It was a somber Selection Sunday as the college basketball world continues to mourn last year’s passing of CBS Sports’ Greg Gumbel.
But even without the voice of annual television event, teams and fans across the country still tuned into CBS on Sunday to learn that Auburn is the top-overall seed and headed to the South Region while the SEC earned a record 14 NCAA bids.
As expected, Duke is the second No. 1 seed, and will head to the East Region. The Blue Devils managed to win the ACC Tournament yet again despite an ankle injury to top NBA prospect Cooper Flagg.
The second-ranked Houston Cougars are the third No. 1 seed and are headed to the Midwest Region, while Florida picked up the final top seed and will start in the West against Norfolk State.
The First Four will be played in Dayton, Ohio. The first and second rounds are in Cleveland; Denver; Lexington, Kentucky; Milwaukee; Providence, Rhode Island; Raleigh, North Carolina; Seattle; and Wichita, Kansas.
Resurgent St John’s earned a second seed in the West and will open against Omaha, but the biggest surprise may have been the inclusion of North Carolina, a team that squeaked into the First Four despite a mediocre 22-13 record and only a few quality wins. Afterwards, many fans pointed out that UNC’s athletic director, Bubba Cunningham, is chairman of the NCAA selection committee.
Duke Blue Devils guard Kon Knueppel (7) celebrates with teammates after winning the most valuable player award for the 2025 ACC Conference Tournament
Auburn cheerleaders perform during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against the Mississippi in the quarterfinal round of the Southeastern Conference tournament
‘Interesting how that works,’ wrote KTVB Boise’s Jay Trust on X.
North Carolina looked all but out, a victim of a 1-12 record against so-called Quad 1 opponents and part of a conference (ACC) teetering on the verge of a historically bad season. But the Tar Heels made it, thanks maybe to a strong nonconference slate, while Texas was also in — its seven wins against Quad 1 teams outweighing its overall 15 losses.
Meanwhile, Indiana, West Virginia and Boise State all failed to sneak into the tournament, and are instead looking at likely NIT bids.
The regional semifinals (Sweet 16) and finals (Elite Eight) will take place in Newark, New Jersey (East Region); Atlanta (South); Indianapolis (Midwest); and San Francisco (West). The tournament ends with the Final Four and championship game at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
Auburn is a slight favorite over Duke to win the national championship, with Florida and Houston not far behind, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. UConn will make the tournament and try for a three-peat as national champ, something that hasn’t been done since the early 1970s, while Big East champion St. John’s is back as one of the top teams in the country under veteran coach Rick Pitino.
Led by SEC player of the year Johni Broome, the Tigers (28-5) spent eight weeks at No. 1 in the AP Top 25 before a late-season slide that left them entering March Madness having dropped three of their last four games — all to tourney teams. That includes a 70-65 loss to Tennessee in the semifinals of the conference tournament over the weekend.
Auburn is the top-overall seed and is headed to the South Region
As expected, Duke is the second No. 1 seed, and will head to the East Region
The Houston Cougars are the third No. 1 seed and are headed to the Midwest Region
Florida picked up the final top seed and will start in the West against Norfolk State
The tournament gets under way with the ‘First Four’ on Tuesday and Wednesday
Auburn Tigers head coach Bruce Pearl reacts to a foul against the Tennessee Volunteers
WOMEN’S BRACKETS REVEALED
UCLA had one of the best seasons in school history and was rewarded with the top overall seed in the women’s NCAA Tournament.
The Bruins were joined by South Carolina, Southern California and Texas as the No. 1 seeds that the NCAA revealed Sunday night.
It’s the first time in school history that the Bruins are the top team in the tournament. They had two losses on the season, both of which came to the Trojans.
‘It’s a testament to how hard everyone in this program has worked. An overall No. 1 seed doesn’t get us to the Final Four, doesn’t get us to a national championship,’ UCLA guard Kiki Rice said. ‘We have to go out there and earn it.’
Kiki Rice #1 of the UCLA Bruins celebrates with teammates during the 72-67 win over the USC Trojans in the Big Ten Tournament
One of UCLA’s wins this season came over South Carolina. The Gamecocks’ coach, Dawn Staley, felt her team should have gotten the top seed and with it the extra day of rest if they advance to the Final Four.
‘I mean I’m a little bit surprised because we manufactured our schedule and put ourselves in position to be the No. 1 overall seed,’ she said. ‘Do the blind test and put our resume against any other team in the field, you’d pick us. It’s plain and simple.’
Unlike last year, when the Gamecocks finished off an undefeated season with a national title, this team has three losses heading into March Madness.
‘Two key factors between UCLA and South Carolina. One was the head-to-head matchup,’ NCAA selection committee chair Derita Dawkins said. ‘The other was one of our criteria is competitive in losses and South Carolina suffered a 29-point loss to UConn. Those were the two key differences in those resumes.’
JuJu Watkins #12 of the USC Trojans drives to the basket against UCLA’s Kiki Rice
Staley’s team is looking to be the first team to repeat as champion since UConn won four straight from 2013-16. The Huskies, who are a two-seed, are looking to end that drought with star Paige Bueckers. They’ll have to go out west if they reach the Sweet 16 and a potential rematch with JuJu Watkins and the Trojans could be waiting in the Elite Eight.
The path won’t be easy for anyone: This year there’s more parity in the sport. This NCAA Tournament will be only the second one in the past 19 years to have no teams entering March Madness with zero or one loss. The other time was in 2022.
The Trojans and Bruins, newcomers in the Big Ten this season, will try to win the first national championship for the conference since 1999, when Purdue won the lone one. A record 12 teams from the Big Ten are in the field. The SEC has 10 and the ACC eight. The Big 12 has seven.
The Ivy League received three bids to the tournament for the first time in conference history. Last season, Columbia earned the second at-large bid in league history. The Lions are back again as well as Princeton. Both are 11 seeds and will be competing in play-in games. Harvard, which won the conference tournament, is a 10 seed.
Princeton guard Maggie Connolly (12) shoots over Harvard guard Saniyah Glenn-Bello (22) during the second half of the Ivy League tournament championship
Duke, TCU and N.C. State joined the Huskies on the 2-seed line. Notre Dame boasts wins over Texas, USC and UConn but slumped the last few weeks of the regular season and fell to a three-seed.
William & Mary is one of six teams set to make its first appearance in the women’s NCAA Tournament. The others are Arkansas State, Fairleigh Dickinson, George Mason, Grand Canyon and UC San Diego. Four teams are headed to the men’s tournament for the first time: High Point, Omaha, SIU Edwardsville and UC San Diego.
The Tribe (15-18) are the first sub-.500 team since Incarnate Word in 2022 to make the tournament.
Virginia Tech, James Madison, Saint Joseph’s and Colorado were the first four teams left out of the field.
For the first time in NCAA history, there will be a financial incentive for women’s teams. They will finally be paid for playing games in the NCAA Tournament just like the men have for years.
So-called performance units, which represent revenue, will be given to women’s teams for each win they get. A team that reaches the Final Four could bring its conference roughly $1.26 million over the next three years in financial performance rewards.
This comes a year after the women’s championship game that saw South Carolina beat Caitlin Clark and Iowa do better TV ratings than the men’s title game.
– The Associated Press
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The Tigers, who have not survived the opening week of the NCAA Tournament since going to the Final Final in 2019, will begin their journey against Alabama State or Saint Francis on Thursday in Lexington, Kentucky. The regional final is in Atlanta.
Auburn was joined in the South by second-seeded Michigan State, third-seeded Iowa State and some familiar faces: No. 4 seed Texas A&M, which beat the Tigers earlier this season, and their first-round opponent … Yale.
The 68-team bracket starts whittling down on Tuesday with preliminary games, and the main draw kicks off on Thursday and Friday, with 32 games at eight sites around the country.
Sunday’s selection show began with a heartfelt tribute to Gumbel, the CBS stalwart who oversaw the bracket unveiling for decades. Then, just as Gumbel would have preferred, it was about the basketball – and this time there was plenty to talk about.
The SEC’s 14 teams were followed by the Big Ten with eight and Big 12 with seven. The ACC, meanwhile, ended up with four teams, barely avoiding its worst showing since 2000, back when the conference was half the size it is now.
Even in a down cycle, the ACC has Duke, and Duke has arguably the best player in the country in freshman Cooper Flagg, a 19-point, 7.5-rebound-a-game freshman whose ankle injury, the school says, will not keep him out of March Madness.