It’s almost time to reveal the field of 68 teams ready to take on the March Madness bracket, but before all of that, there’s plenty of good, quality basketball in the month of March. Columnists Luke Brown and Mason Kinnahan are getting you set for March Madness with their first installment of ‘Marching Through the Madness,’ which will be updated regularly before, through, and after the tournament with the biggest stories and analysis on the world of college basketball.

The Favorite: Duke

By the time this article is released, Duke will almost surely be ranked as the top team in the country after the current No. 1 team, Auburn, lost to rival Alabama in a Saturday thriller. Cooper Flagg has exceeded all of the expectations as a freshman and a possible John Wooden Award winner for the best player in the country, contending only with Johni Broome of Auburn. Duke dug themselves out of trouble at North Carolina, pulling away late for an 82-69 win. Kon Knueppel led the way in scoring, with 17, and he’s been the Robin to Flagg’s Batman all season, averaging just over 13 PPG through the year. Duke will receive a bye through the first and second rounds and will face the winner between Georgia Tech and Virginia on Thursday at noon. Duke’s only loss in the ACC was an early February visit to Clemson, and they’ve beaten Auburn and Arizona among other notables. Plus, they showed off in a neutral site game against Illinois at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 22, a 110-67 win that headlined the back part of their season.

Sleeper: Clemson

The Tigers enter the ACC Tournament as a three-seed, but they have shown they can beat anyone in the conference. Sixth-year senior guard Chase Hunter has been a key piece for Clemson over the past couple of years, however, after P.J. Hall graduated following last season, he took a jump and became the Tigers’ main offensive weapon in 2025. In addition to Hunter, former Cincinnati transfer Viktor Lakhin has become one of the ACC’s most impactful players. Lakhin averages over 11 points and six rebounds, along with a block and a steal per game. Senior forward Ian Schieffelin has shown he can break out for 20 points on any given night as well, helping give Clemson a great balance of offensive and defensive skill. The Tigers’ best win came about a month ago when they upset then-No. 2 Duke at home. Since that win, Clemson has not lost a game since. The Tigers head into the postseason riding an eight-game win streak and have their eyes set on a top-three seed on Selection Sunday.

Luke’s Pick: Duke over Clemson

Mason’s Pick: Clemson over Duke

The Favorite: Auburn

The Tigers have been the clear number-one team throughout most of conference play. Fifth-year forward Johni Broome leads the charge for the nation’s number one offense. Auburn is scoring 85 points a game and has one of the best resumes in the sport. Road wins over Alabama and Kentucky and a neutral site win over Houston highlight the Tigers’ impressive track record. Auburn travels to Nashville following a crushing home overtime loss to Alabama, leaving the Tigers with a chip on their shoulder. Senior guard Chad Baker-Mazara will be the x-factor for Auburn in the postseason. Baker-Mazara averages 13 points per game, shooting 40% from beyond the arc. However, he has let his emotions get the best of him multiple times in crucial moments. In the first round of the NCAA Tournament last year, Baker-Mazara was ejected from the game after receiving a flagrant 2 foul three minutes into the contest. This past Saturday against the Tide, Baker-Mazara was ejected again after receiving another flagrant 2 foul with 10 minutes left in regulation. Auburn ended up falling in both games. The Tigers have the talent on their roster to run the table the rest of the way. However, they must control themselves in the biggest moments.

Sleeper: Missouri

The Tigers ended the season with three straight losses to Vanderbilt, Oklahoma, and Kentucky. They enter as the seventh seed in the SEC tournament and play the winner between Wednesday’s meeting between Mississippi State and LSU. The SEC bracket will be the hardest by far of any conference in the country, and it seems perfectly reasonable that a team will add some spice to the mix. Plus, Alabama and Florida are certainly a stretch to be “sleepers.” The top four teams, who all received double-byes, will be difficult, but Florida seems to be the most vulnerable of the four, especially against the Tigers. Mizzou beat the Gators on Jan. 14, 83-82. Caleb Grill scored 22 points off the bench in that meeting for Missouri, and he’s led a strong season for the Tigers up to this point, scoring 14.2 PPG. Eight-seed Ole Miss is a solid contender to give Auburn a good game in the quarterfinal, but Missouri has the most probable road to making the SEC Championship.

Luke’s Pick: Alabama over Auburn

Mason’s Pick: Tennessee over Missouri

The Favorite: St. John’s

It’s hard to overstate the season St. John’s has had under second-year head coach Rick Pitino. Pitino has been coaching since 1974, and he has rejuvenated the program into the esteem they haven’t had since the late great Louie Carnesseca. They are most recently coming off a signature win on a buzzer-beater in overtime against Marquette. Their four losses this season have come against Baylor, Georgia, Creighton, and Villanova. The Red Storm beat UConn twice, the second time being a dominating 89-75 win at Madison Square Garden. They turned around and lost, 73-71, at Villanova’s Finneran Pavilion. The ‘Johnnies’ are the third-best team in the country in defensive efficiency, allowing just 89.1 points per 100 defensive possessions, just behind Tennessee and Houston and better than top-ranked Duke. Pitino’s teams are always some of the most well-conditioned teams in the country, and this year is no different, which has led them to be the team to beat in the Big East.

Sleeper: Villanova

It has been a roller coaster ride for Wildcats fans this season. Villanova started the year 3-4 with losses that included Columbia and Saint Joe’s. However, they won eight of their next nine including wins over then No. 14 ranked Cincinnati and No. 9 Connecticut. Those wins have not aged well for Kyle Neptune’s crew and the team has been mediocre in Big East play, but the wins the Cats have had are against the conference’s top teams. Villanova has beaten top-ranked St. Johns along with Marquette in the last month. Eric Dixon is the nation’s leading scorer averaging over 23 points per night. When Dixon does not get any help offensively, the Cats look like one of the worst power conference teams in the country, however, players like Wooga Poplar and Jordan Longino have picked it up in recent weeks. Poplar has scored 12 or more points in eight of his last ten games and Longino is averaging 15.5 points in his last two. Dixon won’t want his illustrious college career to end in “The College Basketball Crown.” If Villanova gets hot, they can compete with any team in the Big East and make a run at an NCAA Tournament auto bid.

Luke’s Pick: St. John’s over UConn

Mason’s Pick: St. John’s over Creighton

The Favorite: Houston

Every year, it seems like Kelvin Sampson has his squad in the top five when March rolls around, and it’s no different this year for the Cougars. Once more, Houston has one of the top-ranked defenses in the country, led by Terrance Arceneaux and Joseph Tuglar, two of the best defenders in the country, according to EvanMiya. It was pure dominance in Big 12 play for Houston, going 19-1 with their only loss being by one point in overtime to Texas Tech on Feb. 1. The Big 12 might not have been as strong as in previous years, but it still has been an impressive regular season for the Cougars. Houston’s path to winning the Big 12 Tournament is very winnable. The Cougars’ senior guards can score against anyone and if their suffocating full-court defense can continue, Houston will leave Kansas City with a trophy and a guaranteed one-seed in hand.

Sleeper: Baylor

Baylor competed with one of the top teams in the country, Houston, on Saturday in their last game of the regular season. 15-seed Arizona State or 10-seed Kansas State will see the Bears in the first round, a particularly light matchup for Baylor. Texas Tech is not the hardest team to beat, but they will be tough. If Baylor can play the game they played against Houston, it won’t be an issue to beat the Red Raiders in the quarterfinals. Houston is far and away the top team in the conference tournament, but Baylor isn’t that far off if Baylor can continue to compete.

Luke’s Pick: Houston over Arizona

Mason’s Pick: Houston over Texas Tech

The Favorite: Michigan State

Michigan State’s path to the Big Ten final is favorable, as they’ll see either Indiana or Oregon in their first game, the quarterfinal round. They get to avoid Maryland and Michigan, as both teams got placed in the bottom half of the bracket. Tom Izzo has done a tremendous job with this squad, headlined by Jaden Akins and Jase Richardson. Besides Duke in the ACC, I think the Spartans are the most favorable of the conference’s top seeds to get the job done and earn an auto-bid.

Sleeper: Indiana

“Maybe I’m leaving too soon, I don’t know,” Indiana head coach Mike Woodson said after his team clinched a bye in the Big Ten tournament last Saturday. The turnover for the Hoosiers has been fun to watch over the past month. Once Mike Woodson announced he would be stepping down as Indiana’s head coach in early February, the Hoosiers upset Michigan State in East Lansing and Purdue at home. Even though the Hoosiers have ultimately underperformed this season, Indiana has enough talent on the roster to make a run. Indiana will have a tough matchup against Oregon to begin the Big Ten tournament, but a win against the Ducks sets them up for a win-and-your-in matchup against top-ranked Michigan State. As a bubble team, Indiana will have to make some noise in their conference tournament to feel confident when watching the bracket reveal show on Selection Sunday.

Luke’s Pick: Michigan State over Maryland

Mason’s Pick: Purdue over Michigan State

Drake – Missouri Valley

The Bulldogs have put together a 30-3 season, capped off with a win in the Missouri Valley Conference final on Sunday in St. Louis. They scheduled tough this season, beating Miami, FAU, Vanderbilt, and Kansas State among other notables. They competed in a close game against Belmont in the MVC semifinals but put on the high heat against Bradley in the final on Sunday afternoon. Bennett Stirtz scored 24 points, 15 from three-point land in the final, headlining the group that is currently looking at a nine seed in the tournament. At this point, they are borderline “little man,” but look to take them in a good number of 8/9 matchups if that’s how the bracket shakes out.

McNeese State – Southland

The Cowboys lost by only eight points to a No. 2 Alabama team in the third game of their season. They are a legit team with a 25-6 record, and they haven’t even begun conference play yet. They’ll take on the winner between No. 5 Texas A&M Corpus-Christi and Northwestern State on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. As of now, the Cowboys are most likely No. 13 seeds, which would place them up against a No. 4 seed. Don’t count them out against anyone in the tournament if they can secure the conference title first.

Omaha – Summit

Omaha secured an 85-75 win over St. Thomas (MN) on Sunday night for the Summit League conference championship, but they were heading to the dance either way as St. Thomas went through the D-2 to D-1 transition period, ruling them ineligible for the tournament. It capped off a dominant performance in the conference tournament for Omaha, which involved a 100-75 win over South Dakota in the semifinals. The Mavericks beat up a trash can after every win, and that’s happened 22 times this season. The team went through a 2-9 stretch earlier in the year, but have played well when it mattered most, and they’ll look to keep that going. The Mavs are a likely 15 seed, but they could make a close game come down to the wire with any two-seed in their path.

UC San Diego – Big West

The Tritons are having a dream year under head coach Eric Olen in 2025. UCSD is not your average mid-major team. The Tritons are currently 39th in KenPom above some bubble teams like Xavier and Indiana. UCSD enters the Big West Tournament as the top-ranked seed with a chance at a top twelve seed on Selection Sunday. Aniwaniwa Tai-Jones is averaging almost 20 points per game leading the way for the Tritons. Assuming UCSD wins the Big West tourney, expect them to give a higher seed some trouble in the first round.

High Point – Big South

Alan Huss has done an incredible job over the last couple of years after taking the High Point job before the 2023-24 season. Huss is the Big South’s back-to-back Coach of the Year and for good reason. After a major collapse in the Big South tournament last year, the Panthers got their revenge, pulling off a comeback victory over Winthrop. Former Kansas and Eastern Carolina guard Bobby Pettiford exploded for 17 points off the bench in the championship game yesterday. This High Point team is having fun and playing some very good basketball at the most important time of the year.

Yale – Ivy

The Ivy League only has two rounds in their conference tournament making it one of the most unique tournaments in the sport. Yale has been the top team all season long and even though they lost star forward Danny Wolf, yet the Bulldogs haven’t missed a beat. Yale has only lost one game in the year 2025 and is led by senior guard John Paulakidas. The Bulldogs are averaging over 80 points offensively and should cruise through the Ivy League Tournament later in the week. Yale entered the national tournament as a 13 seed last season and was able to upset the red-hot Auburn Tigers in the first round. Yale has a chance to make some more noise here in 2025.