It all comes down to these next couple weeks.

The 2025 NCAA Men’s Basketball, also known as March Madness, is officially here, and teams are ready to make a splash. The 68 team bracket was revealed last night, and programs are ready to elevate their game.

The tournament will kick off March 18-19 with the First Four, followed by the First Round March 20-21, Second Round March 22-23, Sweet 16 March 27-28, Elite Eight March 29-30, Final Four April 5, and finally the National Championship April 7.

The #1 seeds are: Auburn (South Region), Duke (East Region), Houston (Midwest Region), and Florida (West Region). Out of all the teams in the bracket, the SEC won the night with a record 14 of 16 teams making the tournament. The Big Ten was next with eight teams, followed by the Big 12 with seven.

There are a lot of different things that fans all across the world are talking about on social media, such as selections and potential matchups. I want to focus on a few key talking points: Louisville, Rick Pitino, North Carolina, and Duke.

Louisville

Fans were expected the Cards to be a 4-5 seed, but they were disappointed when they got called as a #8 seed, playing #9 seed Creighton Thursday, March 20 in Lexington, KY. Even head coach Pat Kelsey, along with the rest of the program, was visually confused when the Cardinals were announced. This could be a potential disaster because if they win, they’ll have the potential opportunity to play Auburn, the #1 overall seed, in the 2nd Round and have a gruesome path to the Sweet Sixteen. In addition to this, they played Clemson, a team that’s been really strong, twice and won both times (won January 7 with a score of 74-64, and March 4 in the ACC tournament semifinal game with a score of 76-73), but the Tigers ended up with a #5 seed.

The team has compiled a strong resume as they finished the season with a 27-7 overall record, and 20-2 ACC record, including their ACC Tournament games. Pat Kelsey and his squad have a 5-6 record against Quad 1 teams, and jumped into the top 25 in the NET rankings. Louisville is ranked No. 23 in this category, thanks to their impressive 11-1 record against Quad 2 teams, and 12-0 against Quad 3 and 4 teams. This, along with many other factors, makes them more than qualified to be a much higher seed, with a 5-6 being more reasonable.

To put this into perspective, there are over 170 mock brackets on BracketMatrix.com, and a grant total of two that projected Louisville to be an 8-seed. Twice as many had the Cards as a 4-seed. Everyone else figured they would be a 5-7 seed, with a healthy majority projecting them to be a 6.

Comparing this season to the past couple, Louisville has a 19 win increase, which is the largest in Division 1.

Rick Pitino

St. John’s earned a No. 2 seed in the tournament field in Pitino’s second season at the program’s helm and is now the sixth team that Pitino has coached to the NCAA tournament.

Pitino’s now coached Boston University, Providence, Kentucky, Louisville and Iona in addition to St. John’s to NCAA tournament appearances and has led two teams to NCAA championships (1996 Kentucky, 2013 Louisville, vacated). He’s largely found his success after taking over programs that were struggling before his arrival.

A former Big East power, St. John’s had several rough patches in recent decades and hadn’t made the NCAA tournament since 2019 before Pitino’s arrival in 2023. In his first year, he took a team that struggled hard and finished 18-15 the year prior to 20-13. Now, he has St. John’s in the postseason as a legitimate threat to win a championship. He is a strong force that can really make a deep run in the tournament.

North Carolina

Many fans thought North Carolina’s season was going to end early after they lost in the ACC tournament semifinal to Duke. However, the opening moments of the bracket revealed relieving news for the Tar Heels.

North Carolina squeezed in as the last team in the field and a No. 11 seed in the South. The Tar Heels made the field despite a 1-12 record in Quad 1 matchups and on the strength of their No. 36 NET rating.

Comparing this team to other bubble teams, North Carolina also closed strong with an 8-2 finish while playing its best basketball of the season following a 14-11 start and finished with a 22-13 record and 13-7 mark in ACC play. Ultimately, the committee determined it added up to enough to put UNC into the field.

Duke

Head coach Jon Scheyer has exceeded expectations, leading one of the nation’s youngest teams to immense success. With Wooden Award frontrunner Cooper Flagg at the helm, the Blue Devils have the potential to make a deep tournament run—just as a freshman-led squad under Mike Krzyzewski did a decade ago. However, Flagg’s availability remains a concern after missing most of the ACC Tournament with an ankle injury, and key defensive contributor Maliq Brown may also be sidelined due to a shoulder injury.

Duke’s path to the 2025 national championship hinges on Flagg, one of the most well-rounded players in recent college basketball history. The freshman star leads the offense on a roster that features three starting freshmen (Flagg, Kon Knueppel, and Khaman Maluach) while anchoring a defense ranked 4th in adjusted defensive efficiency, according to KenPom. Since Flagg turned 18 on December 21, Duke has been nearly unstoppable, finishing the regular season on a 19-1 run, including a statement win 84-78 over Auburn back in early December.

Summary

For the Final Four, I’m predicting Florida, Houston, Duke, and Michigan State to be in there. From there, I’m picking the National Championship to be Florida vs Houston, with Florida being crowned champion.

This year’s NCAA Tournament will without a doubt be one to remember. Every season, the intensity gets turned up even more, and there are way more insane upsets. March is a time where everything, starting from the very beginning of the season, comes down to these next few weeks. When all is said and done, one national champion will be crowned in San Antonio on April 7.