Every NCAA Tournament begins with marquee names from the college basketball season dominating the attention. This year, Duke’s Cooper Flagg and Auburn’s Johni Broome are at the forefront of people’s minds when making 2025 NCAA Tournament bracket picks. Who will be this year’s DJ Burns, a loveable breakout who leads an unexpected team on a deep March Madness run like North Carolina State last year? Four of the last eight NCAA Tournaments have had a double-digit seed reach the Final Four, so who are the 2025 March Madness Cinderella teams to watch in March Madness 2025? Arkansas was the preseason No. 16 team in the country in John Calipari’s first year, but the Razorbacks made the NCAA Tournament 2025 as just a 10 seed, making them potential 2025 March Madness bracket busters. Before filling out your NCAA Tournament bracket 2025, be sure to see the 2025 March Madness bracket picks from the proven computer model at SportsLine.
SportsLine’s proven projection model has simulated every game in the tournament 10,000 times. It has absolutely crushed its March Madness picks recently, beating over 91% of all CBS Sports brackets in four of the past six tournaments. It was all over UConn’s championship run a year ago and nailed 13 teams in the Sweet 16. It also nailed Alabama’s Cinderella run to the Final Four as a 4-seed.
It knows how to spot an upset as well. The same model has produced brackets that have nailed 24 first-round upsets by double-digit seeds since its inception in 2016.
There’s no reason to rely on luck when there’s proven technology to help you dominate your 2025 March Madness picks. Now, with the 2025 NCAA bracket revealed, the model is simulating the matchups and its results are in. You can only see it over at SportsLine.
Top 2025 March Madness bracket picks
One of the Midwest Region picks from the model: No. 2 seed Tennessee, despite losing to Kentucky twice this season, beats the Wildcats in the Sweet 16. The Vols have one of the best defenses in college basketball, and they are led by an experienced point guard in Zakai Zeigler. They won 13 of their final 19 games in the regular season before upsetting Auburn in the SEC Tournament semifinals.
The Vols advanced to the Sweet 16 in 2023 and the Elite Eight in 2024 before bringing in multiple key transfers last offseason. They came up short in both regular-season meetings with Kentucky, which is entering the tournament without second-leading scorer Jaxson Robinson due to a season-ending wrist injury. He had 17 points in one of the regular-season wins in this rivalry, so his absence is one reason why the Vols will be in a better position for the potential rematch.
Another surprise: No. 5 Clemson takes down No. 4 Purdue in the second round of the Midwest. The model projects both teams to avoid a first-round upset, which could lead to one of the best games of the opening weekend. Clemson is 15-2 over its last 17 games since Jan. 11, only losing to Georgia Tech in a wild triple-overtime contest and then to Louisville in the ACC Tournament semifinals. That span includes victories over Duke, a No. 1 seed, and North Carolina, who just had a dominant First Four victory, as this year’s Clemson team appears capable of an extended March run.
The Tigers have the No. 23 scoring defense in the nation at 65.7 ppg allowed with the 17th-best average scoring margin (+10.7 points per game). Clemson has made incredible halftime defensive adjustments, allowing the sixth-fewest second-half points in the nation and adjusting on the fly in exactly what the opening four days of the NCAA Tournament are all about. Neither team will have extended time to deeply prepare for the other as a second game in three days and Clemson’s ability to quickly adapt can make a key difference in knocking off Purdue. You can see the model’s 2025 NCAA bracket picks here.
How to make 2025 NCAA bracket predictions
Who wins every tournament-defining matchup, and which teams will make surprising runs through the 2025 NCAA Tournament bracket? With the model’s track record of calling bracket-busting upsets, you’ll want to see which stunners it’s calling this year before locking in any 2025 NCAA bracket picks.
So what’s the optimal NCAA Tournament 2025 bracket, and which NCAA Tournament Cinderella teams will shock college basketball? Visit SportsLine now to see which region features three must-have upsets, including a play-in team that absolutely stuns its first-round opponent, all from the model that’s beaten 91% of bracket players in four of the last six tournaments.
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