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 (NCAA) Division I men's college basketball national champion for the 2024–25 season. The 86th annual edition of 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 (SEC) 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 (ACC) 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 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 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 (8–5). In doing so, both conferences combined to represent 50% of the field in the second round. In the ACC, only 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 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 (SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, and ACC).

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 (which was also played in San Antonio). The Final Four were the four #1 seeds: Florida, Duke, Houston, and Auburn. The championship matchup was between Florida and Houston. Florida defeated Houston, 65–63, to claim its third title, and its first since 2007.

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 also created seeds for the entire field from 1 to 68.

Eight teams (the four-lowest seeded automatic qualifiers and the four lowest-seeded at-large teams) play in the First Four. The winners of these games will advance to the main tournament bracket.

The following were the sites selected to host each round of the 2025 tournament:

First Four

• March 18 and 19
  • University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio (Host: University of Dayton)

First and second rounds (Subregionals)

• March 20 and 22
  • Amica Mutual Pavilion, Providence, Rhode Island (Host: Providence College)
  • Rupp Arena, Lexington, Kentucky (Host: University of Kentucky)
  • Intrust Bank Arena, Wichita, Kansas (Host: Wichita State University)
  • Ball Arena, Denver, Colorado (Host: Mountain West Conference)
• March 21 and 23
  • Rocket Arena, Cleveland, Ohio (Host: Mid-American Conference)
  • Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Host: Marquette University)
  • Lenovo Center, Raleigh, North Carolina (Host: North Carolina State University)
  • Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, Washington (Host: University of Washington)

Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)

• March 27 and 29
  • East Regional
    • Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey (Host: Seton Hall University)
  • West Regional
    • Chase Center, San Francisco, California (Host: San Francisco of University)
• March 28 and 30
  • South Regional
    • State Farm Arena, Atlanta, Georgia (Host: Georgia Institute of Technology)
  • Midwest Regional
    • Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, Indiana (Hosts: Horizon League, IU-Indianapolis)

National semifinals and championship game (Final Four)

• April 5 and 7
  • Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas (Hosts: UTSA, University of the Incarnate Word)

San Antonio hosted the Final Four for the fifth time, having previously hosted in 2018.

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

Teams who won their conference championships (31) automatically qualify.

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:

All times are listed in Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4). Games on CBS are also on Paramount+, while games on TBS, TNT, and truTV are also on Max.

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

• Johni Broome (MOP) - Auburn

• Tahaad Pettiford - Auburn

• Jase Richardson - Michigan State

• Danny Wolf - Michigan

• Sean Pedulla - Ole Miss

• Walter Clayton Jr. (MOP) - Florida

• Thomas Haugh - Florida

• Darrion Williams - Texas Tech

• JT Toppin - Texas Tech

• Johnell Davis - Arkansas

• Cooper Flagg (MOP) - Duke

• Kon Knueppel - Duke

• Khaman Maluach - Duke

• Mark Sears - Alabama

• Caleb Love - Arizona

• Emanuel Sharp (MOP) - Houston

• LJ Cryer - Houston

• Milos Uzan - Houston

• Jordan Gainey - Tennessee

• Braden Smith - Purdue

• Walter Clayton Jr. (MOP) – Florida
• Will Richard – Florida
• LJ Cryer – Houston
• J'Wan Roberts – Houston
• Cooper Flagg – Duke

*Tournament record

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.

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.

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.

• Selection Show – CBS

• First Four – TruTV

• First and Second Rounds – CBS, TBS, TNT, and TruTV

• Regional Semifinals (Sweet 16) and Finals (Elite 8) – CBS, TBS, and TruTV

• National Semifinals (Final Four) and Championship – CBS

• Max (only TBS, TNT, and truTV games)

• Paramount+ (only CBS games)

• March Madness app and website with authentication

• Ernie Johnson (New York City and San Antonio) – First and second rounds, regionals, Final Four and national championship game

• Adam Zucker (New York City and San Antonio) – First and second rounds and Final Four

• Adam Lefkoe (Atlanta) – First Four, first and second rounds, and regional semifinals

• Jamie Erdahl (New York City) – First and second rounds (game breaks)

• Charles Barkley (New York City and San Antonio) – First and second rounds, regionals, Final Four and national championship game

• Seth Davis (Atlanta and San Antonio) – First Four, first and second rounds, regional semifinals and Final Four

• Clark Kellogg (New York City and San Antonio) – First and second rounds, regionals, Final Four and national championship game

• Candace Parker (Atlanta) – First and second rounds and regional semifinals

• Jalen Rose (Atlanta and San Antonio) – First Four and Final Four

• Kenny Smith (New York City and San Antonio) – First and second rounds, regionals, Final Four and national championship game

• Gene Steratore (New York City and San Antonio) (Rules Analyst) – First Four, first and second rounds, regionals, Final Four and national championship game

• Wally Szczerbiak (New York City and San Antonio) – Second round and Final Four

• Jay Wright (Atlanta, New York City and San Antonio) – First Four, first and second rounds, regionals, Final Four and national championship game

• Ian Eagle/Bill Raftery/Grant Hill/Tracy Wolfson – First and second rounds at Raleigh, North Carolina; South Regional at Atlanta, Georgia; Final Four and National Championship at San Antonio, Texas

• Brian Anderson/Jim Jackson/Allie LaForce – First and second rounds at Lexington, Kentucky; East Regional at Newark, New Jersey

• Kevin Harlan/Dan Bonner/Stan Van Gundy/Lauren Shehadi – First and second rounds at Milwaukee, Wisconsin; West Regional at San Francisco, California

• Andrew Catalon/Steve Lappas/Evan Washburn – First and second rounds at Providence, Rhode Island; Midwest Regional at Indianapolis, Indiana

• Brad Nessler/Brendan Haywood/Dana Jacobson – First and second rounds at Denver, Colorado

• Spero Dedes/Jim Spanarkel/Jon Rothstein – First Four at Dayton, Ohio; First and second rounds at Cleveland, Ohio

• Lisa Byington/Robbie Hummel/Jalen Rose/Andy Katz – First and second rounds at Seattle, Washington

• Tom McCarthy/Debbie Antonelli/Steve Smith/AJ Ross – First and second rounds at Wichita, Kansas

(#) Tournament seedings and region in parentheses.

Westwood One will have exclusive coverage of the entire tournament.

Video

Live video of games is available for streaming through the following means:

• NCAA March Madness Live (website and app, CBS games available for free on digital media players; access to all other games requires TV Everywhere authentication through provider)
• Watch TBS website and app (only TBS games, required TV Everywhere authentication)
• Watch TNT website and app (only TNT games, required TV Everywhere authentication)
• Watch truTV website and app (only truTV games, required TV Everywhere authentication)
• CBS website and app (only CBS games, required TV Everywhere authentication)
• Websites and apps of cable, satellite, and OTT providers of CBS, TBS, TNT, and truTV (access required subscription)

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 (first and second rounds).

• Jared Greenberg, Randolph Childress, Tony Delk, Josh Pastner (Atlanta) - First and second round

Audio

Live audio of games is available for streaming through the following means:

• NCAA March Madness Live (website and app)
• Westwood One Sports website
• TuneIn (website and app, required TuneIn Premium subscription)
• Varsity Network app
• Websites and apps of Westwood One Sports affiliates

The March Madness app also supports Apple CarPlay and Android Auto through a native app.

• 2025 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament
• 2025 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament
• 2025 NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament
• 2025 National Invitation Tournament
• 2025 College Basketball Crown
• 2025 College Basketball Invitational