Bracketology: Predicting the 2025 NCAA Tournament field – The Dukies are Dominant (Baby!)

01/06/2025 10:02 AM

Hello friends, and welcome to the latest 2025 NCAA Tournament Bracketology update here at ClutchPoints. In our intro section today, in honor of Dick Vitale, who back in December announced he is once again cancer free, I request that you read the following three italicized paragraphs about the 4th-ranked Duke Blue Devils in your best Dickie V voice. Reading aloud is not only suggested, but encouraged, but if you’re feeling a little self-conscious, just keep his voice in mind as you read quietly to yourself.

There are a lot of good basketball teams around the country. Tennessee and Auburn look unbeatable. The UConn Huskies have bounced back after a rough few days in Maui. Iowa State and Houston are gonna be battling for the Big 12 title all season long. And don’t sleep on my fellow paisan Tom Izzo, baby. He’s got a good team over there in East Lansing. But the most dangerous team in the country might just be the Duke Blue Devils, baby! 

Just look at what happened this weekend when the Dukies went down to Texas to play the SMU Mustangs. A good SMU team, coached by Andy Enfield, who probably thought he was bringing Dunk City with him over to Dallas. But those young men from Durham showed up on Saturday afternoon and turned Dallas into “Duke City” baby! 

And hey, what can you say about Cooper Flagg? This diaper dandy is super, scintillating, sensational! Forget about Zion Williamson. Forget about Paolo Banchero. This kid might be the next Christian Laettner! He might be responsible for hanging another championship banner above Coach K Court, baby! And he’s not alone. Kon Knueppel is another diaper dandy and Tyrese Proctor is a primetime performer. He’s a PTPer baby! 

Thanks for that, Dickie V. Now let’s get to the Bracketology projections, baby.

Bracketology Bracket 

Bracketology Breakdown 

Top Seeds: Auburn Tigers (South Region), Tennessee Volunteers (Midwest Region), Iowa State Cyclones (West Region), Duke Blue Devils (East Region)

Multi-Bid Leagues: ACC (5), Atlantic 10 (2), Big East (3), Big Ten (11), Big 12 (7), Mountain West (2), SEC (13), WCC (2)

Bracketology Bubble Watch 

Last Four Byes: Ohio State, Texas, North Carolina, Saint Mary’s

Last Four In: Texas Tech, Vanderbilt, Penn State, Louisville

First Four Out: Creighton, Missouri, SMU, Indiana

Next Four Out: Arizona State, Iowa, Arizona, BYU

Five Most Intriguing Games of the Week 

Tuesday January 7th (ESPN2, 7 PM ET) – Tennessee at Florida

Tuesday January 7th (ESPN, 7 PM ET) – Pittsburgh at Duke

Tuesday January 7th (Peacock, 10 PM ET) – Michigan at UCLA

Saturday January 11th (ESPN, 8 PM ET) – Alabama at Texas A&M

Saturday January 11th (SEC Network, 8:30 PM ET) – Kentucky at Mississippi State

And One! 

For my And One! prediction of the week, I’m forecasting something that I won’t be able to determine whether I’m correct or incorrect for over another month. Consider this a sort of futures bet to keep track of in my weekly Bracketology column.

I’m looking at the Arizona Wildcats, and the season couldn’t have gotten off to a much rougher start. The Wildcats were a projected 4-seed in my first projections of the year, but it wasn’t long until they were out of the field completely following a 3-4 start to the season. However, a couple of those losses — West Virginia and Oklahoma — look a lot better now than they did then, and suddenly, Arizona has won four games in a row, including over Cincinnati on the road this past weekend.

So maybe the Wildcats won’t be back up to that 4-line, but I do believe that by mid-February — call it 30 days out from Selection Sunday — Arizona will be considered at least a 9-seed by not only myself, but by my fellow Bracketologists as well. 

Past And One! Predictions

11/24/24 – I’ll eat way too much food on Thanksgiving (CORRECT)

12/2/24 – The Big 12 will win the Big East-Big 12 Battle (CORRECT) and the SEC will win the ACC-SEC Challenge (CORRECT)

12/12/24 – At least nine of those 12 SEC teams in the December 12th Bracketology field will be victorious over the weekend (CORRECT)

12/16/24 – Notre Dame, Penn State, Texas and Ohio State will win in the opening round of the College Football Playoff (CORRECT)

12/23/24 – Penn State, Texas, Oregon and Notre Dame will win in the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff (INCORRECT)

1/2/25 – Florida and Tennessee will both secure SEC wins over the weekend over Kentucky and Arkansas respectively (INCORRECT)

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