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Men's NCAA Tournament 2025: Friday's First-Round Winners and Losers
Another day of college basketball from the 2025 NCAA men's tournament is complete.
After an exciting first day that saw No. 12 seed McNeese upset No. 5 seed Clemson, No. 11 seed Drake control things from start to finish against No. 6 seed Missouri, and No. 5 seed Michigan survive a scare from No. 12 seed UCSD, there was plenty more excitement on tap on Friday.
Cooper Flagg's NCAA tournament debut, the polarizing North Carolina Tar Heels and popular Cinderella pick Colorado State were among the top storylines from the early slate of games, and there was plenty more basketball played during the evening slate.
While it's certainly true that the winners are the winners and the losers are the losers, let's take a deeper dive into some of the notable storylines from Friday's action to highlight our biggest winners and losers of the day.
Winner: Finally, a Tightly Contested 8 vs. 9 Game
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While the looming specter of a No. 1 seed in the second round can undercut the importance of an No. 8 vs. No. 9 game from an overall bracket standpoint, those first-round matchups are often some of the best games of the tournament's opening days.
That was not the case on Thursday.
In the first game of the day, No. 9 seed Creighton came away with an 89-75 victory over No. 8 seed Louisville. In the day's other 8 vs. 9 matchup, an underseeded No. 8 Gonzaga demolished No. 9 Georgia by a lopsided 89-68 margin behind 55 percent shooting from the floor and 12-of-20 from beyond the arc.
Friday morning's matchup between No. 8 Mississippi State and No. 9 Baylor out of the East Region was finally the back-and-forth matchup a game between two teams seeded so closely generally provides.
The Bears had a 60-49 lead with a little over eight minutes to play in the second half but had to weather a comeback from the Bulldogs to pull out the victory.
NBA prospect VJ Edgecombe had 12 of his 16 points in the second half, while Robert Wright III (19 points), Langston Love (15 points) and Norchad Omier (12 points, 10 rebounds) all joined him in double figures.
Point guard Josh Hubbard led the Bulldogs with 29 points on 12-of-19 from the floor and 5-of-11 from beyond the arc, but it was not enough as the Bears moved on to face No. 1 seed Duke on Sunday.
Loser: Another Horizon League Upset Bid
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The Oakland Golden Grizzlies gave us the most shocking upset of the 2024 NCAA tournament's opening round, knocking off No. 3 seed Kentucky behind 32 points and 10 three-pointers from Jack Gohlke.
They earned their spot in the tournament field by claiming the automatic bid out of the Horizon League, and that spot went to Robert Morris this year after the Colonials went 25-8 and won the Horizon League tournament.
Not unlike Oakland a year ago, their first-round draw was a top-tier SEC team eyeing a deep NCAA tournament run in Alabama.
The Colonials hung around with a high-flying Crimson Tide offense for most of the game, briefly taking a 65-64 lead on a Josh Omojafo layup with 7: 10 remaining in the second half.
It was still a four-point game inside of five minutes remaining, but the Crimson Tide eventually pulled away for a 90-81 victory, surviving an upset that would have blown up more than a few brackets.
Amarion Dickerson (25 points, 9 rebounds, 3 steals) led the way for Robert Morris, while Alvaro Folgueiras (15 points, 10 rebounds) logged a double-double and Kam Woods (8 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks) filled up the box score.
All-American guard Mark Sears (22 points, 10 assists, 5 rebounds) had 19 points after halftime to help Alabama eventually pull away, but a tip of the cap to a Robert Morris squad that was a 22.5-point underdog.
Winner: Colorado State Without Big Game from Nique Clifford
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Colorado State entered the NCAA tournament as one of the hottest teams in the nation, riding a 10-game winning streak that saw them go from outside the bubble conversation to claiming the Mountain West automatic bid after beating Utah State and Boise State in the conference tournament.
The biggest catalyst for their success all season has been the performance of senior Nique Clifford, who checked in at No. 19 in the latest mock draft from Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman.
The 6'5" guard entered March Madness averaging 19.0 points, 9.7 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.2 steals per game, shooting 50.7 percent from the floor and 39.8 percent from beyond the arc.
He did not have his best game on Friday, finishing with 14 points on 3-of-13 shooting and 0-of-6 from long range, but his teammates stepped up to pick up the slack, proving the Rams are more than just a star-driven team.
Kyan Evans scored a career-high 23 points and six made threes, while Jalen Lake (14 points) and Jaylen Crocker-Johnson (12 points) joined him in double figures as No. 12 seed Colorado State knocked off No. 5 seed Memphis in the first notable upset of Friday's action.
The Rams were just 5-6 during the regular season when Clifford scored fewer than 15 points, so proving they can win a game when he's not on top of his game bodes well for their outlook heading into Sunday and beyond.
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Loser: North Carolina's Furious Comeback
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No inclusion in the 68-team field this year was more polarizing than the North Carolina Tar Heels, who went 1-12 in Quad 1 games and fell well short of the expectations that came with being No. 9 in the preseason AP poll.
The committee gave them a spot in one of the First Four games to prove they belonged in the field, and they responded with a 95-68 blowout of San Diego State, making full use of all the bulletin-board material the media handed them in the days leading up to that game.
That earned them a matchup with No. 6 seed Ole Miss on Friday, and it looked like they were going to be on the wrong end of a blowout this time around when the Rebels built a 44-26 halftime lead and extended their lead to as many as 22 points early in the second half.
However, the Tar Heels used an 11-0 run to whittle the lead down to 63-59 with 5:07 remaining, and with all the momentum on their side it looked like they might complete the comeback.
The Rebels managed to right the ship, though, and came away with a 71-64 victory behind a big game from Sean Pedulla (20 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals) for their first NCAA tournament win since 2015.
Winner: Saint Mary's Avoiding Another Early Exit
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One of the biggest upsets of the 2024 NCAA tournament saw No. 12 seed Grand Canyon walk away with a 75-66 victory over No. 5 seed Saint Mary's, and it looked like the Gaels might be headed for an early exit on Friday.
After a low-scoring first half saw No. 10 seed Vanderbilt build a 29-22 lead, the Commodores expanded their advantage to 12 points early in the second half, but the Gaels managed to mount a comeback in a back-and-forth grind of a game.
The Gaels went 18-2 in their final 20 games, with a road loss against a good San Francisco team and a loss to Gonzaga in the WCC title game the only blemishes on a resume that earned them the No. 21 spot in the final AP poll of the regular season.
Despite that ranking and a matching No. 21 position in the NET rankings, Saint Mary's had to settle for a No. 7 seed and a meeting with a tough SEC opponent, but they survived to live another day with a 59-56 win.
Augustas Marciulionis navigated foul trouble to tally 14 points and eight rebounds, and the WCC Player of the Year had plenty of help with three other starters finishing in double figures.
Props to a Vanderbilt program that went just 9-23 a year ago but rebounded to finish 20-13 en route to earning their first trip to the NCAA tournament since 2017.
Winner: A Healthy Cooper Flagg in His NCAA Tournament Debut
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The outcome of the Duke vs. Mount Saint Mary's game was never really in doubt, even before the two teams tipped off, as the Blue Devils entered the contest as 32.5-point favorites.
However, the bigger question was how freshman phenom Cooper Flagg would look in his first action since rolling his left ankle against Georgia Tech in Duke's opening game of the ACC tournament.
The presumptive No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft and a potential generational talent, Flagg is going to be instrumental in the Blue Devils living up to expectations and making a deep NCAA tournament run after going 31-3 overall and 19-1 in ACC play.
He was not on a workload restriction of any sort and looked like his usual explosive self over 22 minutes of action in a 93-49 blowout victory, finishing with 14 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two blocks.
More will be expected from him both in terms of playing time and production as the tournament unfolds, but seeing him back in action and showing no ill effects of the injury was a promising start to the Blue Devils' tournament run.
Loser: Another Disappointing Early Exit for Shaka Smart
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Shaka Smart announced himself to the college basketball world as a coach on the rise when he took VCU to the Final Four as a No. 11 seed in 2011, and that began a run of five straight NCAA tournament appearances for the Rams before he departed for the University of Texas job.
However, since making the leap to the world of major-conference basketball, he has not fared well during March Madness.
2016 (Texas): No. 6 seed, lost in first round
2018 (Texas): No. 10 seed, lost in first round
2021 (Texas): No. 3 seed, lost in first round
2022 (Marquette): No. 9 seed, lost in first round
2023 (Marquette): No. 2 seed, lost in second round
2024 (Marquette): No. 2 seed, lost in Sweet 16
After ranking as high as No. 5 in the AP poll early in the 2024-25 season, the Golden Eagles ended up settling for a No. 7 seed in this year's tournament with a first-round matchup against Mountain West regular-season champion New Mexico.
Add another disappointing early exit to the list.
The Golden Eagles took a 58-57 lead following a three-pointer from David Joplin (28 points, 6/10 3PT) with 6:44 remaining, but the Lobos answered with a 10-0 run that proved to be the difference in the game, and Marquette was sent packing in a 75-66 loss.
With that loss, Smart is now 3-7 in the NCAA tournament since leaving VCU, and it's back to the drawing board with leading scorer Kam Jones off to the NBA.
Winner: A Convincing Start from the Bracket Favorites
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There were millions of brackets submitted to the NCAA.com bracket challenge this year, and the most common picks to win it all by a wide margin were Duke and Florida.
Here's a look at the top five:
Duke: 30.8 percent
Florida: 17.5 percent
Auburn: 8.9 percent
Houston: 7.3 percent
Michigan State: 5.0 percent
The Blue Devils and Gators both kicked off their NCAA tournament runs on Friday and dispatched their respective No. 16 seed matchups in lopsided fashion.
Duke played during the afternoon slate of games and came away with a 93-49 victory over Mount St. Mary's, shooting 50.0 percent from the floor and turning the ball over just twice while getting 12 different players into the scoring column. Tyrese Proctor (19 points, 5 assists) led the way, while Cooper Flagg (14 points, 7 rebounds) logged 22 solid minutes in his return from injury.
Not to be outdone, Florida steamrolled Norfolk State by a 95-69 margin, with Walter Clayton Jr. (23 points) and Alijah Martin (17 points) leading the way offensively. The Gators won the rebounding battle by a 41-28 margin and assisted on 20 of their 29 made baskets.
After watching Auburn put together a sluggish performance against Alabama State in what still ended up being a 20-point win on Thursday, the nation's two title favorites no doubt made a statement on Friday, though the real test begins this weekend.
Loser: Lower-Seeded SEC Teams
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Everyone knows by now that the SEC sent a record 14 teams to this year's NCAA tournament, and there were bound to be at least a handful of those teams that did not survive the first round.
Let's check in on where things stand:
(1) Auburn
(1) Florida
(2) Alabama
(2) Tennessee
(3) Kentucky
(4) Texas A&M
(6) Ole Miss(6) Missouri(8) Mississippi State(9) Georgia(9) Oklahoma
(10) Arkansas(10) Vanderbilt(11) Texas (eliminated in First Four)
Aside from No. 10 Arkansas winning 79-72 against No. 7 Kansas in the West Region on Thursday, no SEC team seeded below the No. 6 line is still standing heading into second-round action.
Mississippi State, Oklahoma and Vanderbilt joined that list on Friday, and with that the list of SEC teams still standing has shrunk to eight, though the top of that group still includes multiple legitimate title contenders.
Winner: The Illinois "Freshman" Trio
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The Illinois Fighting Illini entered the 2024 NCAA tournament with the No. 1 offense in the nation, led by upperclassmen Terrance Shannon Jr. and Marcus Domask, but with both of those players gone, it has been a much younger group leading the charge on the offensive end this year.
Point guard Kasparas Jakucionis (Lithuania), wing Will Riley (5-star, No. 14 overall recruit) and 7'0" center Tomislav Ivisic (Croatia) have been the three most impactful freshmen on the Illinois roster throughout the 2024-25 season. Ivisic is technically a sophomore after losing a year of eligibility due to playing professionally in Montenegro, but it is still his first season of college basketball.
With that trio stepping into prominent roles alongside Arizona transfer Kylan Boswell, the Illini managed to finish No. 14 in KenPom's adjusted offensive efficiency, and their firepower was on full display in Friday's win over Xavier.
All four players mentioned above had big games in an 86-73 victory that sends the No. 6 seed Illini on to face No. 3 seed Kentucky on Sunday.
Riley (22 points) scored 18 points in the second half alone, while Ivisic (20 points, 10 rebounds) and Jakucionis (16 points, 10 assists, 9 rebounds) both logged double-doubles and Boswell (15 points) joined them in double figures.
If the Wildcats come out flat the way they did on Friday against Troy, they are going to be in serious trouble against the Illinois offense.
Loser: Anyone Who Was Hoping for a Big Upset
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If the first round of this year's NCAA tournament felt extra chalky, you're not imagining things.
Every team on the top four seeding lines is still standing after the first round, and for the first time since 2017, there will be no No. 13, 14, 15 or 16 seed advancing on to the second round.
It was also an unusually lopsided first round, largely due to the dominance of those top-seeded teams, with the widest average scoring margin the tournament has ever seen.
Will a predictable first round mean more chaos this weekend? Here's hoping!
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