March Madness is officially here. On Sunday, March 16, 2025, the remaining conference championship games ended, and the selection show aired at 6:00 PM EST to determine the brackets. Sixty out of the possible sixty-four teams have been decided with the remaining four spots to be determined on Tuesday, March 18, and Wednesday, March 19 in play-in games.
To determine the entire bracket, St. Francis played Alabama State on Tuesday, March 18th; Alabama State won on a full-court pass in the final seconds to win 70-68 and will move on to play against 1-seed Auburn at 2:50 PM EST on Thursday, March 20th. North Carolina and San Diego State played later that day, UNC won 95-68, securing their 11th-seed spot against 6th-seed Ole Miss, which will be played on Friday at 4:05 PM EST.
There was some controversy surrounding UNC’s inclusion in the NCAA tournament. Many are shocked that North Carolina made the tournament. North Carolina had only one Quadrant 1 win while West Virginia and Ohio State each had six. Also, Indiana had four and Boise State had three. North Carolina’s Athletic Director, Bubba Cunningham is a part of the selection committee who determines the bracket. This sparked a lot of questions as many believed North Carolina was picked due to this.
Additionally, Mount St. Mary’s played American University to determine the 16-seed spot to play against Duke on Friday at 2:50 PM. Mt. St. Mary’s won 83-72. Then, at 9:10 PM, Texas and Xavier played to determine the 11-seed spot to play against Illinois on Friday at 9:45 PM. Xavier won 86-80.
The round of 64 began on Thursday, March 20, 2025, with the opening game at 12:15 PM EST between 8 seed Louisville and 9 seed Creighton. There are 16 games played on each of the first two days, with the last game starting at 10:10 PM.
The round of 32 will begin on Saturday with eight games and then eight the next day on Sunday. The Sweet 16 will start four days later with four games on Thursday, March 27, and another four on Friday. Then the elite 8 will follow on Saturday and Sunday with two games each day.
This year’s final 4 venues will be at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. There will be two games on Saturday, April 5. The final game to determine the winner of March Madness will be on Monday night April 7th.
The Uconn Huskies have won the past two tournaments and are looking to three-peat. The only other ever team to win more than two consecutive tournaments was the UCLA Bruins with seven consecutive championships from 1967-1973. Uconn is an 8 seed and plays its first game on Friday against Oklahoma at 9:25 PM.
Let the Madness begin.