There were 68 teams celebrating Selection Sunday and starting to prepare for their first matchup in the men’s NCAA Tournament, but there are several teams moping around, wishing they had the same opportunity.

Every year, there teams on the bubble trying to prove they belong in the field. More often than not, those teams end up building a resume worthy of making March Madness. Unfortunately, the tournament selection committee chooses to go another route, thinking those team’s cases weren’t strong enough or there just weren’t enough spots for them to make it into the bracket. Last year, several bids were stolen by conference tournament champions, and while that wasn’t nearly the case this time around, there were still teams that have a right to be upset by the decision, especially after the controversial decision to put North Carolina in.

The big dance is always going to be magical, but that doesn’t mean all of the right teams got in. Here are the biggest snubs from the 2025 NCAA men’s tournament:

West Virginia

The shocking omission is the Mountaineers, who were widely believed to make the field before it was revealed it was the first team to miss it. The impressive start of the year for first-year coach Darian DeVries wasn’t enough after a late slump that included a loss to Colorado in the first round of the Big 12 tournament.

What doesn’t make sense is the Mountaineers had a resume worth being in the field. Early in the season, it picked up big wins against Gonzaga, Arizona, Kansas and Iowa State, all wins against top 20 teams in the NET rankings. An overall 6-10 Quad 1 record is on par for a bubble team and the 10-13 record combined with the Quad 2 is really good.

The six Quad 1 wins were more than 13 at-large teams selected. West Virginia proved it can beat quality teams, but it somehow wasn’t enough.

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Boise State

The late pushed by the Broncos were all for naught. Boise State won nine of its last 11 regular-season games and made it all the way to the Mountain West tournament final, but it wasn’t enough.

Boise State had an exceptional 24-win season, more than last year’s First Four team. The Broncos posted win against tournament teams Utah State and New Mexico and also beat Clemson in the regular season. They followed that with a defeat of San Diego State and New Mexico before falling to Colorado State in the conference tournament. The Broncos finished with an 8-8 Quad 1 and 2 record, proving they were capable of playing against the field of 68.

The biggest mark against Boise State was it had a Quad 3 and 4 loss. Although they happened before 2025 began, the whole resume matters at the selection committee.

Indiana

The late surge by Indiana was all for nothing. The Hoosiers missed out on the tournament and giving Mike Woodson a March Madness appearance in his final season in Bloomington.

Much of the season was a disappointment for Indiana and was sitting at 14-10 before reviving its season with impressive wins over Michigan State and Purdue. The Hoosiers needed a good week at the Big Ten tournament, but lost to Oregon in the first matchup in Indianapolis.

Indiana can feel slighted with North Carolina’s selection. It had a 4-13 Quad 1 record and never suffered a bad loss − unlike the Tar Heels − with a perfect 15-0 record in Quad 2-4 games. If North Carolina didn’t get punished for failing to capitalize on Quad 1 chances, the Hoosiers have a right to be mad the same thing didn’t apply to them.

Ohio State

Ohio State had a similar argument as Texas to make the tournament. The only difference is the Longhorns got in and the Buckeyes didn’t, likely because of its bad losses − despite picking up some notable wins this season.

The Buckeyes went 17-15 with victories against Texas, Kentucky, Purdue and Maryland. They also had a No. 41 NET ranking, a pretty solid spot to be at considering teams behind them got into the field and the highest ranking to miss this year’s tournament.

A 6-11 Quad 1 record isn’t ideal considering the amount of opportunities and a 3-4 Quad 2 record, but the six win mark in the top quadrant has typically been the benchmark for teams in power conferences to get in.

UC Irvine

The Anteaters were close to securing the automatic bid from the Big West tournament before UC San Diego pulled away to take the title. While the automatic spot would have erased any doubt, Russell Turner’s team had a legit case to give the Big West two teams in the field for the first time 2005.

At 28-6, UC Irvine is tied for the eighth-most victories in Division I this season and equals the most wins of any team to miss the tournament. The NET ranking is what hurt the Anteaters the most at No. 62 in the rankings, and the 1-1 Quad 1 record likely doesn’t outweigh three Quad 3 losses. Still, UC Irvine did plenty of winning to put up a case to be an at-large spot, but instead the Big West won’t get two teams in the tournament.

Dayton

A team that flew under the radar for much of the season but certainly had a case to be an at-large team was Dayton. The Flyers finished third in the Atlantic 10 and while 10 losses in that conference is typically too much, they had a 3-3 mark in Quad 1 games with defeats of Connecticut and Marquette. They also Atlantic 10 conference champion Virginia Commonwealth on the road.

The 2-6 Quad 2 record was hurtful and the one Quad 3 loss to Massachusetts in early January may have been the fatal mark that ever prevented Dayton from making some noise on the bubble.

Xavier men’s basketball was able to exhale after the NCAA Tournament Selection Sunday show.

For the second time in the last three years, the Musketeers learned that they made the field of 68 off the bubble and that this time around they would be dancing as a First Four team.

It is the sixth time that the Musketeers have gone to the NCAA Tournament under Sean Miller, who has spent two tenures at Xavier with a stop at Arizona in between.

With the Musketeers being added to the March Madness field, the Big East conference sent five total programs to the NCAA Tournament, joining St. John’s, Marquette, Creighton and UConn.

Xavier heads into the tournament winners of eight of its last 10 games. The six-week surge late in the season put the Musketeers originally on the bubble after they appeared to be missing out on the tournament around January.

Here’s what you need to know on whether Xavier made the NCAA Tournament and more:

Did Xavier make March Madness?

Yes, Xavier learned during the Selection Sunday bracket reveal show that it had made the field of 68 and the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

However, the Musketeers aren’t technically in March Madness just yet.

The NCAA Tournament selection committee sent Xavier to the First Four on Sunday, where the Musketeers will play the SEC’s Texas Longhorns on Wednesday, March 19 at UD Arena in Dayton, Ohio. Xavier and Texas will play for an 11-seed, with the winner advancing to face No. 6 seed Ole Miss in Milwaukee on Friday, March 21.

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‘Tonight, I don’t know if I’ve ever experienced a better feeling in sports than the one I had when our name was announced tonight with our players at my house on Selection Sunday,’ Miller said Sunday. ‘It was hard to describe. It was magical.’

He added: ‘We’re thrilled to be part of the tournament. There’s no doubt that we became a tournament team. … Over the last six weeks in particular, our level of play really jumped up and now it’s up to us to take that level of play into the tournament.’

Xavier entered Selection Sunday right on the bubble of the NCAA Tournament in the ‘Last Four In’ or ‘First Four Out’ category by many bracketologists. USA TODAY’s final bracketology projection had it in the former group.

The Musketeers headed into conference tournament week needing a deep run at the Big East tournament to get off the bubble, as they were 1-8 against Quad 1 opponents and No. 45 in the NET rankings. However, Xavier was unable to do that as it lost to Marquette 89-87 in the quarterfinals at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, March 13.

‘If you ever want to test your balance, the balance as a coach, these last two and a half days really tested (that),’ Miller said of watching the bubble in the lead-up to Selection Sunday.

As for what put Xavier in the field despite an early-round exit in the Big East tournament, one can point to Memphis and VCU helping the Musketeers by not losing the American Athletic Conference and Atlantic 10 championship games on Sunday.

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The key to picking teams in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament is to look for underdogs or dark horses that can exploit the draw and avoid upsets. The top teams in the country primarily come from two conferences, but many more teams have the talent to make a run at the championship.

Last year, North Carolina State went 17–14 and was a No. 10 seed in the ACC tournament but ran the table before earning a No. 11 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Wolfpack then blitzed through the South Region to reach the Final Four. Clemson was the only other team seeded above the No. 5 line to make it to at least the Regional Final.

Who could be the surprise team this year? Here are four teams that could make a run at the championship:

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Connecticut

It’s odd that the two-time defending national champions can be considered an underdog or dark horse, but this is the hand they have been dealt. The Huskies have championship mettle. You need to win six games and they know how to do it, but with their draw in the West Region it might be tough sledding making it to the second weekend.

UC San Diego

UC San Diego is only in its fifth season at the Division I level, but it punched its ticket by winning the Big West Conference. Led by coach Eric Olen, the Tritons do things that don’t get them beat; they don’t turn the ball over, a testament to point guard Hayden Gray’s skillful handling of the ball. They force turnovers and are efficient at shooting from long distance, making nearly 11 3-pointers a game. Winners of 15 games in a row, UC San Diego beat teams by an average of 18.1 points per game, second only to Duke (20.8). It faces a tough first opponent in Big Ten tournament champion Michigan.

Utah State

The Aggies have two outstanding guards, Mason Falslev and Ian Martinez, and the teams that defend those two must keep their scoring to a minimum. If there is one word to describe this team, especially on the offensive end, it is efficient, ranking 10th in the NCAA in that category. The defensive end is where the Aggies might run into trouble, but make no mistake about it: Utah State can go on a run and make some noise.

Utah State takes on UCLA in the first round.

Texas A&M

The Aggies have hit a bit of a skid lately, culminating in their second-round exit in double overtime to Texas in the SEC tournament. The question for the NCAA Tournament is: Which A&M team will show up?

The one that beat Auburn earlier this month? Or the one that lost four in a row before upsetting the Tigers, eliminating any talk of a possible No. 2 or No. 3 seed? First-time All-SEC performers Wade Taylor IV and Zhuric Phelps lead A&M, but if those two can’t get going it can rely on an outstanding bench, which scores more than a third of its points each game.

The selection committee blew it.

Not by putting UCLA as the overall No. 1 seed over South Carolina. That was the right call because of their head-to-head matchup, regardless of what Dawn Staley says.

No, where the committee erred was in making USC the No. 1 seed and UConn the No. 2 seed in the Spokane 4 regional, setting JuJu Watkins and Paige Bueckers on a collision course that would end short of the Final Four. Just like last year.

‘There was no consideration of that,’ Derita Dawkins, who is the chair of the selection committee, said Sunday night after the 68-team bracket was announced.

Well, there should have been.

Interest in women’s basketball has skyrocketed the last few years in large part because of star players who appeal to both the diehard and casual fans. There’s a legion of new women’s basketball fans because Caitlin Clark knocked down 3s like she was playing Pop-a-Shot on her way to breaking Pete Maravich’s all-time major college basketball scoring record last year. There’s also a considerable number who got hooked because Angel Reese kept popping up on their TVs.

With Clark and Reese now in the WNBA, it’s Watkins and Bueckers who have taken center stage. And the appetite for them is huge. When they played in December, a 72-70 USC win, 2.23 million tuned in to watch the game on Fox. It was the most-watched women’s basketball game this season.

Both Watkins and Bueckers have incredibly high basketball IQs, and can flip a game in an instant. (Just ask UCLA and South Carolina.) They’re exciting to watch and it’s a given they will make at least one, jaw-dropping play each game.

But you don’t have to be a hoophead to be captivated by them.

Watkins has a commercial portfolio to rival any big-name athlete — her State Farm commercial is already on heavy rotation and Fanatics announced Friday that Watkins was the first female athlete to sign an exclusive deal with them — and little girls sporting the ‘JuJu bun” have been a fixture at home and road games all season. Bueckers has a standing invite to the ESPYs, and her back-and-forths with UConn coach Geno Auriemma are comedic gold that will lead SportsCenter at some point during the tournament.

To have them meet in a game that isn’t even in the Final Four is a waste of a ratings goldmine. Again, see the numbers for that December game. Not to mention squandering what is likely to be one of the best games of the tournament, a chance to showcase why the women’s game is a growth stock these days.

‘I never thought I’d be a 1 seed and feel disrespected. But I thought the committee — I thought there was very little chance we’d be the (fourth) No. 1. You tell me if you think the bracket we got should have been the one that it was,” USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said.

‘It’s not an arrogance of any kind. I think there’s a lot of really good teams, and you’ve got to play the first game in front of you and earn your way from there and that’s what we’ll do,” Gottlieb added. ‘But sometimes I don’t understand people who make decisions in women’s basketball and why they do what they do. And certainly with this committee, I’d love to ask some questions.”

Dawkins, who is the assistant vice chancellor and deputy athletics director at Arkansas, said the committee made Texas the third No. 1 seed over USC because it felt the Longhorns were more competitive in their one game against a common opponent, Notre Dame. USC’s worst loss, to Iowa, was also worse than Texas’ worst loss, to Notre Dame, Dawkins said.

But there comes a point when subjectivity enters into the committee’s decisions. The men’s selection committee knows that.

Oh, they won’t admit to tweaking the brackets to get games that will draw eyeballs. But come on. Rick Pitino starting the tournament in Providence? And possibly facing John Calipari in the second round? That doesn’t happen by accident.

There was a case to be made for making Southern California the third No. 1 seed. Two wins over UCLA, both of them decisive, along with that win over UConn. The loss to Iowa being on the road. There also was a case to be made for making UConn a No. 1 seed rather than Texas. That thumping of South Carolina last month. At South Carolina, no less. Ten consecutive wins, all by double figures. The Huskies’ No. 1 NET ranking.

Point being, the committee could have seeded USC and UConn in a way that would have been good for fans, good for ratings and, most importantly, good for women’s basketball. Instead, it lacked vision.

Sometimes, the people holding women’s sports back most are the very people who are supposed to be championing them.

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.

Surprise, praise and criticism — mainly from South Carolina — came swiftly on Selection Sunday, the unofficial start of March Madness.

The field of 68-teams for the 2025 women’s NCAA Tournament was unveiled, with UCLA earning the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament.

‘I’m a little bit surprised because we manufactured our schedule and put ourself in a position to be the No. 1 overall seed. I do think if you do the blind test and you put our resume against any other team in the field, I think you will pick us. It’s plain and simple,’ South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said Sunday.

South Carolina, Texas and USC also earned No. 1 seeds for the NCAA Tournament, which officially starts this week.

BRACKET REVEAL: Women’s March Madness bracket reveal live updates here

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The Final Four will be played in Tampa, Florida, with semifinal games April 4 (7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. ET). The championship game will tip off April 6 (3 p.m. ET). ABC will broadcast the title game for the third consecutive year.

Here’s everything you need to know about the 2025 women’s NCAA Tournament, including a breakdown of each region, the best first-round games, players to watch and the first four out. For a printable bracket, click here.

SPOKANE REGION 1

No. 1 UCLA vs. UC San Diego/Southern winner 
No. 8 Richmond vs. No. 9 Georgia Tech 
No. 5 Ole Miss vs. No. 12 Ball State 
No. 4 Baylor vs. No. 13 Grand Canyon 
No. 6 Florida State vs. No. 11 George Mason 
No. 3 LSU  vs. No. 14 San Diego State 
No. 7 Michigan State vs. No. 10 Harvard 
No. 2 NC State vs. No. 15 Vermont 

Will this be the season UCLA women’s basketball finally breaks through and advances to the Final Four? The Bruins have advanced as far as the Elite Eight twice (1999, 2018) and Sweet Sixteen nine times, most recently last season, but have never played the final weekend. UCLA only dropped two games this season, both to crosstown rival USC, but the Bruins got their revenge in the Big 10 Championship game, overcoming a 13-point deficit to defeat the Trojans to reclaim the No. 1 seed in the latest USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll and No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.

BEST FIRST-ROUND GAME: No. 3 LSU vs. No. 14 San Diego State: The Tigers have limped to the NCAA Tournament with stars Flau’Jae Johnson and Aneesah Morrow both dealing with lingering injuries. (Both were wearing boots during the Selection Sunday broadcast). San Diego State has no Quad 1 wins this season, but they are streaking and enter the NCAA Tournament on an eight-game winning streak.

BIRMINGHAM REGION 2

No. 1 South Carolina vs. No. 16 Tennessee Tech 
No. 8  Utah vs. No. 9 Indiana 
No. 5 Alabama  vs. No. 12 Green Bay 
No. 4 Maryland vs. No. 13 Norfolk State 
No. 6 West Virginia vs. No. 11 Columbia/Washington winner 
No. 3 North Carolina vs. No. 14 Oregon State 
No. 7 Vanderbilt vs. No. 10 Oregon 
No. 2 Duke vs. No. 15 Lehigh 

South Carolina has been the top overall seed of the NCAA Tournament every year since 2021, until now. The defending champions still earned a No. 1 seed, but based on the looks of their watch party, they aren’t happy about it. The Gamecocks may have “earned” the No. 1 seed in the SEC tournament by way of a coin flip, but South Carolina showed their place at the top was no fluke. South Carolina handedly defeated Texas in the conference championship to win its third straight SEC title following a big game from tournament MVP Chloe Kitts, who is red-hot heading into March Madness. The Gamecocks have won seven consecutive games since a blowout loss to UConn on Feb. 16 and are looking to keep the momentum going to win their fourth NCAA tournament championship in eight years.

BEST FIRST-ROUND GAME: No. 1 South Carolina vs. No. 16 Tennessee Tech: Tennessee Tech will be tasked with slowing down a South Carolina team that has a little bit of extra motivation after being snubbed for the No. 1 overall seed. The Gamecocks will come out and make a statement. You won’t want to miss.

BIRMINGHAM REGION 3

No. 1 Texas vs. No. 16 High Point/Washington winner 
No. 8 Illinois vs. No. 9 Creighton 
No. 5 Tennessee vs. No. 12 South Florida 
No. 4 Ohio State vs. No. 13 Montana State 
No. 6 Michigan vs. No. 11 Iowa State/Princeton winner 
No. 3 Notre Dame vs. No. 14 Stephen F. Austin 
No. 7 Louisville vs. No. 10 Nebraska 
No. 2 TCU vs. No. 15 Farleigh Dickinson 

Texas was the No. 1 team in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll on March 4, but the Longhorns’ disappointing loss in the SEC championship game to South Carolina — their second loss to South Carolina this season — knocked Texas down a couple of pegs. The selection committee still rewarded the Longhorns with a No. 1 seed, but their path to their first NCAA women’s basketball championship since 1986 just got that much more difficult with Notre Dame and TCU in their bracket. Texas lost to Notre Dame in December, but the Fighting Irish have struggled as of late, ending the regular-season on a two-game skid and faltering late in the ACC tournament. But you can’t count out Notre Dame’s elite backcourt, powered Olivia Miles and Hannah Hidalgo; and don’t forget TCU’s duo of Hailey Van Lith and Sedona Prince.

BEST FIRST-ROUND GAME: No. 7 Louisville vs. No. 10 Nebraska: Louisville fell to Duke in the ACC quarterfinals, but the Cardinals beat the Blue Devils in February and have an impressive win against Florida State. Nebraska, however, has more Quad 1 wins (4-10) than Louisville (2-9) this year and will be on upset watch.

SPOKANE REGION 4

USC got the best of its crosstown rival and top overall seed UCLA in both of their regular-season matchups, and despite falling in the Big Ten tournament final, the Trojans have a formidable resume. USC has arguably the best player in college basketball in Juju Watkins, who has been rewriting the history books. Can Watkins lead USC to its first NCAA title since 1984? The Trojans will have to go through the UConn Huskies, again. The Huskies, led by Paige Bueckers, ousted the Trojans in the Elite Eight last year, but USC defeated UConn in December.

No. 1 USC vs. No. 16 UNC Greensboro 
No. 8 California  vs. No. 9 Mississippi State
No. 5 Kansas State vs. No. 12 Fairfield 
No. 4 Kentucky vs. No. 13 Liberty 
No. 6 Iowa vs. No. 11 Murray State 
No. 3 Oklahoma vs. No. 14 Florida Gulf Coast 
No. 7 Oklahoma State vs. No. 10 South Dakota State 
No. 2 UConn vs. No. 15 Arkansas State

BEST FIRST-ROUND GAME: No. 8 California vs. No. 9 Mississippi State: Cal lost to Notre Dame in the ACC tournament semifinal, but the Bears will look to bounce back against Mississippi State. The 8-9 games are always toss-ups and this one could be no different as has three Quad 1 wins this season.

First Four Out

The First Four out of the 2025 women’s NCAA Tournament are, in alphabetical order, Colorado, James Madison, Saint Joseph’s and Virginia Tech.

2025 women’s First Four schedule

All times Eastern

Wednesday, March 19

No. 11 Iowa State vs. No. 11 Princeton, 7 p.m. | ESPNU
No. 16 UC San Diego vs. No. 16 Southern, 9 p.m. | ESPN U

Thursday, March 20

No. 11 Columbia vs. No. 11 Washington, 7p.m. | ESPN2
No. 16 High Point vs. No. 16 William & Mary, 9 p.m. | ESPN2

2025 women’s NCAA Tournament schedule

First round: March 21-22
Second round: March 23-24 
Sweet 16: March 28-29 
Elite Eight: March 30-31
Final Four: Friday, April 4, 7:00 and 9:30 p.m. ET (ESPN)  
NCAA championship game: Sunday, April 6, 3 p.m. ET (ABC)

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