Rick Pitino continues to bring teams to the NCAA Tournament bracket. The 72-year-old head coach has guided his sixth different school to an NCAA Tournament, bringing St. John’s to the Round of 64 of the March Madness bracket 2025. St. John’s is the No. 2 seed in the West Region of the NCAA Tournament bracket 2025 and has a chance of reaching its first Sweet 16 in the 21st century. Pitino, in his second year at St. John’s, is a pivotal reason for the program’s quick turnaround and St. John’s could be one of the popular 2025 March Madness bracket picks to go on a deep run.
If St. John’s reaches its first Final Four since 1985, it may need to go through Florida. The Gators are the No. 1 seed in the West Region of the 2025 NCAA bracket as the SEC champions, leading a conference that sent an NCAA Tournament-record 14 teams into the 2025 March Madness field. Before making any 2025 March Madness bracket predictions, be sure to check out the 2025 NCAA Tournament bracket picks from the proven computer model at SportsLine.
Their proven projection model has simulated every game in the tournament 10,000 times. It has absolutely crushed its March Madness picks recently, beating over 91 percent of all CBS Sports brackets in four of the past six tournaments. It was all over UConn’s championship run a year ago and nailed 13 teams in the Sweet 16. It also nailed Alabama’s Cinderella run to the Final Four as a 4-seed.
It knows how to spot an upset as well. The same model has produced brackets that have nailed 24 first-round upsets by double-digit seeds since its inception in 2016. There’s simply no reason to rely on luck when there’s proven technology to help you dominate your 2025 March Madness pools.
Now, with the 2025 NCAA bracket being revealed, the model is simulating the matchups and its results are in. You can only see it over at SportsLine.
2025 March Madness bracket games to watch
One of the 2025 March Madness matchups to keep an eye on: No. 8 seed Mississippi State vs. No. 9 seed Baylor in the East Region. Mississippi State and Baylor each have two of the top young guards in the nation. Mississippi State sophomore Josh Hubbard was third in the SEC in scoring at 18.7 points per game. Baylor freshman V.J. Edgecombe, at 6-foot-5, could be a top-five pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, and is averaging 15 ppg. Hubbard was second in the SEC in 3-pointers (104) and playmaking, 3-point shooting guards can will teams on NCAA Tournament runs. Baylor’s guards have a size advantage over the 5-11 Hubbard though with three starting guards at 6-4 or taller. How Baylor defends Hubbard will be key in this 8 vs. 9 contest.
Also in the East Region, BYU vs. VCU figures to be a pivotal 6 vs. 11 matchup. The Cougars have never made a Final Four, but they won 24 games this season and their lone loss in their last 10 games came against Houston in the Big 12 Tournament. They lost to No. 11 seed Duquesne in the Round of 64 last year, so they will try to avoid losing in a similar matchup this year. VCU is a 28-win team after winning its third Atlantic 10 Tournament title in school history, and it is making its 20th NCAA Tournament appearance.
The third matchup to watch in the East Region features No. 3 seed Wisconsin vs. No. 14 seed Montana. The Badgers have been prone to upsets in recent NCAA Tournaments under head coach Greg Gard as Wisconsin is 1-3 against double-digit seeds over its last four NCAA Tournaments dating back to 2019, including losing a 5 vs. 12 matchup against James Madison last year. In 2022, Wisconsin won its first-round matchup as a No. 3 seed before losing to No. 11 seed Iowa State in the second round and missing the 2023 NCAA Tournament. The Badgers are coming off a 59-53 loss to Michigan in the Big Ten Championship Game despite entering as 3.5-point favorites. Meanwhile, Montana has won 14 of 15 games as the Big Sky champions and have the third-best shooting percentage (49.6%) in the nation, putting Wisconsin on potential upset alert yet again. You can see how far all these teams go over at SportsLine.
How to make 2025 NCAA bracket predictions
How far will those major programs go? And which Cinderella 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 is calling this year before locking in any 2025 NCAA bracket picks.
So what’s the optimal NCAA Tournament bracket 2025? And which 2025 March Madness underdogs will shock college basketball? Visit SportsLine now to see which teams you can back with confidence, all from the model that’s nailed 24 upsets by double-digit seeds since its inception and beat over 91% of players in four of the last six tournaments.
