No. 1 Auburn likely expected an easier path to the Sweet 16 than it received in the 2025 NCAA Tournament thanks to a potential Round of 32 matchup. If chalk prevails, then Auburn will face No. 8 Louisville in Lexington, Ky. Lexington is the home of the Kentucky Wildcats, but the Cardinals could still have the home-crowd advantage, playing in their home state and just over an hour from their home campus. Game location and expected crowd support are factors your shouldn’t overlook when making 2025 March Madness picks.
Fortunately for Auburn, No. 2 Alabama doesn’t even have an easy path to make the second round. Bama supporters will have to make a nearly 12-hour drive to Cleveland to watch the Tide face No. 15 Robert Morris, while RMU fans will have just a two-hour drive. What other “neutral” sites may not seem that neutral and could impact who advances in the NCAA Tournament 2025? 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.
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. The Dan Hurley era at UConn has the Huskies as one of the elite programs in college basketball as back-to-back national champions. Although UConn only went 23-10 and lost in the Big East Tournament semifinals, the Huskies still have a chance at history by joining UCLA as the only programs to win three straight national titles. Oklahoma is a more challenging first-round test than they’ve faced in recent years though with the Sooners having four wins over ranked opponents and nearly knocking off Kentucky in the second round of the SEC Tournament before a one-point loss at the buzzer.
Another 2025 NCAA Tournament matchup to keep an eye on is No. 7 Kansas vs. No. 10 Arkansas in the West Region. The 7-10 matchup usually doesn’t feature coaches with a combined 10 Final Fours and three titles, but that’s the case here as Bill Self and John Calipari square off. Kansas was the No. 1 team in the nation in the preseason AP poll, but failed to live up to expectations. The Razorbacks completely turned over their roster under Calipari and did enough to make it to March Madness. The winner very well could face yet another legendary coach — Rick Pitino at St. John’s — if the Red Storm handle business against Omaha.
Another 2025 March Madness game to watch out for: No. 5 Memphis will battle No. 12 seed Colorado State in the West Region. The Tigers boast the leading scorer in the NCAA Tournament in PJ Haggerty, who is putting up 21.8 points per game. He leads a Memphis squad that won both the AAC regular season and tournament, and Penny Hardaway’s crew boasts wins over UConn, Ole Miss and Michigan State. Meanwhile, CSU enters on a 10-game win streak and has a player who could go toe-to-toe with Haggerty, as Nique Clifford averaged 25 ppg across the Rams’ three-game run to winning the MWC Tournament. You can see the model’s 2025 NCAA bracket picks here.
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.
