Bracketology: Predicting the 2025 NCAA Tournament Field – The College Hoops All-Stars

Yesterday at 10:37 AM

Hello friends, and welcome to another edition of Bracketology at ClutchPoints! Before we get bubble watching and begin breaking down brackets, I’d first like to reintroduce a concept that I initially wrote about all the way back in 2011 on my own blog and then re-upped last year here at ClutchPoints. It seems fitting that with NBA All-Star Weekend fast approaching, we once again take a look at the Hypothetical College Basketball All-Star Game. Here’s a quick recap of what you can expect from this exercise:

-Three teams of 12 players are fielded: North All-Stars, South All-Stars, and Mid-Major All-Stars, and unlike last year, this time around, the Mountain West, American Athletic and Atlantic 10 Conferences are included in the Mid-Major pool.

-No more than one player per school can be selected to the All-Star team, which creates a handful of interesting head-to-head cases, such as Ace Bailey vs. Dylan Harper (Rutgers), Zakai Ziegler vs. Chaz Lanier (Tennessee), Ryan Kalkbrenner vs. Steven Ashworth (Creighton), Ryan Nembhard vs. Graham Ike (Gonzaga), and Kadary Richmond vs. RJ Luis (St. John’s).

-Just like with the selection of the rosters for the NBA All-Star Game, winning does matter, but only to a certain extent. There are some guys whose numbers are too big, impact too evident, or talent too undeniable to leave off these imaginary rosters.

North All-Stars 

*Braden Smith (Purdue)

*Kam Jones (Marquette)

*Kasparas Jakucionis (Illinois)

*Ace Bailey (Rutgers)

*Ryan Kalkbrenner (Creighton)

Bench – Keshon Gilbert (Iowa State), Jaden Akins (Michigan State), Javon Small (West Virginia), Eric Dixon (Villanova), Alex Karaban (UConn), Danny Wolf (Michigan), RJ Luis (St. John’s)

South All-Stars 

*Mark Sears (Alabama)

*Walter Clayton Jr. (Florida)

*Tre Johnson (Texas)

*Cooper Flagg (Duke)

*Johni Broome (Auburn)

Bench – Zakai Zeigler (Tennessee), Chucky Hepburn (Louisville), Caleb Love (Arizona), Wade Taylor IV (Texas A&M), Jaxson Robinson (Kentucky), JT Toppin (Texas Tech), Hunter Dickinson (Kansas)

Mid-Major All-Stars 

*Ryan Nembhard (Gonzaga)

*PJ Haggerty (Memphis)

*Donovan Dent (New Mexico)

*Tyson Degenhart (Boise State)

*Robbie Avila (Saint Louis)

Bench – Bennett Stirtz (Drake), Max Shulga (VCU), Jamal Mashburn (Temple), John Poulakidas (Yale), Augustas Marciulionis (Saint Mary’s), Yaxel Lendeborg (UAB), Oscar Cluff (South Dakota State)

Bracketology Bracket

Bracketology Breakdown

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

Multi-Bid Leagues: ACC (5), Big East (4), Big Ten (10), Big 12 (7), Mountain West (3), SEC (13), WCC (2)

Bracketology Bubble Watch 

Last Four Byes: Vanderbilt, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas

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

First Four Out: Arkansas, VCU, North Carolina, Xavier

Next Four Out: Cincinnati, BYU, Villanova, Boise State

Five Most Intriguing Games of the Week

Tuesday February 11th (Peacock, 7 PM ET) – Purdue at Michigan

Tuesday February 11th (CBS Sports, 9 PM ET) – UConn at Creighton

Saturday February 15th (ESPN, 2 PM ET) – Houston at Arizona

Saturday February 15th (ESPN, 4 PM ET) – Auburn at Alabama

Sunday February 16th (CBS Sports, 4 PM ET) – Utah State at New Mexico

And One! 

Earlier this year, I made a prediction related to the Arizona Wildcats, who had begun surging after a horrendously slow start to the season. I predicted that by mid-February, the Wildcats would be at least a consensus 9-seed by myself and my fellow Bracketologists at the Bracket Matrix. As you’ve seen, Arizona is a 5-seed in my current Bracketology projections, and they’re a consensus 4-seed by everyone else.

We’ve already chalked that up as a W, but for today’s And One! prediction, I’ll head back to Tucson to make another prediction. It’s going to be a battle of the top two teams in the Big 12 on Saturday afternoon at the McKale Center, as the Houston Cougars come to town to take on their new Big 12 foe. And just as I predicted a little over a month ago, I foresee more success coming the Wildcats way. Give me Arizona over Houston on Saturday afternoon to take sole possession of 1st place in the Big 12.

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)

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