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BRACKET BREAKDOWN: Jan. 3rd

This is ONLY January.

Between now and Selection Sunday, each Friday I’ll give a “BRACKET BREAKDOWN” with my 68 projected teams for the 2025 NCAA Tournament along with my Top 16 seeds as well as emerging trends.

The team who is currently in first place in their respective conference will be listed as that league’s “automatic qualifier”.

The Current Field

Atlantic Sun (1)
Lipscomb (AQ)
America East (1)
UMass Lowell (AQ)
American Athletic Conference (1)
Memphis (AQ)
Atlantic 10 (1)
Dayton (AQ)
ACC (4)
Duke (AQ), Clemson, Pitt, North Carolina
Big 12 (8)
Iowa State, Kansas, Houston, Cincinnati, West Virginia, BYU, Arizona State, UCF
Big East (3)
Marquette (AQ), UConn, St. John’s
Big Sky (1)
Northern Arizona (AQ)
Big South (1)
High Point (AQ)
Big Ten (11)
Michigan State (AQ), UCLA, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Maryland, Purdue, Penn State, Oregon, Ohio State, Nebraska
Big West (1)
UC Riverside (AQ)
CAA (1)
Charleston (AQ)
Conference-USA (1)
UTEP (AQ)
Horizon League (1)
Youngstown State (AQ)
Ivy League (1)
Princeton (AQ)
MAAC (1)
Quinnipiac (AQ)
MAC (1)
Kent State (AQ)
MEAC (1)
Norfolk State (AQ)
Missouri Valley (1)
Bradley (AQ)
Mountain West (2)
Utah State (AQ), San Diego State
NEC (1)
Central Connecticut (AQ)
OVC (1)
Morehead State (AQ)
Patriot League (1)
Holy Cross (AQ)
SEC (14)
Tennessee (AQ), Auburn, Alabama, Kentucky, Florida, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Arkansas, Georgia, Texas, Vanderbilt, Missouri
Southern (1)
Furman (AQ)
Southland (1)
McNeese (AQ)
SWAC (1)
Southern (AQ)
Summit (1)
South Dakota State (AQ)
Sun Belt (1)
Arkansas State (AQ)
WCC (2)
Gonzaga (AQ), Saint Mary’s
WAC (1)
Grand Canyon (AQ)

First Four Out

Iowa, SMU, Northwestern, Texas Tech

Top 16 Seeds

1: Auburn, Tennessee, Iowa State, Duke
2: Alabama, Marquette, Florida, Oregon
3: UConn, Kentucky, Texas A&M, UCLA
4: Mississippi State, Illinois, Kansas, Memphis

Five Things To Know

  • Duke’s expected dominance in the ACC should ultimately lead to the Blue Devils being a number one seed on Selection Sunday. That will likely mean first and second round NCAA Tournament games at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh.
  • Memphis currently has eight Quad 1 and 2 wins — the most in college basketball.
  • Texas’ first five SEC games will be Quad 1 opportunities. The Longhorns open conference play on Saturday night in College Station against Texas A&M.
  • Navigating the current landscape of the ACC is comparable to navigating the former landscape of the old Pac-12. There’s not many opportunities for marquee wins, but there’s plenty of opportunities to take subpar losses.
  • Jerrod Calhoun is in position to be the fourth head coach to lead Utah State to March Madness in the past five seasons. The others were Craig Smith (Utah), Ryan Odom (VCU), and Danny Sprinkle (Washington). The Aggies are currently ranked 24th in the NET and have four Quad 1 victories.

Leftovers