March Madness bracket tips: Guide to making 2025 NCAA Tournament picks
The best three weeks in sports are upon us.
Yes, that means it's March Madness, and it is time to pretend that you know what you are doing even though you haven't watched a lick of college basketball all season and fill out those brackets so you can try to win some money and be the envy of your office colleagues and friends for a couple of seconds.
The 68-team men's field (for now) will send fans through a roller coaster of emotions, but don't worry, with a few brain cells and a little bit of luck, amateur bracketologists will enjoy the fruits and hopefully can win enough money to buy an Extra Value Meal.
So here is our 2025 version of trying to help you fill out your brackets for the best odds in the 2025 men's NCAA Tournament so you won't get completely laughed out of your office:
Underdogs rule the day
Last year, not even hardcore North Carolina State fans had them penciled in to go to the Final Four, and if they did, they're probably lying. So, in at least one bracket, pick a lower seed to make it to San Antonio because there are bound to be plenty of upsets, especially on the first weekend.
Remember, the lowest seed to ever make it to the Final Four is a No. 11, and that has only happened six times, including last year. LSU (1986), George Mason (2006), VCU (2011), Loyola Chicago (2018), and UCLA (2021) are the others. So be selective about the underdog you choose so that you have a fighting chance to still be alive in your pool come the later rounds.
Going chalk ... not smart
This tournament seems to be heavy on two conferences: the Big Ten and SEC. Even though the odds are better than most, there is a good chance at least one team from those leagues makes the Final Four, and it wouldn't be a shock to see all four teams in the national semifinals from those leagues.
In each of the last 11 tournaments, at least one No. 5 seed or lower has reached the Final Four, and only once has all four No. 1 seeds made the Final Four. (2008: North Carolina, UCLA, Memphis, and Kansas). In 2023, no No. 1 seeds made the Final Four, but don't bet on that this year. So go with chalk if you want to, but you may be fighting a losing battle.
If all else fails, pray and pick blue
Millions of people will fill out their brackets, and it's ok not knowing what you are doing because, in all honesty, this is supposed to be fun. If you are on the clueless side of things, go with mostly higher seeds, then sprinkle in a few upsets to balance things out.
For the others that take this stuff seriously, you hopefully have an idea of how you are going to strategically to make sure that, one, you don't lose your house and two, you don't lose any other body parts.
And if all else fails, the main thing that is repeated every year is to pick a team associated with the color blue. In the last 20 years, Louisville in 2013 and Baylor in 2021 are the only teams that have cut down the nets and cried to "One Shining Moment," without blue being part of their primary color scheme to its uniforms.
Also, remember that filling out a piece of paper or making picks online is not an exact science, so no matter the amount of bloavating from "experts" on the matter, no one really knows what they hell they are doing.
Good luck, and don't email me if your bracket is a dumpster fire before the first day of games is over.
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