Basketball
The No. 13 seed High Point Panthers (29-5) enter March Madness 2025 after capturing the Big South’s regular season and conference tournament titles. They are led by guards Kezza Giffa (14.8 points per game) and D’Maurian Williams (13.5), with forward Kimani Hamilton (13.4) as their only other double-digit scorer. Their bench scored 50 of the team’s 81 points in the 81-69 victory over Winthrop in the conference championship game ahead of the 2025 NCAA Tournament bracket. Winners of 14 straight games, the Panthers could be a difficult first-round opponent for the No. 4 seed Purdue Boilermakers (22-11). Having lost six of their last nine games, can last year’s national runners-up right the ship against a hot Panthers team? Before filling out your NCAA Tournament bracket 2025, be sure to see the 2025 March Madness bracket picks from the proven computer model at SportsLine.
SportsLine’s 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% 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 no reason to rely on luck when there’s proven technology to help you dominate your 2025 March Madness 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.
Top 2025 March Madness bracket picks
One of the Midwest Region picks from the model: No. 2 seed Tennessee, despite losing to Kentucky twice this season, beats the Wildcats in the Sweet 16. The Volunteers went a perfect 13-0 while playing one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the country and then finished fourth in the loaded SEC with a 12-6 record in conference play. As mentioned, two of those losses came against the Wildcats but Kentucky is only 5-4 in the month and change since its second win over the Volunteers.
Meanwhile, Tennessee is 7-2 since that second regular-season matchup with marquee wins at Texas A&M, home against Alabama and at the SEC Tournament over Auburn. The Vols were the runners-up in Nashville and had point guard Zakai Zeigler and shooting guard Chaz Lanier named third-team and honorable mention AP All-Americans, respectively, on Tuesday. The model predicts these two SEC rivals to win their first two games and for Tennessee to avenge its two earlier losses when it matters most.
Another surprise: No. 10 Utah State upsets No. 7 UCLA in the first round of the Midwest. Utah State went 26-7 during the regular season, falling to Colorado State last Friday night in the semifinals of the Mountain West Tournament. They are led by solid guard play including Ian Martinez (16.7 points per game) and Mason Falslev (14.9 PPG), who helped propel them to a 16-1 start to the season.
UCLA (22-10) lost four of their last eight games, including an 86-70 defeat against eventual Big Ten Tournament runner up Wisconsin last Friday. The Bruins played 17 Quad 1 games compared to only six for the Aggies, with UCLA going 9-8 and Utah State 2-4. But the Bruins have been inconsistent this season and may be susceptible to the balanced attack of the Aggies. The game takes place in Lexington, KY at 9:25 p.m. ET on Thursday. 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 region features three must-have upsets, including a play-in team that absolutely stuns its first-round opponent, all from the model that’s beaten 91% of bracket players in four of the last six tournaments.
Read More Nancie Paris