Seeing Gonzaga as a No. 8 seed in the 2025 NCAA Tournament bracket is an anomaly since it’s just the second time over the past 10 NCAA Tournaments that the Bulldogs are seeded outside the top five. Gonzaga was the preseason No. 6 team in the nation and climbed as high as No. 3, but lost four West Coast Conference games for the first time in Mark Few’s 26 years as head coach. Gonzaga plays Georgia in an 8 vs. 9 matchup that’s always one of the toughest to predict when making 2025 March Madness bracket picks, so who should you expect to advance in the NCAA basketball tournament?
Gonzaga has won at least one NCAA Tournament game in 17 straight years, while Georgia is playing in its first March Madness since 2015 in a battle of the Bulldogs. The winner could face No. 1 Houston in the second round, so how should you handle this portion of the Midwest Region when filling out 2025 NCAA Tournament bracket picks? Before you make your 2025 NCAA Tournament predictions, see the March Madness bracket picks from the proven computer model at SportsLine.
Last year, SportsLine’s computer simulation nailed massive upsets, including huge wins by No. 11 Oregon over No. 6 South Carolina, No. 11 NC State over No. 6 Texas Tech, No. 10 Colorado over No. 7 Florida, and No. 12 James Madison over No. 5 Wisconsin last year. The model has beaten over 91 percent of all CBS Sports bracket players in four of the past six tournaments.
This model, which simulates every game 10,000 times, has nailed 24 first-round upsets by double-digit seeds since its inception in 2016 and nailed UConn’s championship run last year. It nailed 13 teams in the Sweet 16 and was all over Alabama’s Cinderella run to the Final Four as a 4-seed.
Now, SportsLine’s advanced computer model has simulated the entire 2025 March Madness bracket 10,000 times to come up with the perfect 2025 NCAA Tournament bracket and find out which teams will pull off the biggest upsets. You shouldn’t even think about making a pick without seeing what their model has to say.
Top 2025 March Madness bracket upset picks
One South Region surprise the model has identified: No. 13 Yale beats No. 4 Texas A&M, a team that ranked as high as No. 7 in the AP Poll this year. Yale knows something about pulling off first-round upsets as the Bulldogs defeated Auburn as a No. 13 seed in last year’s NCAA Tournament. Yale won 78-76 after outscoring Auburn by nine points in the second half and returned John Poulakidas, who scored 28 points against Auburn. The Bulldogs also retained head coach James Jones, who has guided the program the entire 21st century.
Poulakidas, a senior guard, averaged 19.2 points per game this season, including scoring 25 points against Cornell as Yale won its second straight Ivy League Tournament. Poulakidas proved last year he isn’t afraid of the big moment. Texas A&M is 2-5 over its last seven games and although those were tough matchups with how strong the SEC was this season, the Aggies were favored in three of those five losses.
Another South Region surprise the model has identified: Creighton beats Louisville in the all-important 8-9 matchup. The Bluejays are playing in their fifth straight NCAA Tournament and have made the second week in three of their last four trips. Creighton features a pair of fifth-year seniors in center Ryan Kalkbrenner and guard Steven Ashworth from last year’s starting lineup in one of the top veteran duos in college basketball. Kalkbrenner averaged 19.4 points and 8.8 rebounds with Ashworth averaging 16.3 points and 6.8 assists per game this season. Kalkbrenner is a four-year starter for Creighton with ample NCAA Tournament experience.
Meanwhile, Louisville is playing in its first NCAA Tournament since 2019, and although the Cardinals entered last week ranked No. 13 in the nation and made the ACC Championship Game, they struggled against ranked opponents all season. The ACC wasn’t as dominant this year with only three teams safely in the Round of 64 with North Carolina playing in the First Four. Creighton had three wins over ranked teams, including defeating a No. 1 Kansas squad at the time, and is a No. 9 seed to watch in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. See which other 2025 March Madness matchups to target here.
How to make 2025 NCAA Tournament bracket predictions
Who wins every tournament-defining matchup? And which teams will make surprising runs through the 2025 NCAA Tournament bracket? With the model’s track record of calling bracket-busting upsets, you’ll want to see which stunners it’s calling this year before locking in any 2025 NCAA bracket picks.
So what’s the optimal NCAA Tournament 2025 bracket? And which NCAA Tournament Cinderella teams will shock college basketball? Visit SportsLine now to see which region features two mammoth upsets in the first round, including one by a team that’s only ever won a single tournament game, and see which 6-seed makes the Sweet 16, all from the model that’s nailed 24 first-round upsets by double-digit seeds.
