The popularity and success of March Madness is owed in part to the years-long reality that figuring out who’s in and who’s out of the NCAA tournament each season is as much a part of the fun as watching the games unfold to determine college basketball’s national champion. This has led to a new truism over the past decade: It’s never too early for bracketology.

What was once an exercise conducted in the days leading into Selection Sunday eventually turned into a conference play constant, with the bubble, last four in and first four out joining the sport’s vocabulary. Today, bracketology is a year-round endeavor for the likes of ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, with multiple updates during each week of the season.

There are about two months until Selection Sunday for the 2025 NCAA tournament, and the competition for a spot in the bracket and the highest seed possible is heating up now that conference play has arrived throughout the country. Here’s a breakdown of some of the latest national projections for the this year’s March Madness field, including potential No. 1 seeds, teams rising and falling and the current state of the bubble as of Friday, January 17:

March Madness bracketology 2025: Potential No. 1 seeds

Here’s a look at the teams currently projected to be No. 1 seeds in the 2025 NCAA tournament bracket by a variety of national outlets:

ESPN: Auburn, Duke, Iowa State, Tennessee
CBS Sports: Auburn, Duke, Iowa State, Tennessee
NCAA.com: Auburn, Duke, Iowa State, Alabama
FOX Sports: Auburn, Duke, Iowa State, Tennessee
The Washington Post: Auburn, Duke, Alabama, Tennessee

NCAA tournament 2025: Teams on the rise

Michigan State: Since losing to Memphis in the semifinals of the Maui Invitational, the Spartans have reeled off 10 wins in a row. After debuting at No. 41 in this year’s initial NET rankings, they’ve climbed to No. 17 as of Thursday and remain in position to secure a top-three seed on Selection Sunday.
Arizona: The Wildcats got off to a rocky start thanks to tough non-conference scheduling, losing five of their first nine games. But Arizona is on a seven-game win streak entering Saturday’s Big 12 game at Texas Tech. It has gone from No. 65 to No. 12 in the NET rankings over the past six weeks.
Mississippi: Coach Chris Beard’s team only has losses to ranked teams (Purdue and Memphis) and got four-straight wins to begin SEC play, including this past week’s road win at Alabama. The Rebels could challenge for a top-four seed given how many opportunities the loaded SEC presents this season.
Louisville: The Cardinals are a remarkable turnaround story in coach Pat Kelsey’s first season, putting together an undefeated record in ACC play thus far to rejoin the national conversation. Louisville is now as high as a No. 6 seed in some bracketology updates.

Selection Sunday 2025: Who’s falling in bracketology?

Dayton: The Flyers have non conference wins over UConn, Marquette and Northwestern, but erased much of that goodwill by losing three in a row in Atlantic-10 conference play.
Pittsburgh: The Panthers were one of the few ACC teams to represent themselves well in non conference play, but consecutive losses to Duke, Louisville and Florida State have Pittsburgh inching closer to the bubble.
Indiana: The Hoosiers seemed poised to play their way off the bubble with four-straight wins against Big Ten competition, but blowout losses to Iowa and Illinois mean Indiana’s chances of making the NCAA tournament ‒ and coach Mike Woodson’s job status ‒ appear to be in jeopardy.
Oklahoma: The Sooners won 13 games in a row to start the season and the run included wins over Arizona, Louisville and Michigan. But they’ve come back down to earth swiftly after losing four games in a row to start SEC play.

Who’s on the March Madness bubble?

Here’s a look at some of the teams currently considered to be on the bubble by national outlets as conference play heats up with almost two months to go until Selection Sunday:

ESPN

*As of Jan. 17

Last four in: Ohio State, Creighton New Mexico, Texas, Dayton,
Last four byes: Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Saint Mary’s, Nebraska, Missouri
First four out: Vanderbilt, Iowa, Cincinnati, UCF
Next four out: Arizona State, Arkansas, SMU, Dayton

CBS Sports

*As of Jan. 17

Last four in: Texas, Wake Forest, New Mexico, Vanderbilt
Last four byes: Iowa, Creighton, UCLA, San Diego State
First four out: SMU, Texas Tech, Northwestern, Arizona State

FOX Sports

*As of Jan. 14

Last four in: Texas Tech, New Mexico, Creighton, Iowa
First four out: Texas, St. Bonaventure, Indiana, Georgetown
Next four out: SMU, Arizona State, Penn State, Cincinnati

The Washington Post

*As of Jan. 13

Last four in: UCF, Arizona State, New Mexico, Saint Mary’s
First four out: Arkansas, Drake, Vanderbilt, Dayton
Next four out: Iowa, Indiana, Northwestern, Penn State

Andy Katz, NCAA.com

*As of Jan. 14

Last four in: Texas Tech, Saint Mary’s, Ohio State, Creighton
Next teams considered: Arizona State, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, SMU, Drake, Arkansas, Texas, Cincinnati, BYU, Villanova, VCU, Dayton

USA Today Coaches Poll

Here’s where teams stand in the latest USA Today Coaches Poll for men’s basketball, released on Jan. 13.

Auburn (16-1)
Iowa State (15-1)
Duke (15-2)
Florida (15-2)
Alabama (14-3)
Tennessee (16-1)
Marquette (15-2)
Houston (13-3)
Kentucky (14-3)
Kansas (12-4)
Texas A&M (13-4)
Michigan State (15-2)
UConn (13-4)
Oregon (15-2)
Purdue (14-4)
Gonzaga (14-5)
Memphis (13-4)
Mississippi State (14-3)
Michigan (13-4)
Illinois (13-4)
Mississippi (15-2)
Utah State (16-2)
Georgia (14-3)
Baylor (11-5)
West Virginia (12-4)

Others receiving votes: St. John’s; Wisconsin; Arizona; New Mexico; Oklahoma; UCLA; Maryland; Texas Tech; Clemson; Saint Mary’s; Louisville; Indiana; San Diego State; Missouri; UC Irvine.

*Records through Jan. 16 games

You doubted the dog, didn’t you?

Don’t feel bad. We all had reservations.

And then, Luna, the 7-year-old Maltipoo, picked all six winners for the NFL wildcard games in the opening round of USA TODAY Sports’ novel NFL prediction competition.

It’s Man vs. Machine vs. Dog.

The adorable, soothsaying dog has taken the lead over USA TODAY’s Jarrett Bell and Tyler Dragon and the computer-run statistics model created by Kostas Pelechrinis, an associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh.

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Pelechrinis, impressed with Luna’s fast start, remarked by email, “Given that she chose randomly every game, the chance of getting all 6 right is about 1.6% (1.5625% to be accurate lol).’’

Of course, the professor assumes Luna is picking random. Assuming she’s not making her picks with football expertise or unerring intuition.

This divisional games could be critical for Luna, who has picked the Commanders to upset the Lions and the Rams to beat the Eagles. The men and machine are picking against her in both games. They have some ground to make up. Luna has 180 points, 60 points more than Dragon (120) and a whopping 90 points ahead of Bell and the computer model, who both have 90 points.

Divisional championship schedule

Our experts’ results, NFL playoff picks

How the ‘machine’ and Luna make their picks

Want more? See these data-driven hot picks

The scoring system

Devised by NFL predictions expert David Glidden, it will work like this:

Each week, the competitors will turn in full brackets with picks for games in every round, including the Super Bowl. A perfect bracket from start to finish would earn 1,000 points, but competitors likely will have to adjust those brackets week to week.

Thirty points will be earned for each team correctly picked to win a wild card game, 35 points for a Divisional round game, 50 points for a Conference championship game and 75 points for the Super Bowl.

Then we’ll have an official winner and the answer to our burning question: Is it Man, Machine or Dog who we can trust most with NFL playoff predictions?

Let the games and predictions begin!

Odds for NFL’s divisional games

BetMGM’s initial betting lines for next weekend’s games are set. A plus before the number signifies the amount a bettor would win on a $100 bet. A minus signifies the amount a bettor must bet to win $100.

Odds for AFC divisional games

Houston Texans (+375) at Kansas City Chiefs (-500) favored by 8 points

Baltimore Ravens (-120) favored by 1 point at Buffalo Bills (+100)

Odds for NFC divisional games

Washington Commanders (+400) at Detroit Lions (-550) favored by 9 points

Los Angeles Rams (+225) at Philadelphia Eagles (-275) favored by 6 points

South Carolina head women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley signed a contract extension, making her the sport’s highest coach, the school announced Friday.

The contract will keep Staley at the school through the 2029-30 season.

The total value of the contract is $25.25 million, including a $4 million annual salary, a $500,00 signing bonus and a $250,000 escalator every season.

LSU’s Kim Mulkey and UConn’s Geno Auriemma are the only other women’s coaches making more than $3 million a season.

“I’m proud to represent the University of South Carolina and of its investment in women’s basketball,” Staley said in a statement. “What we’ve been able to accomplish on the court is a testament to what can happen when you bring together the right people from a team perspective but also have the right commitment from the University, the Athletics Department and the community to providing that team with everything it needs to be successful.’

Since taking over the South Carolina program in 2008, the 54-year-old Staley, a Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer and a four-time Olympic gold medalist as a player and coach, has been a significant force in women’s basketball.

The Gamecocks have been to the Final Four six times, including each of the past four seasons, and have won three national championships under Staley.

Staley has also led South Carolina to eight SEC regular season and tournament titles and is a four-time Naismith Coach of the Year. 

This season, the defending national champions are ranked No. 2 with a 17-1 record and a 5-0 mark in conference play.

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Danielle Collins grabbed the microphone from the reporter interviewing her at center court and addressed the crowd directly. They saw her as the villain again Thursday at the 2025 Australian Open, and she had decided to incite their boos – to use them as fuel on the tennis court once more.

Collins, the 31-year-old American, had already put her hands to her ears and blown mocking kisses before she even shook hands at the net with Australian Destanee Aiava after their second-round match in Melbourne. After advancing, Collins served up a parting shot initially intended as a backhanded thank you trolling her audience.

‘I was thinking during the match, I was like, ‘If I’m out here, I might as well take that big, fat paycheck,” she said, and the jeers grew louder. ‘We love a good, five-star vacation, so part of that check is going towards that. So thank you guys for that. Thank you for coming out and supporting us.’

‘The people that don’t like you, and the people that hate you,’ Collins explained later during her post-match news conference, ‘they actually pay your bills.’

For Collins, though, they represent a lot more than that. There’s more to this latest heel turn.

A year ago at the Australian Open, Collins announced she would be retiring from professional tennis at the end of 2024 season to focus on starting a family. In October, a few months before embracing her inner villain so overtly, Collins announced on Instagram she would be returning to the WTA following the discovery of fertility complications related to endometriosis, a condition she suffers from that affects the uterus.

Collins opened up further about the decision to postpone her retirement last week before the Australian Open started, noting the physical and mental challenges have taken a toll in recent months.

‘I’ve had days consistently where I cry every day, freaking out, and it’s not a fun thing,’ she said, and the support system of the women’s tennis tour is helping her through this difficult period in her life.

‘I know I said I was retiring, but unfortunately life threw me some curveballs and here I am. I’m just trying to enjoy it a little bit longer,’ Collins added. ‘My closest friendships are a lot of the women on tour, a lot of the people on tour. You think about that lifestyle change when you’re going through something that’s so challenging emotionally, and then to not have that support system, yeah, that’s a lot. I’m glad that I can keep doing this for a little longer and have that.’

Collins hasn’t committed to how long she’ll continue to play professionally. She said her medical team is still determining the best course of action in her pursuit of having children. That uncertainty led her back to the court.

‘I couldn’t imagine right now laying the rackets down,’ Collins said, and nothing about her recent performances suggests otherwise.

Collins played some of the best tennis of her career last year when it seemed it would be her last season. She won back-to-back tournaments, most notably the Miami Open, and currently sits at No. 11 in the world rankings. Her best career finish in a Grand Slam event came when she made the 2022 Australian Open final.

Coco Gauff and Novak Djovokic are among the tennis stars to recently praise Collins for her authenticity and willingness to speak her mind.

Her reaction Thursday was no different, right down to when she placed one of those mocking kisses on her rear end to really rile up the fans.

An Australian Open crowd wanted a villain, and Collins wanted to be one again.

For reasons that go beyond just winning a tennis match.

‘I loved it,’ Collins said. ‘I’ve been doing this my whole life. I love playing in a crowd that has energy regardless of what side they’re on. I’m somebody, too, it kind of just motivates me even more, so it’s kind of a good thing, especially when I’m not playing well. I think it really helped me in the end, helped me concentrate even more, and challenged me at times, and pushed me through the finish line.’

Some of the biggest names in tennis have plowed their way to the fourth round at the Australian Open.

Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev, Coco Gauff, and Aryna Sabalenka all advanced, while two-time champion Naomi Osaka retired due to a strained abdominal muscle.

Djokovic, going for his 11th Australian Open title and 25th Grand Slam championship, had little trouble with Tomas Machac, taking the match 6-1, 6-4, 6-4. In the dominant performance, the 37-year-old Djokovic had his serve broken once. He will next take on No. 24 seed Jiri Lehecka on Sunday.

“I think I played really well,” Djokovic said after the match. “I’m very happy with my game. There’s always something to improve but this is definitely the best match I’ve played in the tournament so far.’

Other results include Alcaraz needing four sets to beat Nuno Borges 6-2, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-2, and No. 12 seed Tommy Paul rolling past Robert Carballes Baena 7-6 (0), 6-2, 6-0.

The top seed in the women’s draw, Sabalenka, the two-time defending champion, dispatched Clara Tauson 7-6 (5), 6-4, and now has won 17 matches in a row at the Australian Open.

Coco Gauff continues torrid 2025 start

The third-seeded Gauff is into the fourth round after her 6-4, 6-2 win over Leylah Fernandez. Gauff hasn’t lost a set or match this year.

“Tennis feels so high stakes, but it’s really not. I’m so lucky to do what I do — also get paid doing it,” Gauff said.

“My biggest thing I learned last year is just not to take anything for granted,” Gauff said, “and just realized this time is going to go by so fast. … I’m just trying to enjoy it while I’m here.”

Naomi Osaka retires due to injury

Two-time Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka was forced to retire after dropping the first set in her third-round match against Belinda Bencic.

“I kind of have a history of it, since I was a teenager. At least once a year, I’d get an ab strain. For me, I want to say it’s more the way my serve is — it’s quite explosive,” Osaka said. “Unfortunately, it carried on over to the beginning of this season.”

Osaka was also forced to retire from the final of the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, two weeks ago against Clara Tauson because of issues with her abdominal.

Bencic now faces Coco Gauff for a spot in the quarterfinals on Sunday.

Jessica Pegula ousted in the third round

With fellow Serb Novak Djokovic cheering her on, Olga Danilovic blitzed past American Jessica Pegula, the No. 7 seed, 7-6 (3), 6-1.

Pegula had no answers for the 23-year-old Danilovic, who is ranked 55th in the world, using a powerful forehand and dominating on her first serve

‘She’s top of the world, she’s such a great player,’ Danilovic said after the upset. ‘I knew I had to have my A-A-A plus-plus-plus game to beat her. In the back of my mind, I really believed in myself.’

Danilovic moves on to face 11th seed Paula Badosa, with both women looking to get to the Australian Open quarterfinals for the first time.

Women’s results

Coco Gauff (3) def. Leylah Fernandez (30): 6-4, 6-2
Belinda Bencic def. Naomi Osaka: 7-6 (3) ret.
Mirra Andreeva (14) def. Magdalena Frech (23): 6-2, 1-6, 6-2
Paula Badosa def. Marta Kostyuk (17): 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
Aryna Sabalenka (1) def. Clara Tauson: 7-6 (5), 6-4
Donna Vekic (18) def. Diana Shnaider (12): 7-6 (4), 6-7 (3), 7-5
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (27) def. Laura Siegemund: 6-1, 6-2

Stay classy, Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles Rams took out a full-page ad in the Friday edition of the Arizona Republic to thank the Arizona Cardinals’ owners, staff and local community after they played their first playoff game this year at State Farm Stadium on Monday night.

‘In times of adversity, true integrity is shown,’ the ad reads. ‘Arizona, you were there for us when we needed it most.

‘We are grateful to the Bidwill Family, the entire Arizona Cardinals staff, and the local community who took us in without hesitation and with gracious hospitality.

‘From all of us at the Los Angeles Rams, THANK YOU.’

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Los Angeles was set to host its wild-card matchup against the Minnesota Vikings before spreading wildfires in the area forced the Rams to relocate the site of the game. The Cardinals offered their stadium for use and even sent two team planes to Los Angeles to pick up Rams players, staff and family members and bring them to Arizona ahead of last weekend’s game.

The Rams went on to defeat the Minnesota Vikings, 27-9, and will play the Philadelphia Eagles in the divisional round Sunday, but they didn’t forget to express their gratitude first to those who made it possible.

One of the most fascinating NFL coaching candidates is Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores. Fascinating is one way to describe him. Controversial is another. Talented works, too. So does fearless trailblazer.

Flores, according to various reports, has drawn head coaching interest. The NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said on X that Flores was scheduled to meet with the Jets and Jaguars on Friday and Bears on Saturday.

It all makes sense. Flores is a brilliant tactician who transformed the Vikings’ defense into one of the best units in the league. He deserves another chance to be a head coach.

But would an NFL team really hire Flores as a head coach again? That is the question and there’s an extremely specific reason for asking it: Flores still has an active lawsuit against the NFL for racial discrimination. It’s there. Still there. (Looks again.) Yep, still there.

Flores filed his suit in 2022 and he’s been a head coaching candidate in a previous cycle. But this is different because Flores is coming off a season where he was a catalyst for why the Vikings were so dominant.

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This moment makes Flores one of the most fascinating head coaching candidates in league history. What happens next with Flores is actually bigger than a coaching search. It goes to a pertinent query: Can NFL owners overlook Flores’ racial discrimination lawsuit against the league? Can the league let things go?

You’ll have to excuse me if I don’t necessarily trust the NFL on issues of race. The league essentially banned Colin Kaepernick after he started one of the great athlete protest moments in American history.

However…

While I don’t see the Jets hiring Flores, several people that I trust in and around the NFL, who are just as skeptical as I am when it comes to NFL teams and race, feel that Flores actually has a legitimate shot with some other owners. None of this is sourcing or hardcore reporting but more of a belief some owners genuinely don’t care about the lawsuit.

In a way, Minnesota is proof that this could be true. The Vikings hired Flores and no one on the team cared about the suit. They welcomed him.

“Obviously, diversity is important to me as well,’ Flores said during his introductory news conference. ‘I’m not going to run away from that. But when I walk in this building, you see diversity, really, across the board in every department. That’s exciting too. So, those are things that are ongoing. Obviously, the lawsuit is ongoing, but I’m where my feet are. Right now, my feet are right here in Eden.’

In fact, there are likely some teams that agree with Flores. Also, the league office would love for Flores to become a head coach again because to them it would prove that the Flores lawsuit was without merit. I’m not saying that’s the actual case; I’m saying that’s how the league office would see it.

Perhaps the biggest obstacle for Flores isn’t the lawsuit. Instead, it’s what he did as coach of the Dolphins. Flores was the Miami coach from 2019-2021. His tenure there was, well, rocky. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said on a podcast that Flores was a ‘terrible person.’ Flores later responded: “Look, I’m human. So, that hit me in a way that I wouldn’t say was positive for me. But at the same time, I’ve got to use that and say, ‘Hey, how can I grow from that, or how can I be better?’ And that’s really where I’m at from that standpoint.

“Do I feel like that’s me? No. But how can I grow from that situation and create a world where that’s not the case where anyone says that about Brian Flores?”

Another thing teams will likely ask Flores about was something quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick said on a recent podcast. Fitzpatrick would later emphasize how much he liked Flores but his words were his words.

“Brian Flores has been a really hot name, and I think the further removed we get from his tenure in Miami, the more people kind of forget about how that ended — and the better his name becomes,” said Fitzpatrick. “He went to Pittsburgh and got to learn under Mike Tomlin and see how he led. And now he’s been in Minnesota with Kevin O’Connell.’

“I think the interesting thing about Brian Flores when I think about him and being able to play under him for a few years is which version of Brian Flores are we getting?’ Fitzpatrick added. ‘In Year 1 with Miami … (the Dolphins) got rid of every good player they had; that was jokingly called the ‘Tank for Tua’ year. Halfway through that year, we hadn’t won a game yet, and there was a shift in the way he was approaching his job. He was likable. He was relatable. He demanded a lot out of the players, but he was also able to get the version of his players — and I really appreciated him for that.”

Then, Fitzpatrick said, things began to shift.

“As his tenure went on in Miami, he kind of became unrecognizable,” Fitzpatrick continued. “A lot of the staff he brought over from New England — that was where he cut his teeth in the NFL; was there for 15-plus years as an assistant. I think he’s going to have a really hard time. If you’re interviewing him as a head coach, I think in the interviews, he’ll be likable, he’ll be relatable.

“But, when people say, ‘Give me somebody from Miami that coached under you as a reference, so we can talk to them,’ I think he burned a lot of bridges there. I think he alienated himself from the entire staff. Instead of … having the humility to ask questions, to collaborate, I think by the end of his time there, he became a dictator. He ruined a lot of relationships that he built up through the NFL. And his ego grew so big that there wasn’t room for anyone else.”

All of this is why Flores’ potential candidacy is so fascinating. We haven’t really seen anything like it. Ever.

We also have no idea how it’s going to end.