Men’s Bracketology 12/12/2025

The resumes at the top of the seed list are stronger than I’m used to for this time of year. The biggest factor is that top teams are scheduling each other more often than ever before in non-conference play- so teams like Michigan and Duke have stacked up 4 or 5 really excellent wins already.

I know I mentioned it last post, but it bears repeating how bad the situation is for the Big East. The league is 6-26 in Q1 + Q2 games if you take away UConn. St. John’s predictive metrics are good enough that I expect them to right the ship, and I gave Seton Hall one of my last at-large spots today. But the bottom of the league (DePaul, Marquette, Xavier, Georgetown, Providence) is really, really bad. That’s going to drag the rest of the league down.

1: Michigan, Duke, Iowa State, Arizona

2: Connecticut, Gonzaga, Purdue, Vanderbilt

3: Michigan State, Houston, BYU, Alabama

4: Illinois, Louisville, Kansas, North Carolina

5: Nebraska, Virginia, Iowa, USC

6: Arkansas, Auburn, Tennessee, Georgia

7: St. Mary’s, Texas Tech, Florida, Indiana

8: St. John’s, SMU, Oklahoma State, Baylor

9: Miami (FL), LSU, Utah State, UCLA

10: Clemson, Seton Hall, Saint Louis, Colorado

11: NC State, (Ohio State/Kentucky), (UCF/Virginia Tech), Yale

12: Akron, Belmont, McNeese, Tulsa

13: Utah Valley, High Point, UC San Diego, UNC Wilmington

14: East Tennessee State, Sam Houston State, Lipscomb, Wright State

15: Arkansas State, Siena, North Dakota State, Northern Colorado

16: Vermont, Colgate, (Southern/Norfolk State), (UT Martin/LIU)

First Four Out: Santa Clara, Notre Dame, Arizona State, Syracuse

Next Four Out: Villanova, Washington, Oklahoma, Butler

Also Considered: Wisconsin, California, Wake Forest, Creighton, Texas, Missouri, TCU, Texas A&M, St. Bonaventure, Colorado State, San Diego State, VCU, New Mexico, George Mason

Bids by Conference:

Big 10: 10

Big 12: 10

ACC: 9

SEC: 9

Big East: 3

West Coast: 2