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BRACKET BREAKDOWN: February 14th

This is ONLY February.

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)
North Alabama (AQ)
America East (1)
Bryant (AQ)
American Athletic Conference (1)
Memphis (AQ)
Atlantic 10 (1)
George Mason (AQ)
ACC (3)
Duke (AQ), Clemson, Louisville
Big 12 (7)
Houston (AQ), Kansas, Iowa State, Arizona, Baylor, West Virginia, Texas Tech
Big East (4)
St. John’s (AQ), Marquette, UConn, Creighton
Big Sky (1)
Northern Colorado (AQ)
Big South (1)
High Point (AQ)
Big Ten (11)
Michigan (AQ), UCLA, Illinois, Purdue, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Maryland, Oregon, Ohio State, Nebraska, Indiana
Big West (1)
UC Irvine (AQ)
CAA (1)
Towson (AQ)
Conference-USA (1)
Jacksonville State (AQ)
Horizon League (1)
Cleveland State (AQ)
Ivy League (1)
Yale (AQ)
MAAC (1)
Merrimack (AQ)
MAC (1)
Akron (AQ)
MEAC (1)
Norfolk State (AQ)
Missouri Valley (1)
Drake (AQ)
Mountain West (3)
New Mexico (AQ), Utah State, San Diego State
NEC (1)
Central Connecticut (AQ)
OVC (1)
SEMO (AQ)
Patriot League (1)
American (AQ)
SEC (14)
Auburn (AQ), Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, Florida, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, Georgia, Missouri, Texas, Arkansas
Southern (1)
UNC Greensboro (AQ)
Southland (1)
McNeese (AQ)
SWAC (1)
Southern (AQ)
Summit (1)
Omaha (AQ)
Sun Belt (1)
Arkansas State (AQ)
WCC (2)
Saint Mary’s (AQ), Gonzaga
WAC (1)
Utah Valley (AQ)

First Four Out

Xavier, BYU, SMU, Wake Forest

Top 16 Seeds

1: Auburn, Alabama, Florida, Duke
2: Tennessee, Purdue, Houston, Texas A&M
3: Iowa State, Texas Tech, Kentucky, Arizona
4: Michigan, Wisconsin, Kansas, Michigan State

Five Things To Know

  • There’s still a strong chance that Alabama will be the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament as all seven of its remaining regular season games would currently count as Quad 1 opportunities. This would be the second time that’s happened in the past three seasons. The Crimson Tide were also the top overall seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament before they lost to San Diego State in the Sweet 16.
  • Four of Illinois’ eight losses this season came when either Kasparas Jakucionis (16.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5.2 assists) or Tomislav Ivisic (13.1 points, 8.5 rebounds) was out of the lineup. That’s an important thing to remember when evaluating this team for the NCAA Tournament. 
  • The good news for Arkansas? The Razorbacks can change the course of their season and potentially play their way off the bubble with a win in one of their next two games. The bad news? Arkansas’ next two games are back-to-back road tilts at Texas A&M and Auburn. Yikes!
  • Only three of the ACC’s 18 teams are in the projected bracket above. This conference hasn’t had only three teams in the NCAA Tournament since 2000.
  • The annual Bracket Preview Show for the 2025 NCAA Tournament is Saturday at 12:30 PM ET on CBS. Tune in as the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee releases the current Top 16 seeds for the bracket. Remember: These projections will reflect the credentials of teams PRIOR to Saturday’s action.

Leftovers