logo
NCAA Tournament winners and losers: North Carolina, Michigan lead March Madness list

NCAA Tournament winners and losers: North Carolina, Michigan lead March Madness list

USA Today17-03-2025

NCAA Tournament winners and losers: North Carolina, Michigan lead March Madness list
Show Caption
Hide Caption
The Florida Gators lead dominant SEC conference in NCAA tournament
USAT's Jordan Mendoza talks about Florida taking the SEC over the Vols and how the SEC could dominate the March Madness down to the Final Four.
Sports Seriously
Selection Sunday revealed one of the least controversial NCAA men's tournament brackets in recent history thanks to a bubble-bursting final stretch of the regular season.
The list of teams left out of the 68-team field include Indiana, Boise State and West Virginia. This group might have a bone to pick with the selection committee, which instead gave the last at-large spot to North Carolina despite the Tar Heels' miserable performance in games against Quad 1 competition.
But things generally went according to plan for the selection committee, which avoided a late dose of chaos after Memphis topped Alabama-Birmingham in the American Athletic championship game. That leaves Mountain West champion Colorado State as the only bid-stealing team in this year's bracket.
The No. 1 line has Duke, Auburn, Florida and Houston. On the No. 2 line are Michigan State, Tennessee, St. John's and Alabama. Among the teams joining the Tar Heels on the back end of the at-large picture are Texas, Xavier and Utah State.
Tournament action begins Tuesday with play-in games in Dayton, Ohio, pitting North Carolina against San Diego State and No. 16 seeds St. Francis and Alabama State.
Here are the winners and losers from Selection Sunday:
Winners
North Carolina
UNC made the field as a No. 11 seed in the South region despite winning all of one game against Quad 1 competition, which can be seen as both a damning indictment of the Tar Heels' mediocrity and a statement about the dearth of qualified options on the back end of the at-large picture. While the tournament berth puts a positive spin on what has been an often miserable season – and helps coach Hubert Davis avoid a second tournament absence in three years — how far the Tar Heels advance in March depends on how quickly they can reboot, refocus and embrace this opportunity.
Duke
Duke were locked onto the No. 1 line after beating the Cardinals 73-62 despite missing star freshman Cooper Flagg, who injured his ankle in the ACC semifinals. This performance on Saturday night speaks to the Blue Devils' depth beyond Flagg's brilliance as perhaps the most well-rounded player in this year's tournament. The East region is also kind to Duke, which is projected to face No. 8 Baylor or No. 9 Mississippi State in the second round before potentially facing off with No. 4 Arizona or No. 5 Oregon to decide the Elite Eight. But to get back to the Final Four, the Blue Devils might have to handle a matchup with No. 2 Alabama and the Crimson Tide's high-potency offense.
LEFT OUT: Six teams snubbed by the NCAA men's tournament
Memphis
Memphis was one of the toughest teams to predict in our bracketology, with the potential to land anywhere from the No. 5 line to a No. 7 seed after beating UAB. The Tigers landed as the No. 5 in the West, drawing an opening-round matchup with No. 12 Colorado State and then No. 4 Maryland or No. 13 Grand Canyon for a trip to the Sweet 16. Looking at the resume, it's clear the committee valued the Tigers' convincing run through the AAC and impressive 6-1 mark against Quad 1 teams, including non-conference wins against Missouri, Connecticut, Michigan State and Clemson.
The SEC
The SEC set a tournament record for a single conference with 14 teams in this year's field: No. 1 Auburn, No. 4 Texas A&M and No. 6 Mississippi in the South; No. 2 Alabama and No. 8 Mississippi State in the East region; No. 1 Florida, No. 6 Missouri, No. 8 Oklahoma and No. 10 Arkansas in the West; and No. 2 Tennessee, No. 3 Kentucky, No. 9 Georgia and No. 11 Texas in the Midwest. After a banner regular season, the onus is on the SEC to deliver on this well-deserved respect by sending multiple teams to the second weekend and potentially two or more all the way to the Final Four.
Losers
Michigan
Several factors combine to make Michigan perhaps the biggest loser in this year's field. For one, the Wolverines are a No. 5 seed in the South despite beating Wisconsin for the Big Ten championship; the Badgers, meanwhile, are the No. 3 seed in the East. Michigan also plays on Thursday in Denver, giving them a shortened turnaround time to recover from the grind of the Big Ten tournament. Lastly, the Wolverines will take on No. 12 UC San Diego, which ended the regular season No. 35 in the NET rankings after going 30-4 overall and 4-2 against Quad 1 and Quad 2 competition. In Michigan's favor is the postseason track record of first-year coach Dusty May, who led Florida Atlantic to the Final Four two years ago.
Louisville
That dismal perception of the ACC clearly had a major influence on Louisville, which scaled the conference standings under new coach Pat Kelsey before falling to Duke in yesterday's championship game. Despite winning 27 games during the regular season, including a combined 15 wins against Quad 1 and Quad 2 competition, the Cardinals drew the No. 8 seed in the South and a first-round matchup with No. 9 Creighton. With a win there, Louisville would face SEC regular-season champion Auburn, which spent most the year as the unquestioned top-ranked team in the country. That's a very rough draw for one of the biggest major-conference success stories of this season. But Louisville does get to play the first weekend in Lexington, Kentucky, which might be enemy territory but will provide a very friendly crowd.
St. John's
There's good news and bad news for the Big East champions, which on Saturday cut down the nets after the Big East tournament at Madison Square Garden for the first time in 25 years. (Turns out that Rick Pitino was a good idea.) The good news: St. John's lands as the No. 2 seed opposite No. 15 Nebraska-Omaha in the West region, the program's highest NCAA tournament seeding since that 2000 season. That sets up the potential for a second-round matchup with John Calipari and No. 10 Arkansas, should the Razorbacks get past No. 7 Kansas. The bad news can be found in that West region landing spot. Had they been placed in the East, the Red Storm could've played for a Final Four appearance in nearby Newark, New Jersey.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

With no players left from last season's team photo, Baylor begins summer practice with new roster
With no players left from last season's team photo, Baylor begins summer practice with new roster

San Francisco Chronicle​

time23 minutes ago

  • San Francisco Chronicle​

With no players left from last season's team photo, Baylor begins summer practice with new roster

WACO, Texas (AP) — Baylor coach Scott Drew had plenty of players for the first practice of the summer Wednesday, about two months after the team photo from last season was widely circulated on social media with an X marked over all 14 of those players since none was returning to the Bears. Only four of those players exhausted their college eligibility. Nine others left in the transfer portal and one-and-done guard VJ Edgecombe could become Baylor's highest pick ever in the NBA draft later this month. 'Guys you didn't want to lose and were valuable, we haven't had many that we've lost. Whenever you do, that just tears at a coach, because you feel like you didn't do your job,' Drew said this week. 'With the portal, I think we've all gotten used to a lot more turnover in a hurry, and not to take things necessarily personal." The Bears rebuilt their roster with eight transfers and a four-player signing class with a five-star prospect and the son of a NBA champion. Among the 14 players at the first practice was Cameron Carr, the former Tennessee guard who transferred to Baylor in the middle of last season long after that team photo session. One of the former Bears was guard Robert Wright, who averaged 11.5 points and 4.2 assists a game as a freshman last season and had reportedly agreed to a lucrative NIL deal to stay before transferring to BYU for an even bigger package. 'You know people are going to leave. Rob, obviously, was someone we had an agreement with. When you make an agreement, you think you're done,' Drew said, without getting into any specifics. 'Obviously that was a surprise to us, but again, the staff did a great job of putting together a roster and team. That's part of, hopefully, the House settlement, where you get to a point where you know who's on your team and when they're locked in, they're locked in." The eight incoming transfers have more than 500 of games played combined, including guards Dan Skillings, who played 100 games over three years for Cincinnati, and JJ White, who started 75 of 99 games at Omaha over the same period. Juslin Bodo Bodo is a 7-foot post from Cameroon, started all 71 of his games for NCAA Tournament team High Point the past two seasons. Obi Agbim, a 6-3 guard, was the Mountain West newcomer of the year after averaging 17.6 points and 3.4 assists in 29 games last season for Wyoming. Five-star prospect Tounde Yessoufou, a small forward from St. Joseph High School in California, leads the signing class that also includes Andre Iguodala II, whose father was a four-time champion over 19 NBA seasons with four teams; Italian forward Maikcol Perez and big man May Soyoye. Baylor, Gonzaga and Houston are the only teams to win at least one game in each of the past six NCAA Tournaments, though the Bears have lost in the second round the past four years since their national championship in 2021. Drew and his staff will get an early look at the new squad with Baylor representing the United States at the World University Games next month in Germany. 'Any year you get a foreign tour, it's huge. ... Since we're returning 0.0 (percent of our) scoring, this give us all an opportunity,' Drew said. 'The games will be good for those that can play in it. But the practices will be great for everyone. And then, the one thing everybody leaves out is you do these team-bonding activities. There's nothing better than being overseas, that really brings you together a lot more than when you have all the distractions you do in the United States.'

Female athletes appeal landmark NCAA settlement, claiming it violates Title IX
Female athletes appeal landmark NCAA settlement, claiming it violates Title IX

Fox Sports

time29 minutes ago

  • Fox Sports

Female athletes appeal landmark NCAA settlement, claiming it violates Title IX

Eight female athletes filed an appeal Wednesday of a landmark NCAA antitrust settlement, arguing that women would not receive their fair share of $2.7 billion in back pay for athletes who were barred from making money off their name, image and likeness. U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken approved the settlement last week, clearing the way for direct payments from universities to athletes and the end of the NCAA's amateurism model. The athletes who appealed the settlement competed in soccer, volleyball and track. They are: Kacie Breeding of Vanderbilt; Lexi Drumm, Emma Appleman, Emmie Wannemacher, Riley Hass, Savannah Baron and Elizabeth Arnold of the College of Charleston; and Kate Johnson of Virginia. They have standing to appeal because they previously filed objections to the proposed settlement. Ashlyn Hare, one of the attorneys representing the athletes, said in a statement that the settlement violates Title IX, the federal law that bans sex-based discrimination in education. "We support a settlement of the case, but not an inaccurate one that violates federal law. The calculation of past damages is based on an error that ignores Title IX and deprives female athletes of $1.1 billion," Hare said. "Paying out the money as proposed would be a massive error that would cause irreparable harm to women's sports." The House settlement figures to financially benefit football and basketball stars at the biggest schools, who are likely to receive a big chunk of the $20.5 million per year that colleges are permitted to share with athletes over the next year. Some athletes in other sports that don't make money for their schools could lose their partial scholarships or see their roster spots cut. "This is a football and basketball damages settlement with no real benefit to female athletes," Hare said. "Congress has expressly rejected efforts to exempt revenue-generating sports like football and basketball from Title IX's antidiscrimination mandate. The NCAA agreed with us. Our argument on appeal is the exact same argument the conferences and NCAA made prior to settling the case." The appeal was filed by the law firm Hutchinson Black and Cook of Boulder, Colorado, and was first reported by Front Office Sports. It would be heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Reporting by The Associated Press. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily ! FOLLOW Follow your favorites to personalize your FOX Sports experience NCAA Women's Soccer NCAA Women's Volleyball NCAA Women's Track and Field recommended Get more from College Football Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

With no players left from last season's team photo, Baylor begins summer practice with new roster
With no players left from last season's team photo, Baylor begins summer practice with new roster

Fox Sports

time43 minutes ago

  • Fox Sports

With no players left from last season's team photo, Baylor begins summer practice with new roster

Associated Press WACO, Texas (AP) — Baylor coach Scott Drew had plenty of players for the first practice of the summer Wednesday, about two months after the team photo from last season was widely circulated on social media with an X marked over all 14 of those players since none was returning to the Bears. Only four of those players exhausted their college eligibility. Nine others left in the transfer portal and one-and-done guard VJ Edgecombe could become Baylor's highest pick ever in the NBA draft later this month. 'Guys you didn't want to lose and were valuable, we haven't had many that we've lost. Whenever you do, that just tears at a coach, because you feel like you didn't do your job,' Drew said this week. 'With the portal, I think we've all gotten used to a lot more turnover in a hurry, and not to take things necessarily personal." The Bears rebuilt their roster with eight transfers and a four-player signing class with a five-star prospect and the son of a NBA champion. Among the 14 players at the first practice was Cameron Carr, the former Tennessee guard who transferred to Baylor in the middle of last season long after that team photo session. One of the former Bears was guard Robert Wright, who averaged 11.5 points and 4.2 assists a game as a freshman last season and had reportedly agreed to a lucrative NIL deal to stay before transferring to BYU for an even bigger package. 'You know people are going to leave. Rob, obviously, was someone we had an agreement with. When you make an agreement, you think you're done,' Drew said, without getting into any specifics. 'Obviously that was a surprise to us, but again, the staff did a great job of putting together a roster and team. That's part of, hopefully, the House settlement, where you get to a point where you know who's on your team and when they're locked in, they're locked in." The eight incoming transfers have more than 500 of games played combined, including guards Dan Skillings, who played 100 games over three years for Cincinnati, and JJ White, who started 75 of 99 games at Omaha over the same period. Juslin Bodo Bodo is a 7-foot post from Cameroon, started all 71 of his games for NCAA Tournament team High Point the past two seasons. Obi Agbim, a 6-3 guard, was the Mountain West newcomer of the year after averaging 17.6 points and 3.4 assists in 29 games last season for Wyoming. Five-star prospect Tounde Yessoufou, a small forward from St. Joseph High School in California, leads the signing class that also includes Andre Iguodala II, whose father was a four-time champion over 19 NBA seasons with four teams; Italian forward Maikcol Perez and big man May Soyoye. Baylor, Gonzaga and Houston are the only teams to win at least one game in each of the past six NCAA Tournaments, though the Bears have lost in the second round the past four years since their national championship in 2021. Drew and his staff will get an early look at the new squad with Baylor representing the United States at the World University Games next month in Germany. 'Any year you get a foreign tour, it's huge. ... Since we're returning 0.0 (percent of our) scoring, this give us all an opportunity,' Drew said. 'The games will be good for those that can play in it. But the practices will be great for everyone. And then, the one thing everybody leaves out is you do these team-bonding activities. There's nothing better than being overseas, that really brings you together a lot more than when you have all the distractions you do in the United States.' ___ AP college basketball: recommended in this topic

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store