The National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) highly anticipated basketball tournament, dubbed March Madness, begins on March 20. The competition consists of a single elimination bracket with 68 teams which condenses to 64 teams when 8 teams face off on First Four weekend in a play-in style tournament to clinch their spot in the bracket. During the First Round on the weekend of March 20th, 16 teams compete within their region: East, West, South and Midwest. The winners of each region advance to the Final Four where they compete with the best teams from the other three regions for the coveted national championship.
Some powerhouse teams this year are the Alabama Crimson Tide, Florida Gators, Duke Blue Devils and Auburn Tigers. Official seeding is on Selection Sunday, which starts March 16.
Our Top Four Contenders
1. Duke Blue Devils
- 2025 Record: 25-3
- 2024 result: Lost to NC State in Elite 8
- Projected seed (according to NCAA.com) in 2025 tournament: 1st
- Team summary: Duke enters the tournament as a likely No. 1 seed and has a powerful team led by future NBA draft lottery pick, Copper Flagg, who has been averaging 19.3 ppg, 7.6 rpg, and 4.1 apg. Head coach Jon Scheyer is in his third year after taking over from the legendary Coach Krzyzewski.
2. Auburn
- 2025 Record: 25-2
- 2024 result: Lost to Yale in the first round
- Projected seed in 2025 tournament: No. 1 seed in the South Region
- Team summary: Auburn has emerged as one of the top teams, leading all teams in the SEC. Projected first round pick and star forward Johni Broome has led the team in all statistics besides steals averaging 18.8 ppg, 11.0 rpg, 3.4 apg, and 2.5 bpg.
3. St. John’s Red Storm
- 2025 Record: 24-4
- 2024 result: Didn’t make the tournament in 2024
- Projected seeding: 4th in the East Region
- Team summary: St. John’s has turned many heads in the NCAA as under the new leadership of head coach Rick Pitino the team leads the Big East and looks to make their first March Madness appearance since 2019. The team looks to make history as they have never made it past the first weekend this century.
4. Iowa State Cyclones
- 2025 Record: 22-8
- 2024 result: Lost to Illinois in the Sweet Sixteen
- Projected seed in 2025 tournament: 3rd in the Midwest Region
- Team summary: Iowa State is a well rounded team led by Curtis Jones with 16.7 ppg, and dynamic forward Joshua Jefferson, who has 12.7 ppg and 7.5 rpg. They are 5th in conference play but have played well in other games. They have also had some success in previous years, as they earned a 2 seed and made it to the Sweet Sixteen last year.
Championship Prediction
All teams are strong contenders; however, the generational talent Duke has in Flagg — combined with the team’s key roleplayers — is a defensive nightmare for any opponent.
Auburn, which just won the SEC regular-season championship, looks to make a strong push to the Finals, though they have yet to beat Duke. In a matchup on Dec. 4 of last year, Duke held off Auburn winning by 6 points, behind a 22-point performance from Flagg.
St. Johns has had the easiest schedule this regular season of our projected top four teams, playing many low record teams. However, they are a well coached unit and have played with a lot of consistency. The tournament will be a true test for them, as they have not faced many top-tier teams to this point.
Iowa State has struggled with injuries throughout the year but have maintained a steady 22-8 record playing against top teams like Auburn, Marquette, Baylor, Kansas, Houston and Arizona. If the team recovers their roster depth and is able to stay healthy, they will be a versatile threat with all but one of their starters averaging double digit points per game. The team’s strength lies in their roster depth and they will need all their players to step it up during the tournament.
With all of these factors, it makes the most sense that Duke will be favored to hoist the national championship trophy in San Antonio’s Alamodome.
