At the onset of betting action with the NCAA Tournament lines is the First Four in Dayton, OH, with two games on Tuesday and Wednesday Nights. On Tuesday, North Carolina will face San Diego State. Also on Tuesday night will be St. Francis vs. Alabama State. On Wednesday night, Xavier takes on Texas. Meanwhile, Mount Saint Mary’s will face American University. The First Four winners advance to the regular brackets of March Madness, while the losers will go home. And then on Thursday, it’s wall-to-wall basketball.
2025 NCAA Tournament March Madness Overview
First-seed Houston should have a cakewalk on Thursday against SIU Edwardsville. The other Thursday top seed Auburn will face a winner from the First Four. Second seed St. John’s is a hot online wagering property and will be heavily favored agaisnt upstart Omaha. Another second seed, Tennessee, will face Wofford. Also, on Thursday there is a matchup of two big-name coaches. To show, John Calipari will lead Arkansas against Kansas and Bill Self. One game that could surprise is Georgia vs. Gonzaga. In comparison, Louisville and Creighton could be a dogfight.
On Friday #1 seed Florida takes on Norfolk State. The other top seed, Duke, will play a First Four winner. Second-seed Alabama will face Robert Morris. While Michigan State and Tom Izzo take on Bryant. One game that could be quite competitive is Vanderbilt vs. Saint Mary’s. Additionally, Marquette vs. New Mexico could be a thriller. In turn, 2-time defending national champion Connecticut takes on Oklahoma. Former powerhouse Baylor meets Mississippi State.
Top Contenders and Favorites
Auburn Tigers
Auburn’s regular-season finish — 4-3, including losing the final two games — still feels like a blip. Consider it defeated six top-15 squads on its way to securing a No. 1 seed and earning “Excellent” ratings on both offense and defense. Johni Broome (18.6 PPG, 10.6 RPG, 2.6 BPG) is the only real competition for Cooper Flagg in the race for the Wooden Award. Meanwhile, Tahaad Pettiford (11.6 PPG, 39% from beyond the arc) is a key player in this 10-man rotation with a fleet of veterans on the roster. Bruce Pearl has serious NCAA Tournament odds contender to win the program’s first national title.
Duke Blue Devils
Namely, Jon Scheyer has gone against the grain in today’s era and found a way to win with one of America’s youngest teams. Led by Wooden Award favorite Cooper Flagg, the young Blue Devils could make a run to the national championship. Flagg is healthy after he missed most of the ACC tournament with an ankle injury. However, defensive contributor Maliq Brown could miss significant time with a shoulder injury, too. The road to the 2025 national title begins with Flagg, one of the most complete players in recent college basketball history.
Houston Cougars
It’s no surprise Houston is a contender again. In the past five seasons under Kelvin Sampson, the program has made it as far as the Final Four, the Elite Eight and the Sweet 16 (the other three times). But this is the best offensive group of Cougars that Sampson has coached. Ranked 10th in adjusted offensive efficiency, they now have the scorers they lacked in past years. Including L.J. Cryer (43% from beyond the arc), who averaged 18.0 PPG in the final 12 games of the regular season.
Florida Gators
During the offseason, Todd Golden made a key decision that positioned the Gators to win their first national championship since back-to-back crowns in 2006 and 2007. Correlate, he moved Walter Clayton Jr. (17.3 PPG, 4.4 APG, 1.3 SPG, 37% from the 3-point line) to point guard. As a result, the third-best adjusted offensive efficiency has averaged 84.8 points this season. Consider that’s a top-10 mark.