NCAA Tournament 2025 bracket picks, upsets, best Cinderella teams: Model simulates March Madness 10,000 times

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The 2025 NCAA Tournament bracket was revealed on Selection Sunday, with many of college basketball’s blue blood programs landing a spot in the 68-team 2025 March Madness bracket. The Duke Blue Devils were one of the most dominant teams in the country during the regular season and were rewarded with the No. 1 seed in the East Region of the March Madness bracket 2025. The Blue Devils will try to make their first Final Four appearance under head coach Jon Scheyer and ultimately win the program’s sixth college basketball national championship.

Duke will face the winner of the Mount St. Mary’s vs. American play-in game on Friday in the 2025 NCAA bracket. Do the Blue Devils have what it takes to go on a deep March Madness 2025 run? Before making any 2025 March Madness bracket predictions, be sure to check out the 2025 NCAA Tournament bracket picks from the proven computer model at SportsLine

Their proven projection model has simulated every game in the tournament 10,000 times. It has absolutely crushed its March Madness picks recently, beating over 91 percent of all CBS Sports brackets in four of the past six tournaments. It was all over UConn’s championship run a year ago and nailed 13 teams in the Sweet 16. It also nailed Alabama’s Cinderella run to the Final Four as a 4-seed.

It knows how to spot an upset as well. The same model has produced brackets that have nailed 24 first-round upsets by double-digit seeds since its inception in 2016. There’s simply no reason to rely on luck when there’s proven technology to help you dominate your 2025 March Madness pools. 

Now, with the 2025 NCAA bracket being revealed, the model is simulating the matchups and its results are in. You can only see it over at SportsLine.

2025 March Madness bracket games to watch

One of the 2025 March Madness matchups to keep an eye on: No. 8 seed Mississippi State vs. No. 9 seed Baylor in the East Region. Mississippi State had the No. 6 scoring offense in the best conference in the nation, averaging 79.8 ppg. Baylor will need to know where Josh Hubbard is at all times with the sophomore guard being one of the best shooters in college basketball. Hubbard averaged 18.7 ppg while making 3.2 triples per game this season. He made six 3-pointers en route to scoring 26 points in a victory over LSU in the first round of the SEC Tournament, so if he gets hot from deep early, that could mean an early exit for the Bears. Baylor may throw its size at the 5-foot-11 Hubbard though with 6-7 guard Jalen Celestine and 6-5 guard VJ Edgecombe in the starting lineup. Edgecombe, a freshman, is a projected NBA lottery pick and is averaging 15 points this season.

Also in the East Region, BYU vs. VCU figures to be a pivotal 6 vs. 11 matchup. BYU, the No. 6 seed, exceeded expectations in head coach Kevin Young’s first season on the job. The Cougars went 24-9 overall and 14-6 in Big 12 play during the regular season. BYU is one of the best shooting teams in the tournament, and finished the regular season ranked 25th in the country in NET. VCU is a program that has had plenty of success in the Big Dance. The Rams aren’t as battle tested as some teams, and haven’t played a team ranked in the national top-25 this season. That said, VCU is an elite defensive team, allowing only 62.4 points per game this season — the eighth best figure in college basketball.

The third matchup to watch in the East Region features No. 3 seed Wisconsin vs. No. 14 seed Montana. The Badgers have three victories over teams that were ranked in the top 10, and they also do something better than the other 363 Division I teams. That is converting from the line, which is paramount in March, as Wisconsin knocks down 83% of its attempts from the charity stripe. Montana, meanwhile, swept the Big Sky regular season and tournament thanks to an offense that does something better than all but one other DI team. Montana ranks second in the nation with a 50.2% field goal percentage, with five of its top seven scorers converting at least 50% from the field. You can see how far all these teams go over at SportsLine.

How to make 2025 NCAA bracket predictions

How far will those major programs go? And which Cinderella teams will make surprising runs through the 2025 NCAA Tournament bracket? With the model’s track record of calling bracket-busting upsets, you’ll want to see which stunners it is calling this year before locking in any 2025 NCAA bracket picks.

So what’s the optimal NCAA Tournament bracket 2025? And which 2025 March Madness underdogs will shock college basketball? Visit SportsLine now to see which teams you can back with confidence, all from the model that’s nailed 24 upsets by double-digit seeds since its inception and beat over 91% of players in four of the last six tournaments.

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