Photo courtesy of NCAA.com.
This weekend Selection Sunday will broadcast the NCAA March Madness tournament. On Sunday March 16, 2025 the bracketology for collegiate basketball will be brought out to play. Going into every March Madness with absolutely no expectations as to who will win is especially needed this year.
SAU senior and communications major, Ryan Schiestel says, “It’s impossible to just expect the correct outcome will happen.” “Expecting your picks to go your way 68 times is pretty much impossible.” Based on the rankings that were released on February 24th, there are some teams that could definitely pull an upset.
Many St. Ambrose University students say they are not missing out on this year’s unexpected collegiate basketball tournament.
Schiestel is also our KALA radio sports director and SAU senior says, “I go pretty in-depth,” when analyzing teams for his bracket. “Obviously I pick the number one seed to beat the sixteen seeded team.”
“Outside of that I really look at stats. I’ll look at head to head matchup stats, season stats, strength of schedule, stuff like that.” “I’ll also pick favorites. So for me, unless I absolutely know they’ll lose, I’ll always pick schools like the University of Illinois or the University of Tennessee to win at least one game.”
This year, Ryan thinks Tennessee has a high chance of winning it all. However he also says, “I think seeing Tom Izzo and Michigan State win another one would be really cool.”
SAU junior and Ryan’s co-host for their podcast, “Unsportsmanlike Conduct,” AJ Tappa, is hoping to make a better bracket this year than he has in previous years. “My bracket has never made it out of the round of 32.”
AJ says he tries to be unbiased when filling out his brackets. “I typically do some research on rankings, conference standings, and team stats to decide my winners and losers.”
This year, AJ has two teams in mind to win the tournament. “I expect either Duke or Michigan State to win this year’s tournament. These two are always a danger on the court and I expect nothing less this year.”
SAU’s digital media Professor Greg Armstrong, a former WQAD-TV sportscaster, says he “hopes to one day create the perfect bracket!”
“Over the years, the less I watch college basketball, I find myself just going with my gut instinct rather than overthinking it. But when push comes to shove, always pick the team that has a higher free throw percentage!”
“This year is no exception. I just don’t have time to sit down and watch a lot of teams play to help me make an informed pick.”
“That being said, I’ve heard a lot of good things about the SEC, so let’s go with who’s on top of that conference. I’ll say Auburn.”
ESPN’s Neil Paine released an article on February 26th discussing teams’ likelihood of making the tournament. “The NCAA tournament continues to sharpen as 30 teams achieve at least a 95% chance to make the tournament…while 8 others are in solid shape (70-95%). But that leaves 23 teams sitting between 25% and 70% odds, their fates currently unknown.”
Former President of the United States Barack Obama has publicly released his bracket every year since taking office in 2009. Obama is one of the world’s most famous basketball fans.
“He completely gets it wrong every time,” CBS News’ Vlad Duthiers remarked while sharing the brackets on “CBS Mornings.” Obama predicted the winner of the 2009 NCAA tournament, North Carolina, leaving people impressed by the new president’s basketball knowledge.
In March 2024, Obama selected UConn, Kentucky, Baylor, and Purdue as his Final Four. UConn and Kentucky were his final two with UConn winning. Obama has not yet released his 2025 NCAA March Madness bracket.
As of February 24, 2025: Auburn is currently seated at number one overall. Michigan State is seeded at the top of the Big Ten conference. Duke has remained as the clear number two seed in bracketology.
According to a recent NCAA bracketology update, Wisconsin is sitting right on the edge of contention for a two seed. The Badgers have had the help of upset losses to boost their case. On the opposite side, Florida has dropped from the number one seed line down to the mix of two seeds. Their loss against Georgia on the road was a critical factor to their rankings drop.
