Men's NCAA Tournament 2025: Power Ranking the Elite Eight Teams
Oftentimes in the men's NCAA tournament, the Elite Eight is more of an elite three with four pretty good teams and one wild card who barely made the tournament before getting hot at the right time.
But this year's Elite Eight is legitimately elite.
There has been much complaining over how chalky this dance has been, on par with what we saw annually back in 2007-09. But all that chalk gave us some incredible Sweet 16 games and a downright incredible remaining slate.
Now that only eight remain, how do they stack up?
One important thing to note: Difficulty of the path to the national championship has no bearing on this list. Rather, this could be considered a ranking of how we would reseed the remaining eight teams based on a combination of regular-season success and how great they looked through the first three rounds.
Not that the remaining path is easy in the slightest for anyone. These were the top eight teams in our pre-tournament 68-team power rankings, after all.
We'll examine how teams have played thus far, their Most Outstanding Player candidates and what they need to do to win it all.
8. Texas Tech Red Raiders
1 of 8
Previous Rankings: Pre-Tournament (8), Pre-Sweet 16 (7)
What We've Learned: No lead is safe against Texas Tech.
That comeback against Arkansas on Thursday night was unreal. Not only was it a 16-point game midway through the second half, but it was still a 13-point game with less than five minutes to go when the Red Raiders all of a sudden couldn't be stopped and ended regulation on a 16-3 run.
This came after Drake seemed to be in good shape to pull off the upset about 10 minutes into the second-round matchup, only for the Red Raiders to run away from a team that had been impossible to run away from all season. TTU also battled tooth and nail with UNC-Wilmington for about 30 minutes in the first round before somewhat cruising to a 10-point victory.
The funny thing is Evan Miya's "kill shot" data identified Texas Tech as one of the less streaky teams in this year's tournament field, rarely going on or allowing 10-0 runs. However, with quality rebounding, limited turnovers and a top-five adjusted offensive efficiency, it's a little surprising that spurts of 'unstoppability' weren't already a big part of this team's DNA.
Most Outstanding Player Candidate: Going to cop out in a big way here and just say the starting frontcourt. JT Toppin has gone for 57 points, 32 rebounds and nine blocks while Darrion Williams is sitting at 61 points, 24 rebounds, 10 assists and five steals. Surely Toppin is the more indispensable of the two and is the official pick here, but Williams is more than capable of being the primary reason the Red Raiders continue to win. Look no further than the way he rallied against Arkansas after starting out 1-of-11 from the field, hitting the game-winner in overtime.
X-Factor: Kerwin Walton. After one round, Walton was leading the Red Raiders with 27 points. After three rounds, he's still at 27 points, held scoreless in 45 minutes played against Drake and Arkansas after going 8-of-19 from three-point range with the most permanent green light of all time against UNC-Wilmington. Will he be a factor against Florida, or is it all up to Toppin and Williams to shoulder the load?
Championship Blueprint: Get hot from distance, limit second-chance opportunities and ride Toppin to the top of the mountain. (Yes, this is a carbon copy of our pre-S16 blueprint. Nothing has changed, aside from the 'second chances' part growing even more important with Florida up next.)
7. Michigan State Spartans
2 of 8
Previous Rankings: Pre-Tournament (6), Pre-Sweet 16 (8)
What We've Learned: Coen Carr might finally be hitting his stride.
It was readily apparent in the first game of Coen Carr's college career (say that 10 times fast) last season that A) his ceiling was very high and B) he still might hit his head on that ceiling with an explosive jump.
For the better part of two years, though, it has been occasional incredible highlights interspersed between lengthy vanishing acts.
Carr has been more consistent this season than last, but it wasn't until Friday night that Tom Izzo finally trusted him enough to have him out there at the opening tip of a game, taking Szymon Zapala's spot in the starting lineup, who had started every game up until that point.
And after going for a career-high 18 points with nine rebounds in the opener against Bryant, Carr matched a career high with 32 minutes played in the Sweet 16 against Ole Miss, scoring 15 points and delivering the rim-rattling slam dunk in the second half that started to really swing the momentum in MSU's favor.
Getting Jase Richardson into the starting lineup in early February and having him immediately blossom into a star is when the Spartans started to really feel like a contender. If Carr follows suit by staying hot, they could win it all.
Most Outstanding Player Candidate: Richardson had a meager six points in the second round against New Mexico in what was his worst game in almost two months. He bounced back in a big way with 20 points (10 in each half) against Ole Miss. Richardson also had two huge defensive rebounds in the final two minutes, each of which led to a critical bucket.
X-Factor: Richardson shot 4-of-6 from three-point range against the Rebels while the rest of the team went 2-of-11. That's been business as usual since early February, the freshman shooting well over 40 percent from distance but getting virtually no help in that department. Couldn't tell you if a single team in the country has practiced a box-and-one defense in the past decade, but throwing one at Richardson and the Spartans could cause a major problem.
Championship Blueprint: Dominate the glass, limit giveaways and let Richardson cook.
6. Tennessee Volunteers
3 of 8
Previous Rankings: Pre-Tournament (7), Pre-Sweet 16 (5)
What We've Learned: That defense is more than fine.
During its 14-0 start to the season, Tennessee allowed a "Peak Virginia under Tony Bennett"-like 55.9 points per game. The Volunteers completely shut down Baylor, Louisville, Illinois and Arkansas and looked like a very real threat to win the national championship.
Life in the loaded SEC took its toll on this defense, though, Tennessee allowing at least 70 points in 11 of its final 20 games heading into the tournament, this despite leading the nation in three-point field-goal defense.
It culminated in an 86-77 loss to Florida in the SEC championship, simultaneously entrenching the Gators as one of the favorites to win it all while raising some questions about the staying power of a Tennessee team that infamously has never made it to the Final Four.
Well, that early-season defensive dominance has been back on display. Not quite 55.9 PPG, but 61.7 PPG against Wofford, UCLA and Kentucky is no joke.
They've even had some tough regression to the mean in the three-point defense area with those three teams going a combined 24-of-64 (37.5 percent) from distance, but it wasn't enough to keep any of those games particularly close, thanks in part to a combined total of 24 steals.
Most Outstanding Player Candidate: Chaz Lanier. We've been beating a dead horse with this statistic, but Tennessee is a perfect 21-0 when getting at least 18 points from Lanier. He fell just shy of that mark with 17 against Kentucky in the Sweet 16, but he's averaging 22.0 for the tournament and has been every bit the mid-major star turned transfer portal slam dunk that Dalton Knecht was for the Vols last year.
X-Factor: How much scoring help will Lanier get? Zakai Zeigler has a pair of points-assists double-doubles in this tournament, and Jordan Gainey has been his typically solid self off the bench, averaging 12.0 points. But Igor Milicic has struggled in all three games, Jahmai Mashack has never been much of a scorer and Felix Okpara is mostly out there for rebounds and rim protection. It doesn't take 80 points for the Vols to win, but can we even be sure they'll get to 60?
Championship Blueprint: Establish Lanier early and often and keep contesting shots along the perimeter to keep that scoring defense machine churning.
5. Auburn Tigers
4 of 8
Previous Rankings: Pre-Tournament (3), Pre-Sweet 16 (4)
What We've Learned: Auburn can still take over games when it feels like it.
It was a one-point game late in the first half of the opener against Alabama State. Auburn cruised to a 20-point victory.
Creighton led by a deuce with 14 minutes remaining in that second-round game. One 20-4 run later, Auburn was well on its way to a 12-point win.
Michigan had the Tigers in a world of trouble Friday night, leading 48-39 with a little over 12 minutes to go. Denver Jones and Tahaad Pettiford caught fire for a 29-6 run as Auburn, yet again, won by double digits, this time by 13.
While it would be swell if the Tigers just came out for the opening tip with that type of fire instead of needing to be backed into a corner before finally striking, the big run always seems to come eventually.
That wasn't the case leading up to the tournament, never showing up against Texas A&M, wilting repeatedly in the home finale against Alabama and then scoring 62 and 65 in their two SEC tournament teams. Kind of felt like the Auburn that was kicking ass and taking names for the first four months of the season was dead and buried.
That team has at least shown up for the second halves of these tournament games.
Most Outstanding Player Candidate: No question here that it's Johni Broome. He couldn't make much of anything against Creighton, finishing with eight points on 13 shots. He still impacted that game with 12 rebounds and two blocks. And he battled back big-time with 22 points and 16 rebounds against Michigan's vaunted dual 7-footers frontcourt.
X-Factor: Will their physicality be a gift or a curse? Auburn blocks a ton of shots and just generally gets after you on defense, but that aggressive style does frequently result in some foul trouble. Broome fouled out on Friday. Two other Tigers finished with four. And while they do have a very strong seven-man rotation, early whistles (especially against Broome) could be their undoing.
Championship Blueprint: Keep playing like it's November-February all over again, and get Pettiford into one of his grooves as quickly as possible every night.
4. Alabama Crimson Tide
5 of 8
Previous Rankings: Pre-Tournament (5), Pre-Sweet 16 (6)
What We've Learned: The Alabama that looked like a No. 1 seed for most of the season never left.
It felt like everyone outside of Tuscaloosa was selling all of its stock in the Crimson Tide heading into the tournament, in light of the five losses they suffered in their final nine games.
In reality, Alabama was still red hot, averaging 93.7 points over its last 10. It just had the misfortune of running into Florida twice, splitting with Auburn, hitting Missouri at its apex and losing on a buzzer-beater to Tennessee.
As you may have heard, the SEC was pretty good this year.
Now, could Alabama's defense have been better during that closing stretch? Absolutely. And with a game against the nation's most efficient offense up next, it's more than a little concerning that the Tide allowed 81 to Robert Morris and 88 to BYU, even in uptempo affairs.
But if the Crimson Tide remain on fire from distance, there's no reason they couldn't win a few more track meets.
Most Outstanding Player Candidate: Mark Sears went through some rough games during the regular season, including being held scoreless by both Illinois and LSU. He also had a bit of an off night in the second-round victory over Saint Mary's. But that all feels like ancient history after he lit up BYU for 34 points (10 made threes), eight assists and three steals. Better late than never from the preseason favorite for NPOY.
X-Factor: It has done nothing to slow them down so far, but the Crimson Tide have posted a negative turnover margin in each game of the tournament, sitting at a minus-10 overall. It's not a recent development, either, now at minus-91 for the season. Duke isn't much of a turnover-forcing team in its own right, but good luck winning that one with another negative turnover game.
Championship Blueprint: Rain threes on offense, limit threes on defense and just keep run, run, running to a title.
3. Houston Cougars
6 of 8
Previous Rankings: Pre-Tournament (2), Pre-Sweet 16 (2)
What We've Learned: They can survive an off night from LJ Cryer.
All season, LJ Cryer was one of the best scorers in the country. He entered Friday's battle with Purdue shooting 43 percent from three-point range with 110 made triples, plus a 91.3 percent success rate from the free-throw line. He was the Cougars' leading scorer by a considerable margin and was named a third-team All-American by the Associated Press.
He also had one of the worst nights of his entire career against the Boilermakers, shooting 2-of-13 from the field for five points.
He did at least have five assists and no turnovers, but they needed Milos Uzan, they needed Emanuel Sharp and they needed the defense in the biggest way yet. (Purdue fans would be glad to point out they needed the help of a few terrible calls on out-of-bounds plays in the final few minutes, too.)
All of those things came through in the clutch for Houston when Cryer was unable to carry over any of the momentum from his 30-point special against Gonzaga in the previous round.
That's back-to-back tough ones Houston has needed to survive, but that's just what this team does. The Cardiac Cougars have won 29 of their last 30 games, plenty of them in low-scoring, nail-biting fashion.
Most Outstanding Player Candidate: Going back and forth and back again with this pick. It was clearly Cryer after his performance against the Zags, but it might clearly be Uzan now after he hit six triples and the game-winner with one second remaining against Purdue. He finished with 22 points and six assists, and his relentless defense along the perimeter is why Braden Smith had to settle for racking up assists instead of points.
X-Factor: You saw it quite plainly against Purdue: Can they score enough? For as great as this team is at shooting threes, that 62-60 victory was its 17th game of the year scoring 70 points or fewer. And no matter how great your defense may be, the caliber of offenses the Cougars are liable to run into in San Antonio (if they can get past Tennessee on Sunday) will all be capable of dropping at least 70 on anyone.
Championship Blueprint: Clamp down on D, make it rain from three and continue to play like a team that has lost one game (in overtime, no less) since the end of November.
2. Florida Gators
7 of 8
Previous Rankings: Pre-Tournament (4), Pre-Sweet 16 (3)
What We've Learned: Thomas Haugh is the national sixth man of the year.
Such an award doesn't exist, and Haugh wasn't even named the SEC's 6MOY, that honor instead going to Missouri's Caleb Grill.
What a phenomenal season he has had, though, mostly in a reserve capacity, backing up the starting frontcourt tandem of Alex Condon and Rueben Chinyelu.
Dating back to the road win over Auburn in early February in which Haugh went for 16 points, nine rebounds, three blocks and three assists, he has averaged 12.5 PPG, 6.1 RPG and 3.3 APG. And having that guy coming off the bench for 13 points, nine boards, four dimes, two steals, a block and a partridge in a pear tree felt extra relevant in the Sweet 16 against a Maryland team with no bench whatsoever.
Haugh has scored in double figures in five of six games since the beginning of the SEC tournament, doing a lot of his damage from the charity stripe (34-of-43).
On the opposite end of the spectrum, though, we've learned that Florida isn't as mistake-free as it seemed. The Gators entered the tournament having committed just 9.1 turnovers over their last 11 games, but they averaged 13.7 giveaways in their first three games, with some really careless mistakes in the first halves against both Connecticut and Maryland. Need to get that under control the rest of the way.
Most Outstanding Player Candidate: Haugh has been great, but there's no question the answer here is Walter Clayton Jr. He had a quiet 13 points and four assists against Maryland on Thursday, but there was nothing hushed about the 23 he put up in the battle with UConn, in what was his sixth time in seven games scoring at least 22. Clayton has hit multiple three-pointers in each of his last 16 games played, usually with a handful of assists to boot.
X-Factor: Rebounding. When finishing +5 or better in rebound margin, Florida is 22-1 with an average scoring margin of +19.4—the lone loss coming in the 106-100 SEC opener against Kentucky. But as we saw in the second round against UConn, in the losses to Missouri and Georgia and in the close call against South Carolina, things can get a bit shaky when the Gators run into a frontcourt that can hang with them on the glass.
Championship Blueprint: Own the glass, get some runouts and keep that offense firing on all cylinders.
1. Duke Blue Devils
8 of 8
Previous Rankings: Pre-Tournament (1), Pre-Sweet 16 (1)
What We've Learned: First and foremost, we've learned that Cooper Flagg's ankle is fine. It might still be sore, but it didn't stop him from going for 30 points in a historic performance against Arizona in the Sweet 16.
We also learned that this pre-tournament favorite to win it all somehow still had more room for improvement, now leading the nation in adjusted offensive efficiency after averaging a slightly ludicrous 1.41 points per possession through its first three tournament games. There was a stretch of more than 10 minutes on Thursday night where they did not miss a single shot—and Arizona is not half bad on defense.
Lastly, we learned that freshman big man Patrick Ngongba is a legitimate piece of the puzzle now.
He stepped up in the ACC tournament when Flagg went down, but he had mostly been a "garbage time" reserve up until that point. (Granted, with Duke's average scoring margin this season, there was plenty of garbage time to be found.) He scored at least eight points in each of their first three tournament games, and probably would have played an even bigger role against Arizona if he hadn't fouled out in 12 minutes.
Most Outstanding Player Candidate: I mean, of course it's Flagg. Tyrese Proctor was en fuego in the first two games, shooting a combined 13-of-16 from three-point range. However, he was kind of a ghost in the Arizona game and it was going to take a near-miracle for him to edge out Flagg here anyway. Meanwhile, the freshman phenom has averaged 20.7 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 5.7 APG and 2.0 BPG in the dance.
X-Factor: Heading into the tournament, the obvious answer here was Flagg's ankle. What's even more obvious now is that's no longer an issue. Duke also had Maliq Brown (shoulder) back out there for a few minutes against Arizona, which could be huge moving forward. Rather, the X-factor here is the unknown of how this team responds in a close game. Duke held Arizona at bay in a semi-close one on Thursday but lost three of its four games this season that came down to the wire.
Championship Blueprint: Stay healthy, lock in on defense and hope that Alabama doesn't hit 25 three-pointers again.
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