Fans across the country are preparing for one of the most exciting sporting events of the year and March Madness 2025 has arrived. The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament with 68 teams fighting until the last basket for the title, entertainers, near upsets and unforgettable moments. Big teams are ready to put the nail in their own coffin — and desperate underdogs trying to write one — as the excitement builds to an all time high.
March Madness 2025 Key Dates and Schedule
On Selection Sunday, March 16, the March Madness 2025 bracket was revealed. At 6 p.m. ET, the men’s bracket was announced on CBS while the women’s bracket was unveiled at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN, which ignited fans immediately filling out their brackets, people who have never done so successfully in the tournament.
The men’s schedule:
- These opening games will be played as First Four (March 18–19 in Dayton, Ohio) with two No. 16 seed play-in games and two No. 11 seed contests.
- The 64 team tournament starts with first round (March 20-21, the time in which major upsets occur).
- In Second Round (March 22-23), winners from first round find themselves challenged against headliners, creating rich and hard-earned records between paramount seeds and fresh underdogs.
- Elite Eight (April 9-11): The top remaining teams face each other with a respite from the exhausting marathon of the second and third weekend this time.
- Final Four (April 2): The four teams from each region moved on from Elie Eight play to compete for their share of the sweet slice of lemon.
- San Antonio, Texas (April 5): The remaining four teams split into two brackets pitted against each other for the national championship.
- The last two teams battle it out in San Antonio, Texas, for the title regarded as the most coveted in college basketball: National Championship (April 7, San Antonio, Texas).
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2025 March Madness Bracket Overview
The bracket this year is filled with powerhouse teams and potential Cinderella stories. The No. 1 overall seed enters the tournament, too: Auburn, Duke, Florida and Houston all have No. 1 seeds in their regions. But history has proved that what we are expecting from these teams to make it deep runs may not happen in March Madness.
Notable First-Round Matchups
Among these are the following exciting matchups in the First Round games on March 20 – 21:
- (1) Auburn can advance to (16) Saint Francis/Alabama State – Auburn is a powerhouse, but can the No. 16 seed pull off the game of the century?
- (8) Louisville vs. (9) Creighton – A classic 8-9 battle; could go in both directions.
- (5) Clemson v. (12) McNeese: No. 12 seeds have historically upset No. 5 seeds. Can Will McNeese add to that trend?
- (1) Arkansas vs. (2) UCLA – Storied programs meet in a high stakes game. (7) Kansas vs. (10) Arkansas – Two storied programs are set to meet in a high stakes game.
- (2) Tennessee vs. (15) Wofford: Tennessee is a strong favorite but upsets happen this far.
How to Watch March Madness 2025
Fans won’t want to miss a second of the action and there are many ways to watch the games.
- CBS, truTV, TBS and TNT will carry games throughout the tournament.
- Paramount+ also offers streaming options for fans to watch games, which can be done streaming on Paramount+, Fubo and ESPN+.
- The official print and interactive brackets are available on the NCAA website and fans can track their picks.
The Madness of March: What to Expect
No one is a fan of the Cinderella story greater than the March Madness fan as it’s a staple for the game: unexpected upsets, buzzer beaters and Cinderella stories that captivate fans. Lower seeds have won before, and since the beginning of tournament play there is a 23.2 percent success rate for underdogs in the First Round.
There are also lower seeded teams such as VCU, Yale, UC San Diego who expect to make deep runs this year. Meanwhile, top-seed teams like Auburn, Duke and Florida will do their best not to be the victims of shocking early exits.
