Five months after more than 300 college basketball teams began the season with championship dreams, the number of contenders is now down to 68.
With the NCAA men’s basketball tournament revealing its 68-team bracket Sunday, NBC News is here to break down the teams and players to know, from the top seeds to the potential Cinderella stories.
The men’s championship will take place April 7 in San Antonio’s Alamodome. Connecticut, which won consecutive championships in 2023 and 2024, begins its title defense as a No. 8 seed.
The top seed I’m most worried about
Greif: Florida. The West Region is the tournament’s most difficult on paper with the top-seeded Gators surrounded by St. John’s, Texas Tech and Maryland, all of which are ranked in the nation’s top 12 by Ken Pomeroy, whose rankings are something of a Bible in the sport.
By winning the brutal SEC Tournament — it was by far the nation’s best conference this season and produced 14 NCAA teams — the Gators have shown they can prevail in a loaded field, but they appear to have been given the most difficult top draw.
Auerbach: Auburn and Florida. Duke is still the best team in the country, as long as presumptive No. 1 NBA draft pick Cooper Flagg can play. Houston is weirdly underrated even though it is Kelvin Sampson’s best (and healthiest) group yet. I like both of those teams to get to the Final Four. I’m equally concerned about the two other No. 1 seeds.
Auburn lost three of its final four games heading into Selection Sunday, which concerns me a bit considering the Tigers could face Tom Izzo’s Michigan State Spartans in the Elite Eight. Izzo has taken eight different teams to the Final Four, and this particular team has that type of DNA.
On a completely different note, I’m worried about Florida because of the path it drew. The Gators are red hot and playing as well as anyone in the country coming into this tournament, but they have St. John’s as the No. 2 seed, Texas Tech as the No. 3 seed and Maryland as the No. 4 seed in their region. That might be too tough a path after a treacherous regular season in the SEC.
Nadkarni: I’m a little nervous for Duke. Yes, I know the Blue Devils won the last two games of the ACC Tournament without Flagg — and I’m aware things are trending toward Flagg’s playing in the first round — but I wonder if Duke is a little vulnerable with its best player nursing an injury.
Is there any part of Flagg that will be cautious with his much-hyped NBA career on the horizon? Couple that with how every school treats the Blue Devils like their own personal national championship when it comes tourney time, I’m curious to see how Duke responds early in the bracket.
The Cinderella story of the tournament will be …
Greif: Akron, because of its offense. The 13th-seeded Zips, who face fourth-seeded Arizona in the first round, play at one of the country’s fastest tempos and make the fourth-most 3-pointers per game. They should be able to play at their preferred pace because their opponent also likes to play fast. More possessions and more field-goal attempts equal more opportunities to knock off a higher seed.
Auerbach: Drake. The Bulldogs have already been one of the best stories in all of college basketball — and that’s not just because their adorable live bulldog mascot, Griff II, stole the show at the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
After having won four Division II national championships at Northwest Missouri State, Ben McCollum jumped up to Division I and promptly started winning basketball games at this level. Drake won both the MVC regular season title and the conference championship in his first season.
This is a team that rebounds extremely well on both ends while forcing a lot of turnovers, which means the Bulldogs typically get significantly more scoring opportunities than their opponents. And they rank dead last in the nation in tempo, maximizing possessions even more by playing at such a slow pace that they have more chances to score than their opponents, and their opponents feel more pressure because they won’t have many chances to make up for empty possessions. That’s a winning combo, and, as I like to say in March, styles make fights.
Nadkarni: Can you be a Cinderella story if you’re the sixth seed? I don’t care, because I’m picking the Missouri Tigers. Missouri finished fifth in Kenpom’s adjusted offensive efficiency, and I like riding with a team that can score in March. Beyond that, the Tigers finished 0-18 in the SEC last year. That’s right — Missouri is coming off a defeated conference season. The Tigers’ simply making the tournament out of a loaded SEC is a Cinderella accomplishment in its own right. The school should have a good chance to keep it rolling in March.
Players I’m most excited to watch
Greif: Oh, you mean other than the most obvious answer of Duke’s Flagg, the odds-on favorite to be the top pick in June’s NBA draft but who injured his ankle last week? In that case, I want to watch 6-foot-10 big man Johni Broome of top-seeded Auburn, who, like Flagg, is a semifinalist for the Naismith Trophy, which goes to the country’s best player.
I also want to watch the way Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner, another Naismith semifinalist who tied Patrick Ewing as a four-time winner of the Big East’s Defensive Player of the Year award, deters opponents from attempting shots near the rim.
Auerbach: Cooper Flagg, Johni Broome and Zuby Ejiofor
Flagg is self-explanatory, assuming he’s healthy. He’s projected to be the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft and is unbelievably entertaining to watch, which is why his injury during the ACC Tournament was such a bummer. Thankfully, he’s expected to play in March Madness — and here’s hoping he’s close to 100% so we get to see if one of the best teams in the nation all year ends up being the best team in this tournament.
Broome, Auburn’s best player, may be the nation’s best player. It’s Flagg vs. Broome for all the National Player of the Year awards, and rightfully so. The old-school vet and walking double-double has led the Tigers all season long, and he’ll try to carry this team all the way to a national championship over the coming weeks. Despite losing three of its last four games, Auburn remains poised for a deep March run because of its age and experience, led by Broome.
Ejiofor, the St. John’s center, has had some massive performances when the Johnnies needed him most — most recently with a career-high 33 points in the semifinal of the Big East Tournament and the buzzer-beater against Marquette in the team’s regular-season finale.
“I have been coaching for 50 years,” St. John’s coach Rick Pitino said this weekend. “There are very few Zubys to come along.”
Pitino himself will be one of the biggest storylines of March Madness, which means we’ll all get to learn more about this team and its many tough, dynamic playmakers.
Nadkarni: I’ll also avoid the obvious choice in Flagg and give some love to Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr. here. Any time I can watch a guard who likes chucking it from deep in the tournament, I will tune in. Clayton fits the bill.
Like Flagg and Broome, he is a Naismith Trophy semifinalist. And he shoots over seven 3-pointers a game, connecting at nearly a 38% rate. I want to watch Clayton let it fly for the Gators.
Final Four picks and national champion
Greif: St. John’s, Auburn, Gonzaga and Wisconsin. Bruce Pearl and the Tigers end up winning their first national title.
Auerbach: Michigan State, Duke, Houston and Florida, with the Blue Devils winning the national championship. Assuming Flagg is healthy, the best team in the country will be the one that cuts down the nets.
Nadkarni: St. John’s, Auburn, Alabama and Clemson, with Rick Pitino’s Red Storm winning it all.
