all of which will most likely be in the tournament this year. Looking to earn their spot in the last few weeks are The University of Nebraska Cornhuskers, The Ohio State University Buckeyes and the University of Oregon Ducks.
Others in the Big East Conference: Along with Saint John’s, UConn, Marquette and Creighton, there are other teams looking to get in the NCAA tournament: Xavier University Musketeers at 10-7 in Big East play, along Villanova at 9-8 and the Georgetown University Bulldogs, at 7-9.
Others in the Southeastern Conference: The SEC is, according to the average cumulative conference Net Rating on KenPom, the best conference in NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball. The University of Florida Gators are also one of the best teams in the nation with the Gators being the number one team in the country twice, and the Gators being number three in the nation as of the Feb. 24 AP Poll. The SEC has 13 teams projected to get into the NCAA Tournament.
The NCAA tournament is just around the corner. Who will be the Cinderella Story this year? Who will make it to the Final Four? What will be the biggest upset? Who will stand in San Antonio as Champions? Time can only tell. It’s almost time to fill out the brackets. Selection Sunday is March 16 this year.
