March Madness men’s tournament analysis: Teams and players to watch

The NCAA tournament bracket is set and the games are set to begin Tuesday with the First Four.

Here’s a rundown of the players to watch, potential Cinderella teams and what to know about the 2025 NCAA men’s basketball tournament.

Auburn guard Miles Kelly reacts against Tennessee in the SEC tournament on Saturday.

(George Walker IV / Associated Press)

No. 1 AUBURN: The Tigers, under 11th-year coach Bruce Pearl, are the top-seeded team in the tournament. Auburn is from the Southeastern Conference, which earned a record 14 tournament bids. The Tigers, seeking their first national title, lost three of their last four games, but all of the defeats came against tournament opponents.

No. 2 MICHIGAN STATE: The Spartans are making their 27th consecutive tournament appearance under coach Tom Izzo, who is in his 30th season. Guard Jaden Akins averaged a team-best 12.7 points a game for the Big Ten regular-season champions. Michigan State is seeking its third title, its first since 2000.

No. 3 IOWA STATE: Guard Curtis Jones averaged 17.1 points a game for the Cyclones, who are making their fourth straight tournament appearance under fourth-year coach T.J. Otzelberger. Iowa State’s chances could be hampered by the loss of guard Keshon Gilbert, who is out because of a groin injury.

No. 4 TEXAS A&M: Sixth-year coach Buzz Williams led his team to the tournament for the third consecutive year. The Aggies, who defeated Auburn on March 4, are a balanced and experienced team led by guard Wade Taylor IV, who averaged 15.7 points a game, and Southern Methodist transfer guard Zhuric Phelps.

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UC San Diego has a nation-best 15-game winning streak and made the tournament in its first year of eligibility after moving up from Division II. Hayden Gray made six of seven three-point shots to lead the Tritons to victory over UC Irvine in the Big West title game.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Johni Broome, forward, Auburn: The 6-foot-10 senior averaged a team-best 18.9 points and 10.6 rebounds en route to being voted the SEC player of the year.

Jase Richardson, guard, Michigan State: The talented 6-3 freshman — the son of former Michigan State and NBA player Jason Richardson — is regarded as a potential NBA lottery pick.

Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones, guard, UC San Diego: The 6-6 senior from New Zealand was voted Big West player of the year after averaging 19.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.7 assists.

RIM SHOTS

• Bryant, which plays Michigan State, aims to become the fourth No. 15-seeded team in the last five seasons to win a first-round game.
  
• Ivy League champion Yale has made 49% of its field-goal attempts and 38% of its three-point shots. Guard John Poulakidis averaged 19 points a game.
  
• North Carolina won eight of its final 10 games — the losses coming against Duke — but the Tar Heels’ selection for a play-in game against San Diego State was controversial.

— Gary Klein

Duke’s Cooper Flagg drives past Florida State’s Jerry Deng, second from left, during a game on March 1.

(Ben McKeown / Associated Press)

No. 1 Duke — The Blue Devils are the first team in ACC history to lead their conference in scoring offense (83.0) and defense (61.9). Duke, the nation’s No. 1 ranked team, is looking to win it all for a sixth time. The team has a trio of star freshmen and opens with a de facto home game in Raleigh, N.C.

No. 2 Alabama — The Crimson Tide’s up-tempo style can catch a lot of opponents flat-footed. But does this team have the defense to get to the Final Four? Coach Nate Oats led his team to the Elite Eight last year, and had teams that advanced to the Sweet 16 in ’23 and ’21.

No. 3 Wisconsin — This is a seasoned basketball program. The Badgers are making their 24th NCAA tournament appearance in the last 26 years. Wisconsin is a disciplined team and deadly when it gets to the line, leading the nation in free-throw accuracy (82.6%). This is the highest-scoring Badgers team since the 1970-71 season.

No. 4 Arizona — The Wildcats have come on strong of late, making it all the way to the Big 12 title game in their inaugural season in the conference. Arizona fell 72-64 to Houston, significantly off the Wildcats’ average of 81.7 points per game. Arizona blew out Old Dominion and Davidson this season.

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Liberty knows how to slow it down, play tough defense and make every possession count. The 12th-seeded Flames have a tough matchup against Oregon, and coach Dana Altman will have his Ducks in a row, but this game won’t be an easy opener for the No. 5 seed.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Cooper Flagg, forward, Duke — Projected as the top pick in the 2025 NBA draft, the 6-9 Flagg suffered a left ankle sprain during the ACC tournament quarterfinals, sparking concerns he wouldn’t be available for the NCAA tournament. But the Blue Devils are confident the star freshman will be ready.

Caleb Love, guard, Arizona — Love is a feast-or-famine shooter who can get hot and have a huge game or come out as cold as an ice plunge. He leads Arizona in scoring (18.0) and three-pointers made (92), and has plenty of experience, having spent his first three seasons with North Carolina.

Egor Demin, guard, Brigham Young — NBA scouts will be keeping a keen eye on the 6-9 Demin, who grew up in Russia and found his way to BYU. This was his first season at the school and he averaged 10.3 points and 5.4 assists, and was named to the Big 12 all-freshman team. He could be a lottery pick.

RIM SHOTS

• Saint Mary’s is lousy when it comes to shooting threes. The Gaels lost to Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference tournament, going 0 for 16 from three-point range, the first ranked team to do that since Texas A&M in 2011.
  
• Robert Morris, which opens against Alabama, went 26-8 this season after an overall record of 10-22 a year earlier, with a seven-game losing streak to finish that season.
  
• Another U-turn: Vanderbilt was 9-23 last year under Jerry Stackhouse, but went 20-12 this year with coach Mark Byinton at the helm.

— Sam Farmer

Purdue guard Braden Smith reacts during a win over USC in the Big Ten tournament on Thursday.

(Michael Conroy / Associated Press)

No. 1 HOUSTON: The Cougars enter the tournament as a No. 1 seed for the third straight year, looking to advance beyond the Sweet 16 after back-to-back exits in that round. Houston is 30-4, with all losses to tournament teams by a margin of five or fewer points. They are the winningest program in the country during the past seven seasons, with 211 victories.

No. 2 TENNESSEE: The Volunteers secured a No. 2 seed in back-to-back seasons after a 14-0 start — tied for best in program history — and five weeks atop the Associated Press poll. Head coach Rick Barnes is making his 29th NCAA tournament appearance, passing Bob Knight for the fourth-most all time in Division I.

No. 3 KENTUCKY: In his first season coaching his alma mater, 1996 national champion Mark Pope has led the Wildcats to victories over eight AP top-15 teams. Their high-powered offense, ranked fourth nationally in scoring (85.3 points per game), fueled wins over Tennessee twice and No. 1 seeded Duke.

No. 4 PURDUE: After last year’s runner-up finish, the Boilermakers aim for another deep run behind Braden Smith and leading scorer Trey Kaufman-Renn (20.2 points per game). But they enter the tournament struggling, losing six of their past nine.

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McNeese State (27-6) dominated the Southland Conference with a 19-1 record, securing its first back-to-back regular season and tournament titles in school history. The Cowboys have the Southland Conference player of the year (Javohn Garcia), defensive player of the year (Christian Shumate) and coach of the year (Will Wade). Meanwhile, boombox-carrying student manager Amir “Aura” Khan has become a viral sensation.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Braden Smith, guard, Purdue: The Boilermakers’ third straight Big Ten player of the year recipient ranks second nationally in assists (287) and assists per game (8.7) while averaging 16.1 points.

Asa Newell, forward, Georgia: The 19-year-old, a projected lottery pick in the upcoming NBA draft, was an SEC all-freshman team selection. The 6-11 forward leads the team with 15.3 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.

Chaz Lanier, guard, Tennessee: One of the nation’s top three-point shooters, the SEC newcomer of the year averaged 17.7 points per game — fifth in the conference. He ranks in the top 10 nationally in made threes (109) and shoots 40.4% from beyond the arc.

RIM SHOTS

• The region’s top two seeds boast elite defenses: Houston allowing 58.5 points per game (second) and a 38.2% field-goal percentage defense (fourth), while Tennessee allows 62.3 points per game (eighth) and holds opponents to 38.0% from the field (third).
  
• Kentucky is the only team in the country with eight 1,000-point scorers on its roster.
  
• High Point enters the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history, touting a 14-game win streak.

— Anthony De Leon

Texas Tech’s Elijah Hawkins controls the ball ahead of Baylor’s Jeremy Roach during the Big 12 quarterfinals on Thursday.

(Charlie Riedel / Associated Press)

No. 1 FLORIDA: The Gators might be the most balanced team in the tournament given an offense that ranks No. 1 in the metrics of basketball analyst Ken Pomeroy and a defense that ranks No. 10. But a major test could come as soon as the second round against Connecticut, the two-time defending national champion.

No. 2 ST. JOHN’S: Coach Rick Pitino has built the kind of buzz around the Johnnies that hasn’t been felt since the high-flying days of Lou Carnesecca. Having already won its first Big East tournament title since 2000, can St. John’s get back to its first Final Four since Carnesecca’s team advanced there in 1985?

No. 3 TEXAS TECH: The Red Raiders are a high-scoring bunch in part because of their success from the perimeter. Chance McMillian (43.4% on three-pointers) and Christian Anderson (40.7%) are two of the more accurate players from long range in the country.

No. 4 MARYLAND: The Terrapins are one of the nation’s hotter teams, having won 12 of their last 15 games under third-year coach Kevin Willard, who is seeking his first trip to at least the Sweet 16 after making it only as far as the second round in previous stops at Seton Hall and Iona.

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Having made the three-pointer that gave Valparaiso an upset of fourth-seeded Mississippi in 1998, Grand Canyon coach Bryce Drew is looking to guide his team to a victory over fourth-seeded Maryland.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Elijah Hawkins, guard, Texas Tech: Hawkins led the Big 12 with 6.3 assists per game and has logged 20 career games with at least 10 assists.

Hunter Dickinson, center, Kansas: The Jayhawks’ struggles can’t be pinned on the big man who’s averaging a double-double with 17.6 points and 10.0 rebounds.

PJ Haggerty, guard, Memphis: An explosive scorer who averages 21.8 points, Haggerty is not someone you want to put on the foul line (81.9%) late in games.

RIM SHOTS

• Pitino became the first coach to take six different teams to the NCAA tournament after having done the same at Boston University, Providence, Kentucky, Louisville and Iona before his latest breakthrough with St. John’s.
  
• Connecticut is trying to become the first team to win three consecutive national titles since UCLA won a record seven straight from 1967 to1973.
  
• Facing third-seeded Texas Tech in the first round, North Carolina Wilmington is seeking its first NCAA tournament win since it pulled a similar stunner — beating fourth-seeded USC in 2002 at Arco Arena in Sacramento.

— Ben Bolch