Men's Bracketology: 2025 NCAA Tournament

By Joe Lunardi Updated: 11/19/2024 at 11:15 a.m. ET

A new college basketball season is well underway. Here at Bracketology HQ, we track every result from November until April, ranking and re-ranking what will eventually comprise the NCAA tournament's field of 68. We'll update the bracket every Tuesday for the remainder of November and December, before moving to twice-weekly updates when conference play picks up in January 2025.

Bracket Watch

I might not always agree, but there's a reason the NCAA men's basketball selection committee insists November results mean just as much as late-season games. Let's go back a week to the final media timeout of the Champions Classic. Kentucky had come from double digits down to tie Duke. The underdog Wildcats managed to win those last four minutes, not only notching the first major victory of the Mark Pope era but creating the kind of bracket disruption not normally seen this early in the season. Combined with Alabama's unsurprising loss at Purdue, the door opened for two new No. 1 seeds: Auburn and UConn. Former top-liner Duke drops all the way to a 3-seed in the shuffle, while Kentucky leaps three lines to join the Blue Devils. This week's other big winners are Wisconsin, which smoked Arizona at home, and Nevada, which ran its record to 4-0 against a quality mid-major slate. The Badgers and Wolf Pack join the at-large field in place of Kansas State and Maryland.

On the Bubble

Last Four Byes

Last Four In

First Four Out

Next Four Out

68-Team Bracket

MIDWEST (INDIANAPOLIS)

Wichita

Milwaukee

Raleigh

Cleveland

EAST (NEWARK)

Providence

Wichita

Lexington

WEST (SAN FRANCISCO)

Seattle

1aq - Gonzaga
16aq - Central Connecticut
aq - Grambling/
8 Texas
9 Oregon

Seattle

Denver

Cleveland

SOUTH (ATLANTA)

Lexington

Denver

Raleigh

Milwaukee

Conference Breakdown

Conference

Team

Photo illo by ESPN Illustration, additional photos courtesy of Getty Images, Associated Press, Imagn, USA TODAY Sports, Icon Sportswire, EPA/Shutterstock

RULES

ESPN's Bracketology efforts are focused on projecting the NCAA tournament field just as we expect the NCAA Division I basketball committee to select the field in March. ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi uses the same data points favored by the committee, including strength of schedule and other season-long indicators, including the NET and team-sheet data similar to what is available to the NCAA, in his projections of the field. Visit the NCAA's website for a fuller understanding of NCAA selection criteria.

68-Team Bracket

The 68-team bracket is the standard version of the NCAA tournament field that has been in place since 2011. If the 2021 field is comprised of 68 teams, there will be some key differences to past years, however.

The primary adjustment from a normal year is, of course, the playing of the entire NCAA tournament at a single site. This eliminates the need for geographical considerations in seeding. Additionally, there will be at least one fewer automatic qualifier this season, as the Ivy League's decision to forgo the 2020-21 season reduces the number of AQ entries to 31 for this season.

48-Team Bracket

In this projection, a condensed selection process would reduce the field by 10 at-large teams and 10 automatic qualifiers (the latter of which still receive a revenue unit). The top four seeds in each region would receive a bye into the second round, with four first-round games per region - 5 vs. 12, 6 vs. 11, 7 vs. 10 and 8 vs. 9 - being played without fans on the higher seed's home court.

To minimize travel, first-round pairings will be guided by geography to the greatest extent possible. And the reduced field results in only 32 teams competing at the central site. All participants must post a minimum .500 conference record - the "Lunardi Rule" - for at-large consideration.

16-Team Bracket

In this projection, the committee selects and seeds the 16 best available teams. There are no automatic qualifiers, although all non-competing conference champions receive the designated revenue unit.

To maintain some sense of national balance, conference participation is capped at four teams. And no region shall have more than one team from the same conference.

ESPN

Bracket Watch

Top Overall Seed

First Team Out

Last Team In

On the Bubble

Last Four Byes

Last Four In

First Four Out

Next Four Out

68-Team Bracket

MIDWEST (INDIANAPOLIS)

Wichita

Milwaukee

Raleigh

Cleveland

EAST (NEWARK)

Providence

Providence

Wichita

Lexington

WEST (SAN FRANCISCO)

Seattle

Seattle

Denver

Cleveland

SOUTH (ATLANTA)

Lexington

Denver

Raleigh

Milwaukee

Conference Breakdown

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