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BRACKET BREAKDOWN: January 24th

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)
Jacksonville (AQ)
America East (1)
Bryant (AQ)
American Athletic Conference (1)
Memphis (AQ)
Atlantic 10 (1)
George Mason (AQ)
ACC (5)
Duke (AQ), Clemson, Pitt, North Carolina, Louisville
Big 12 (8)
Houston (AQ), Kansas, Iowa State, Arizona, Baylor, West Virginia, UCF, Texas Tech
Big East (4)
St. John’s (AQ), Marquette, UConn, Creighton
Big Sky (1)
Northern Colorado (AQ)
Big South (1)
UNC Asheville (AQ)
Big Ten (10)
Michigan State (AQ), UCLA, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Maryland, Purdue, Oregon, Ohio State, Nebraska
Big West (1)
UC Irvine (AQ)
CAA (1)
William & Mary (AQ)
Conference-USA (1)
Middle Tennessee (AQ)
Horizon League (1)
Cleveland State (AQ)
Ivy League (1)
Princeton (AQ)
MAAC (1)
Marist (AQ)
MAC (1)
Miami (OH) (AQ)
MEAC (1)
Howard (AQ)
Missouri Valley (1)
Bradley (AQ)
Mountain West (3)
New Mexico (AQ), Utah State, San Diego State
NEC (1)
LIU (AQ)
OVC (1)
Morehead State (AQ)
Patriot League (1)
Colgate (AQ)
SEC (12)
Auburn (AQ), Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, Florida, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, Georgia, Missouri
Southern (1)
Samford (AQ)
Southland (1)
McNeese (AQ)
SWAC (1)
Southern (AQ)
Summit (1)
Omaha (AQ)
Sun Belt (1)
South Alabama (AQ)
WCC (2)
Saint Mary’s (AQ), Gonzaga
WAC (1)
Utah Valley (AQ)

First Four Out

Texas, Arizona State, Xavier, Wake Forest

Top 16 Seeds

1: Auburn, Duke, Iowa State, Alabama
2: Tennessee, Marquette, Florida, Kansas
3: Kentucky, Michigan State, Texas A&M, Oregon
4: Purdue, Houston, Illinois, Ole Miss

Five Things To Know

  • 1999 was the only time that Auburn was ever a number one seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers have been a single digit seed in all five of their March Madness appearances under Bruce Pearl and have never been worse than a nine seed.
  • Houston is ranked third in the NET, but doesn’t own a single Quad 1 victory. Anarchy? Nope. Just college basketball.
  • St. John’s two games with Marquette and UConn along with its road game at Villanova are currently its only remaining Quad 1 opportunities before the Big East Tournament. The Red Storm are currently 17-3 overall, but only own one Quad 1 victory, which occurred at Xavier. This is a Big East storyline to monitor in terms of potential seeding for the NCAA Tournament.
  • The bad news for Texas? The Longhorns are not currently in the bracket projection above. The good news? Six of their next seven games are Quad 1 opportunities. This is life in the SEC in 2025.
  • Remember: Only 12 teams that won regular season titles last year wound up winning their respective conference tournaments.

Leftovers