Bracketology: Predicting the 2025 NCAA Tournament Field – Scenes from Michigan-Ohio State

02/17/2025 01:03 PM

Hello friends, and welcome to a Holy Hell Only One Month Away From Selection Sunday edition of Bracketology here at ClutchPoints! Today, in addition to providing a fresh set of Bracketology projections, I’ll also be taking an extended look at the Michigan-Ohio State shootout on Sunday afternoon… a game which I was lucky enough to attend with my soon-to-be brother-in-law/Ohio State graduate Matt.

-First of all, props to Matt for driving us through a literal blizzard on Sunday morning from Cleveland to Columbus. We braved a storm that had caused at least two dozen cars to go off the road on our way there, and we even made it in time to have a delicious cheese and pepperoni pizza pie at Adriatico’s before the game. Additionally, props to my fiancee Maria for buying us the tickets for Christmas, which I’m sure was an excuse for me to watch a basketball game with someone besides her.

-I’ve been in a lot of absolutely electric arenas in my life, and The Schottenstein Center in Columbus ranks very highly on that list. Maybe it’s the fact that this was a game against the hated Michigan Wolverines, or that Ohio State needed a win to feel really good about their case as a bubble team, but this crowd brought it for two straight hours on Sunday afternoon. Well, until this happened:

Bruce Thornton just airballed a floater to tie the game and send Michigan-Ohio State to overtime pic.twitter.com/N9H8jLyi6L

— Pikkit (@pikkitsports) February 16, 2025

Bruce Thornton played every single second of Sunday’s game, and made lord knows how many huge plays throughout the game to keep the Buckeyes in striking distance of the Big Ten leading Wolverines. Ohio State gets rolled if Thornton doesn’t play as well as he did, and that made it even more shocking that with a chance to send the game to overtime, Thornton short-armed a wide open floater, sucking the life out of The Schott in almost alarming fashion.

-Quick thoughts on Michigan… I’d advise you not to sleep on the Wolverines come NCAA Tournament time. Dusty May has revitalized this program overnight, coaching the hell out of this group and bringing in a duo of transfers — Danny Wolf and Vladislav Goldin — who play like they’ve been sharing the court together for years. Goldin is an absolutely handful on the interior who will feast on opponents who lack size up front, and Wolf is one of the most complete players in the country, someone who is in complete command at all times, giving Michigan an interior presence, a point forward facilitator, or a go-to-scorer.

Bracketology Bracket 

Bracketology Breakdown 

Top Seeds: Auburn Tigers (South Region), Alabama Crimson Tide (Midwest Region), Duke Blue Devils (East Region), Florida Gators (West Region)

Multi-Bid Leagues: ACC (4), Big East (4), Big Ten (10), Big 12 (8), Mountain West (3), SEC (13), WCC (2)

Bracketology Bubble Watch 

Last Four Byes: Texas, Vanderbilt, West Virginia, Oklahoma

Last Four In: Georgia, San Diego State, Wake Forest, BYU

First Four Out: Xavier, Arkansas, VCU, SMU

Next Four Out: North Carolina, Boise State, Indiana, Cincinnati

Five Most Intriguing Games of the Week

Tuesday February 18th (Peacock, 7 PM ET) – Purdue at Michigan State

Wednesday February 19th (SEC Network, 9 PM ET) – Alabama at Missouri

Saturday February 22nd (ESPN, Noon ET) – Tennessee at Texas A&M

Saturday February 22nd (ESPN, 2 PM ET) – Iowa State at Houston

Saturday February 22nd (FOX, 8 PM ET) – Duke at Illinois

In addition to our five most intriguing games of the week, it’s worth noting that with Selection Sunday less than a month away, we have plenty of games featuring teams that are firmly on the bubble, including BYU (vs. Kansas AND at Arizona), Vanderbilt (at Kentucky AND vs. Ole Miss), Villanova (vs. Marquette), Indiana (vs. Purdue), Ohio State (at UCLA), North Carolina (vs. Virginia), Oklahoma (vs. Mississippi State), and Arkansas (vs. Missouri). Plus, don’t forget about high-stakes head-to-head matchups between Cincinnati and West Virginia, New Mexico and Boise State, and San Diego State and Utah State.

And One! 

Three weeks ago, I made what I believed was a pretty straight-forward, not-so-risky prediction here when I picked Saint Mary’s to defeat Gonzaga in their first matchup of the season. The game was played at Saint Mary’s and I assumed, five days out, that the Gaels would be favored, so my exact prediction was that Saint Mary’s would win AND cover. Little did I know, Saint Mary’s would actually be the underdog despite the fact that they came into the game playing better than the Bulldogs AND with a better record.

This time around the Zags will host the Gaels in Spokane, and I’m certain that Gonzaga will be favored even though Saint Mary’s won their last matchup. So I’m going to run my January 27th And One! prediction back for a second time. Saint Mary’s will not only cover against Gonzaga, they’ll win outright this Saturday night, building on their lead in the WCC.

Past And One! Predictions 

11/24/24 – I’ll eat way too much food on Thanksgiving (CORRECT)

12/2/24 – The Big 12 will win the Big East-Big 12 Battle (CORRECT) and the SEC will win the ACC-SEC Challenge (CORRECT)

12/12/24 – At least nine of those 12 SEC teams in the December 12th Bracketology field will be victorious over the weekend (CORRECT)

12/16/24 – Notre Dame, Penn State, Texas and Ohio State will win in the opening round of the College Football Playoff (CORRECT)

12/23/24 – Penn State, Texas, Oregon and Notre Dame will win in the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff (INCORRECT)

1/2/25 – Florida and Tennessee will both secure SEC wins over the weekend over Kentucky and Arkansas respectively (INCORRECT)

1/6/25 – By mid-February, Arizona will be considered at least a 9-seed by not only myself, but by my fellow Bracketologists as well (CORRECT)

1/13/25 – Tom Izzo and the Michigan State Spartans will win their first Big Ten regular season title since 2020 (TBD)

1/20/25 – The Notre Dame Basketball Team will have a better week than the Ohio State Basketball Team (INCORRECT)

1/27/25 – Saint Mary’s will defeat Gonzaga (CORRECT)

2/10/25 – Arizona over Houston (INCORRECT)

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