2025 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament


The 2025 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament was a single-elimination tournament to determine the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I men's college basketball national champion for the 2024–25 season. The 86th annual edition of [NCAA NCAA Division I|Division I Men's Basketball Tournament|the tournament] began on March 18, 2025, and concluded on April 7 with the championship game at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
The Southeastern Conference broke the record for the most bids earned to the tournament, with 14 of the 16 teams qualifying. Each regional final featured at least one SEC team. The Atlantic Coast Conference had historic lows, with only four teams earning bids, the smallest percentage of the conference since tournament expansion in 1975. Big South champion High Point, Big West champion [2024–25 2024–25 UC San Diego Tritons men's basketball team|UC San Diego Tritons men's basketball team|UC San Diego], Ohio Valley champion SIU Edwardsville, and Summit League champion Omaha made their tournament debuts. ASUN champion Lipscomb made its second-ever appearance, its first since 2018. America East champion Bryant also made its second-ever appearance, its first since 2022, and its first time in the first round. NEC champion [2024–25 2024–25 Saint Francis Red Flash men's basketball team|Saint Francis Red Flash men's basketball team|Saint Francis] also made its second-ever appearance, the first since 1991. A week after losing in the [|First Four], Saint Francis announced they would move down from Division I to Division III. UC San Diego qualified in its first year of eligibility, becoming only the fourth school since 1972 to achieve this.
This was the second time since the First Four was established in 2011 that no teams in the First Four advanced past the first round, and the first since 2019. For the first time since 2017, no team seeded lower than 12 made it past the first round. In the first round, the Big Ten went 8–0, setting an NCAA record for the most wins without a loss by any conference. The eight total wins were also a record, matched by the SEC in the same first round. In doing so, both conferences combined to represent 50% of the field in the second round. In the ACC, only [2024–25 2024–25 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team|Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team|Duke] advanced past the first round, the first time since at-large bids were granted that multiple teams from that conference failed to reach the second round.
With 10-seed Arkansas advancing to the Sweet 16, it marked the 17th consecutive occurrence in which at least one double-digit seed advanced to the regional semifinals. UConn was attempting to be the first team to win three consecutive titles since UCLA won seven consecutive from 1967 to 1973, but its elimination by the eventual champion [2024–25 2024–25 Florida Gators men's basketball team|Florida Gators men's basketball team|Florida] in the second round marked the seventh time in the last eight tournaments that the defending champion failed to make the Sweet 16. For the first time since the tournament's 1985 expansion to 64 teams, the Sweet 16 was composed entirely of teams from the Power Four conferences.
Though recent tournaments were some of the most upset-prone, 2025 had some of the fewest upsets in NCAA tournament history. No top-four seed lost in the first round, and 10th-seeded Arkansas was the only Sweet 16 team with a higher seed than a #6 seed. All 12 games of the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight were won by the higher-seeded team. As a result, the Elite Eight had four #1 seeds, three #2 seeds, and one #3 seed, tying it with 2007 as the lowest seed total for an Elite Eight in tournament history, and all four #1 seeds made the Final Four, an occurrence only matched by the 2008 tournament. The Final Four were the four #1 seeds: Florida, Duke, [2024–25 2024–25 Houston Cougars men's basketball team|Houston Cougars men's basketball team|Houston], and [2024–25 2024–25 Auburn Tigers men's basketball team|Auburn Tigers men's basketball team|Auburn]. The championship matchup was between Florida and Houston. Florida defeated Houston, 65–63, to claim its third title, and its first since 2007.

Tournament procedure

Out of 355 eligible Division I teams, 68 participated in the tournament. A total of 31 automatic bids are awarded to each program that wins a conference tournament. The remaining 37 bids are issued "at-large", with selections extended by the NCAA Selection Committee on Selection Sunday, March 16. The Selection Committee will also seed the entire field from 1 to 68.
Eight teams play in the First Four. The winners of these games will advance to the main tournament bracket.
NETSchoolConferenceRecord
51West VirginiaBig 1219–13
54[2024–25 2024–25 Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team|Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team|Indiana]Big Ten19–13
41Ohio StateBig Ten17–15
44Boise StateMWC24–10

2025 NCAA tournament schedule and venues

The following were the sites selected to host each round of the 2025 tournament:
First Four
First and Second Rounds
Regional Semi-Finals and Finals
National Semifinals and Championship
San Antonio will host the Final Four for the fifth time, having previously hosted in 2018.

Qualification and selection of teams

The 68 teams came from 35 states and the District of Columbia.

Automatic qualifiers

Teams who won their conference championships automatically qualify.
ConferenceTeamAppearanceLast bid
America EastBryant2nd2022
AmericanMemphis29th2023
Atlantic 10VCU20th2023
ACCDuke47th2024
ASUNLipscomb2nd2018
Big 12Houston26th2024
Big EastSt. John's31st2019
Big SkyMontana13th2019
Big SouthHigh Point1stNever
Big Ten[2024–25 2024–25 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team|Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team|Michigan]32nd2022
Big WestUC San Diego1stNever
CAAUNC Wilmington7th2017
CUSALiberty6th2021
HorizonRobert Morris9th2015
Ivy LeagueYale8th2024
MAACMount St. Mary's7th2021
MACAkron7th2024
MEACNorfolk State4th2022
Missouri ValleyDrake8th2024
Mountain WestColorado State13th2024
NECSaint Francis2nd1991
Ohio ValleySIU Edwardsville1stNever
PatriotAmerican4th2014
SECFlorida25th2024
SouthernWofford6th2019
SouthlandMcNeese4th2024
SWACAlabama State5th2011
Summit LeagueOmaha1stNever
Sun BeltTroy3rd2017
WACGrand Canyon4th2024
WCCGonzaga27th2024

Seeds


The tournament seeds and regions are determined through the NCAA basketball tournament selection process and were published by the selection committee after the brackets are released on March 16.

*See First Four

Source:

Tournament bracket

All times are listed in Eastern Daylight Time. Games on CBS are also on Paramount+, while games on TBS, TNT, and truTV are also on Max.

First Four – Dayton, Ohio

The First Four games involve eight teams: the four lowest-seeded automatic qualifiers and the four lowest-seeded at-large teams.

South regional – Atlanta, Georgia

South regional all-tournament team

Johni Broome - Auburn

West regional – San Francisco, California

West regional all-tournament team

Walter Clayton Jr. - Florida

East regional – Newark, New Jersey

East regional all-tournament team

Cooper Flagg - Duke

Midwest regional – Indianapolis, Indiana

Midwest regional all-tournament team

Emanuel Sharp - Houston

Final Four – San Antonio, Texas

Final Four all-tournament team

Record by conference

  • Tournament record

Game summaries and tournament notes

The “seed composition” of the Elite Eight was the exact same in both the men's and women's tournament -
Men's Elite Eight -
Four #1 seeds,
three #2 seeds,
one #3 seed.
Women's Elite Eight -
Four #1 seeds,
three #2 seeds,
one #3 seed.

Tournament upsets

Per the NCAA, an upset occurs "when the losing team in an NCAA tournament game was seeded at least five seed lines better than the winning team."
The 2025 tournament had a total of four upsets, with three in the first round and one in the second round.

Media coverage

Television

CBS Sports and TNT Sports had US television rights to the tournament. As part of a cycle that began in 2016, CBS televised the 2025 Final Four and the national championship game.
This was the first NCAA tournament since the death of Greg Gumbel, who served as the studio host from 1998 through 2023, and missed the 2024 tournament due to family health issues. Gumbel died from cancer on December 27, 2024.

Linear channels

  • Selection Show – CBS
  • First Four – TruTV
  • First and Second Rounds – CBS, TBS, TNT, and TruTV
  • Regional Semifinals and Finals – CBS, TBS, and TruTV
  • National Semifinals and Championship – CBS

Streaming

Studio hosts

  • Ernie Johnson – First and second rounds, regionals, Final Four and national championship game
  • Adam Zucker – First and second rounds and Final Four
  • Adam Lefkoe – First Four, first and second rounds, and regional semifinals
  • Jamie Erdahl – First and second rounds

Studio analysts

  • Charles Barkley – First and second rounds, regionals, Final Four and national championship game
  • Seth Davis – First Four, first and second rounds, regional semifinals and Final Four
  • Clark Kellogg – First and second rounds, regionals, Final Four and national championship game
  • Candace Parker – First and second rounds and regional semifinals
  • Jalen Rose – First Four and Final Four
  • Kenny Smith – First and second rounds, regionals, Final Four and national championship game
  • Gene Steratore – First Four, first and second rounds, regionals, Final Four and national championship game
  • Wally Szczerbiak – Second round and Final Four
  • Jay Wright – First Four, first and second rounds, regionals, Final Four and national championship game

Broadcast assignments

Radio

Westwood One will have exclusive coverage of the entire tournament.

First Four

First and second rounds

Regionals

  • Scott Graham and Jordan Cornette – East Regional at Newark, New Jersey
  • Ryan Radtke and P. J. Carlesimo – West Regional at San Francisco, California
  • Spero Dedes and Tom Crean – South Regional at Atlanta, Georgia
  • Kevin Kugler and Robbie Hummel – Midwest Regional at Indianapolis, Indiana

Final Four and national championship

Internet

Video
Live video of games is available for streaming through the following means:
  • NCAA March Madness Live
  • Watch TBS website and app
  • Watch TNT website and app
  • Watch truTV website and app
  • CBS website and app
  • Websites and apps of cable, satellite, and OTT providers of CBS, TBS, TNT, and truTV
For the app this year, a multiview that showed all games airing simultaneously was available for the second straight year.
In addition, the March Madness app will offer Fast Break, whip around coverage of games similar to NFL RedZone on the first weekend of the tournament.
Audio
Live audio of games is available for streaming through the following means:
The March Madness app also supports Apple CarPlay and Android Auto through a native app.