It is hard to believe it is already March, but that also means March Madness is quickly approaching! March Madness is the biggest tournament in Division 1 college basketball, with teams from all over the country competing for a national championship. This tournament has been around since 1939. Last year’s national champions were the team from UConn, after beating Purdue 75-60 in the championship. But this year, UConn is only ranked third in the Big East leading up to the Big East conference tournament.
One thing that makes March Madness so fun and “mad” is that most of the time it is so unpredictable. The biggest upset last year was when 14-seed Oakland beat 3-seed Kentucky 80-76. Last year, nearly 10 million people watched the men’s tournament. Meanwhile, the women’s tournament had more viewers, averaging 18.7 million watchers. Part of the large attraction comes from the brackets that people fill out around the country: whether it is winning money or just earning bragging rights, people always get very competitive.
This year, the SEC has the most teams in the tournament, with 13 teams. But, there are two very high threats this year and those are Auburn (15-3) and Duke (19-1). These two are clear favorites to win the big dance. But, there is always a Cinderella story along the way, so keep that in mind as you are creating your bracket. The three teams to watch that could potentially damage your bracket are the VCU Rams, Yale Bulldogs, and the Utah State Aggies. The VCU Rams are a projected 10-seed as they are 3rd in field goal percentage defense, 25th in defensive turnover rate, and 14th in the country for offensive rebounds. The Yale Bulldogs have gone 12-1 in conference play this year and caused an upset on Auburn last season. The Bulldogs are projected to be a 12-seed. Finally, the Utah State Aggies have had such a high level of success in the past 6 years with 4 different coaches, and something has started to click for them as they seem to be on a winning streak.
If you are like me and are competitive over any type of contest, I recommend seriously researching all teams, especially ones with lower seeds. The thing that is so special about March Madness, and what makes the odds of having a perfect bracket at 1 in 9.2 quintillion, is the drive and fierceness that all teams possess, no matter their seeding. So make sure you take the time to look into these teams and their conference play and do not just automatically fill in your bracket based on teams with the highest seeds. For example, I had no idea who the Drake University Bulldogs were, until I looked into them further and saw that they have an overall record of 30-3 ,as well as a leading spot in the Missouri Valley Conference which just means that they are on a roll, and they are not going to let up anytime soon.
The teams who will officially be in the 2025 March Madness tournament will find out this Sunday, March 16 at 6 p.m. ET during Selection Sunday. This year, we can expect to see schools in the south dominating the brackets. The teams to receive the top seed are expected to be Auburn, Florida, Alabama, and Duke. There will be a total of 31 teams who automatically qualify for a spot in March Madness because they won their respective conference tournaments. But, there are exactly 37 teams who will get hand-selected by the NCAA committee on Sunday, March 16. How does the committee select and seed these teams? This video will show you the rules and process of selecting the 37 other teams, and this video will help show you how teams in March Madness receive the seeding that they do. The tournament starts off with the “first four” games on March 18 and March 19, so it is recommended that you have your bracket completed by then.
