March Madness bracket tracker: Latest look at who's in, out and on NCAA Tournament bubble
With only a few weeks left before the regular season ends in college basketball, there are still a number of teams aiming to improve their resumes ahead of the big dance.
Conference tournament championships still loom, of course, providing any team with a chance at an automatic bid if they're able to win their respective league. However, teams would obviously rather position themselves for an at-large bid regardless, of what happens in their conference tournaments.
It is called March Madness, after all.
It's time to analyze strength of schedule, resumes and good losses, bad wins and more with the margins growing ever thinner for bubble teams.
Here's a look at the latest bracketology for the 2025 NCAA tournament, including which teams might be in or out, or on the bubble:
March Madness bracket bubble watch tracker
Tracker based on games through Sunday, Feb. 16
NCAA tournament locks
- ACC: Duke, Clemson
- Big Ten: Purdue, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Michigan
- Big 12: Houston, Iowa State, Texas Tech, Arizona
- Big East: St. John's
- SEC: Auburn, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida, Texas A&M, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Missouri
- Other: Memphis
The list of locks in a little short, but mostly in part to the fact most of these teams could lose the rest of their games this season and still make the NCAA Tournament.
The SEC leads with nine locks, as Auburn, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida, Texas A&M and Kentucky were each favorably ranked in the top 10 of the committee's top 16 seeds release on Saturday. Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Missouri all benefit from a few big wins and some of the best strength of schedules in college basketball this season. The Big 12 is shortly behind with four locks, as Arizona and Texas Tech have both started playing good basketball as of late.
Clemson also enters the locks, in large part due to a win over Duke and being the second-best team in a weaker ACC this season.
Here's a look at which teams would have to make absolute blunders to miss out on the tournament:
Likely NCAA Tournament teams
- ACC: Louisville
- Big Ten: Illinois, Maryland, Oregon, UCLA
- Big 12: Kansas, Baylor, BYU
- Big East: Creighton, UConn, Marquette
- SEC: None
- Other: Gonzaga, St. Mary's
Wait, Kansas isn't a lock for the NCAA Tournament? The Jayhawks haven't been on their A-game in recent matchups, with losses in three of their last five games to Baylor, Kansas State and Utah, one of the worst teams in the Big 12 this season.
Kansas is still in a solid position to be a top-five seed in the tournament, although it'll need to get its game together soon.
Creighton has lost back-to-back games to UConn and St. John's, although they will more than likely be in the NCAA Tournament. The Bluejays' resume is propped up by wins over Kansas, UConn, Marquette and St. John's, having at least a win over each of the three expected NCAA Tournament teams from the Big East.
Marquette, previously considered a lock, has fallen to "likely in" territory after losing three straight games against UConn, St. John's and Creighton. The Golden Eagles bounced back with a 10-point win over DePaul on Saturday, however.
NCAA Tournament bubble teams
- ACC: Wake Forest, SMU, North Carolina
- Big Ten: UCLA, Nebraska, Oregon
- Big 12: Kansas State, TCU, West Virginia
- Big East: Villanova, Xavier
- SEC: Oklahoma, Georgia, Vanderbilt, Texas, Arkansas
- Other: UC San Diego, New Mexico, Utah State, VCU, Drake, Utah State, San Diego State, Boise State, Liberty, George Mason, Bradley, UC Irvine
A few SEC teams are still vying for spots in the NCAA Tournament, thanks to their blistering strength of schedule in their loaded conference. Oklahoma, only 3-9 in SEC play, is holding on by a thread on the bubble watch, thanks to wins over Michigan, Arizona and Louisville in nonconference play.
Each of the SEC teams have plenty of chances to win their way into the field, however, with nearly every conference game giving a chance at a Quad 1 victory.
And here comes Kansas State, whose reported big money spent in the transfer portal over the offseason did not immediately reflect on the Wildcats' record to start the season. They have won six of their last seven games after losing their previous six, playing themselves onto the bubble. During their six-game win streak, Kansas State secured upset wins over West Virginia, Iowa State, Kansas and Arizona, each of which were ranked during the time of the matchup.
Mid-major teams have little to no room for error when it comes to landing an at-large bid, and will need to either dominate the rest of the way or win their conference tournaments to feel safe heading into Selection Sunday.