Basketball
The 2025 NCAA Tournament bracket begins Thursday. There are plenty of 2025 March Madness bracket strategies to employ, such as taking a No. 11 seed to beat a No. 6 seed. No. 11 seeds went 3-1 against No. 6 seeds in 2024 and are 30-26 in the first round since 2010. NC State was a No. 11 seed last year and made it all the way to the Final Four. Should your 2025 March Madness bracket picks include backing No. 11 North Carolina, which cruised to a 95-68 victory over San Diego State in the First Four? The Tar Heels will square off against Ole Miss on Friday in Milwaukee. That’s just one of the questions you’ll need to answer before finalizing your 2025 NCAA bracket picks. Before making any 2025 NCAA Tournament predictions, see the 2025 March Madness 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% 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, SportsLine’s advanced computer model has simulated the entire 2025 NCAA Tournament 10,000 times to come up with the perfect 2025 NCAA Tournament bracket and find out which teams will pull off the biggest upsets. You shouldn’t even think about making a pick without seeing what their model has to say.
Basketball Three 2025 March Madness bracket games to watch
One of the most intriguing 2025 March Madness matchups to watch: No. 8 UConn vs. No. 9 Oklahoma in the West Region. UConn is the back-to-back defending champions but the Huskies have been inconsistent at best this season. Dan Hurley’s squad will enter March Madness with a bit of confidence after winning five of their last six games. The Huskies feature three players averaging at least 14.4 points per game, so they can be dangerous on the offensive end of the floor. Oklahoma, meanwhile, is back in the Big Dance for the first time since 2021, making its first appearance in four seasons under head coach Porter Moser. The Sooners have a pair of dynamic playmakers in Jeremiah Fears and Jalon Moore, who were the only duo in the SEC averaging more than 15 points per game.
Another 2025 NCAA Tournament matchup to keep an eye on is No. 7 Kansas vs. No. 10 Arkansas in the West Region. This matchup is the only first-round contest where both programs have previously won national championships, and both head coaches in Bill Self and John Calipari are already Hall of Famers. The Jayhawks have won 17 straight Round of 64 games, but this is also the worst seed for the Jayhawks since being a No. 8 in 2000. As for Coach Cal’s squad, it is expected to get back second-leading scorer Boogie Fland (15.1 ppg), who’s been out for two months, thus giving the Hogs a nine-man rotation where each of those players averages over 5.5 points.
Another 2025 March Madness game to watch out for: No. 5 Memphis will battle No. 12 seed Colorado State in the West Region. Memphis features a plethora of playmakers capable of taking over a game. Penny Hardaway’s squad is led by guard PJ Haggerty, who’s averaging 21.8 points per game, the third-most in the nation. However, the Tigers have struggled on the defensive side of the ball, ranking 217th in scoring defense (73.2). Colorado State, meanwhile, has won each of its last 10 games and is averaging 16.6 assists per game. The Rams are led by Nique Clifford, who has averaged 27.8 points per game over his past four contests. You can see the model’s 2025 NCAA bracket picks here.
Basketball How to make 2025 NCAA Tournament 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.
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