March Madness 2025: Predicting Favorites, Sleepers and Men's Bracket Bubble Teams
After a 132-day buildup, Selection Sunday is finally here.
At precisely 6 p.m. ET, men's college basketball fans and teams from around the country will be glued to CBS as the Selection Committee announces the 68 programs worthy enough of competing in this year's big Dance.
UConn is striving to become the first men's college basketball team to three-peat since UCLA (1967-69).
However, the Huskies' season has been unpredictable for the majority of the year, and top bracket forecasters like Joe Lunardi of ESPN and Jerry Palm of CBS Sports have the Huskies as a No. 8 seed and No. 9 seed, respectively.
While the top four No. 1 seeds seem like a lock, there are still plenty of teams on the bubble, hoping they did enough to continue their season.
Here's everything you need to know ahead of Selection Sunday, from favorites to teams whose seasons are in jeopardy.
Click here to play the NCAA March Madness Men's Bracket Challenge.
Favorites
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Duke, Auburn, and Houston enter as the three favorites to win this year's tournament.
Winning the conference tournament and ACC regular season title in the same season for the first time since 2005-06, Duke is the most complete team in college basketball, placing in the top five in both offensive and defensive efficiency per KenPom.
Aside from their conference domination, this team boasts an impressive non-conference win against Auburn, proving that its mediocre strength of schedule isn’t something to actually worry about.
Speaking of Auburn, for much of the season, Bruce Pearl’s squad held the shortest odds to win, but losing three of their last four games does draw some concerns.
Despite their recent struggles, the Tigers boast the nation's top offense, making them dangerous opponents in every aspect.
Rounding out the group of favorites are the Houston Tigers, who have won 30 games in each of their last four seasons.
In their second year in the Big 12, the Cougars won both the regular season conference title and the conference tournament.
Just two teams in the Big 12 have achieved this feat in the last 20 years: Kansas and Oklahoma State.
Sleepers
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Since at least 2007-2008, an 11-seed or higher has reached the tournament’s Sweet 16.
This year, there are quite a few sleeper teams capable of causing bracket mayhem.
For starters, UC San Diego enters as the hottest team in the nation.
Winners of 15 straight, the Tritons are an offensive powerhouse, averaging a tad below 80 points per game while surrendering just above 60 points per game.
The Tritons have also played a tough schedule and notched two Quad 1 wins on the road against Utah State and UC Irvine while narrowly falling to San Diego State by just five points.
Like UC San Diego, High Point also enters the tournament as a sleeper.
Punching their ticket to the Big Dance for the first time in program history, High Point has won their last 14 straight and can compete with just about every offense in the entire nation.
The Panthers' strength of schedule is quite questionable.
In fact, they’ve only played one game that’s either Quad 1 or Quad 2.
However, this offense is lethal, averaging 82.2 points per game while ranking 25th in offensive efficiency per KenPom.
Last but not least, the McNeese squad, led by Will Wade, is returning to the Big Dance for the second consecutive year.
The Cowboys have won 22 of their last 23 and proven that they can keep up with high-quality teams, losing to Alabama and Ole Miss by just a combined 11 points.
Don't be surprised if one, or perhaps two, of these teams make a deep run.
Bubble Teams
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There are 24 teams sitting on the bubble vying for a coveted tournament spot, according to ESPN's Neil Paine.
According to ESPN's Joe Lunardi, Vanderbilt, San Diego State, Xavier, and Indiana are the last four teams to make it, while Boise State, North Carolina, Texas, and Ohio State are the first four teams outside looking in.
Of these bubble teams, Texas has an interesting case, especially since they earned back-to-back SEC Tournament wins over tournament teams such as Texas A&M and Vanderbilt while playing Tennessee closely throughout.
Elsewhere, North Carolina has an intriguing case after nearly forcing overtime against the Duke Blue Devils—albeit with the absence of Cooper Flagg and Maliq Brown.
Although Texas and UNC are both outsiders, anything can happen on Selection Sunday.
