Bracketology: Predicting the 2025 NCAA Tournament Field – The SEC's on top

12/12/2024 10:14 AM

Hello friends, and welcome to a mid-December edition of Bracketology where we’ll kick things off with an ode to the SEC, where it just means more, and where the next NCAA Tournament champion may reside. It’s safe to say that the Southeastern Conference is the premier conference in college basketball this season. Consider:

The SEC went 14-2 against the ACC in the ACC-SEC Challenge, just one year after splitting the 14 games against the ACC in what was the first year of this new in-season series. On Sunday, unranked Missouri upset the Kansas Jayhawks, who went into that matchup as the top-ranked team in the country. The SEC boasts an NCAA-high nine teams ranked in the most recent AP Top 25 poll. And how about this as the icing on the cake… a staggering 12 teams are in my Bracketology field this week:

1 seed – Tennessee, Auburn

2 seed – Kentucky

3 seed – Alabama, Florida

4 seed – Texas A&M

5 seed – Mississippi State

6 seed – Oklahoma

8 seed – Arkansas, Ole Miss

10 seed – Texas

11 seed – Missouri

That doesn’t even count Georgia, Vanderbilt and LSU, who with a strong week or two could be right in mix for an at-large bid.

Bracketology Bracket

Bracketology Breakdown 

Top Seeds: Tennessee Volunteers (Midwest Region), Auburn Tigers (South Region), Iowa State Cyclones (West Region), Marquette Golden Eagles (East Region)

Multi-Bid Leagues: ACC (4), Big 12 (9), Big East (4), Big Ten (11), Mountain West (2), SEC (12), WCC (2)

Bracketology Bubble Watch 

Last Four Byes: Saint Mary’s, Maryland, BYU, Indiana

Last Four In: West Virginia, Nebraska, Missouri, Arizona State

First Four Out: Xavier, Butler, Wake Forest, Georgia

Next Four Out: Arizona, Penn State, Nevada, New Mexico

Five Most Intriguing Games of the Weekend 

A subpar week of college hoops gives way to a tasty Saturday menu of games including Auburn at Ohio State, Xavier at Cincinnati, Wisconsin at Butler, Arizona State vs. Florida, Marquette at Dayton and Creighton at Alabama… all of which don’t crack my top five games of the week. I mean, seriously guys, this is a damn SLATE. 

Saturday December 14th (ESPN2, 11 AM ET) – Memphis at Clemson

Saturday December 14th (CBS, Noon ET) – Texas A&M at Purdue

Saturday December 14th (ESPN, 5:15 PM ET) – Louisville at Kentucky

Saturday December 14th (FOX, 5:30 PM ET) – Tennessee at Illinois

Saturday December 14th (FOX, 8 PM ET) – Gonzaga vs. UConn

And One!

Thanks to the Big 12 and SEC, I’m off to a perfect 3-0 start in And One! predictions this year, and going with the theme of this week’s Bracketology, I’m going to continue to ride the hot-hand that is the Southeastern Conference.

All 12 SEC teams that are currently in my projected NCAA Tournament field play in non-conference action this weekend, and I think the conference is ready to assert their dominance over the rest of the country once again. Therefore, my prediction is this: at least nine of those 12 SEC teams will be victorious this weekend. 

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)

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