The field is set for college basketball’s newest postseason tournament: the College Basketball Crown.

Put on by Fox Sports and the Anschutz Entertainment Group, the College Basketball Crown is a new postseason tournament in Las Vegas aimed at giving teams that didn’t make the NCAA Tournament a chance to continue their season and play for a title, similar to the NIT. The 16-team tournament features some guaranteed selections from the Big Ten, Big 12 and Big East. Other teams included come from the West Coast Conference, Mountain West, Atlantic-10 and American Athletic Conference. 

Action won’t begin for two weeks, but the whole event will take place within a week and leads up to the Final Four as the event tries to become another relevant postseason option. Here’s what to know for the inaugural College Basketball Crown.

What is the College Basketball Crown?

An alternative postseason tournament for teams that didn’t make the NCAA Tournament. It is separate from the NIT.

College Basketball Crown 2025 teams

Teams listed in alphabetical order

Arizona State
Boise State
Butler
Central Florida
Cincinnati
Colorado
DePaul
Georgetown
George Washington
Nebraska
Oregon State
Southern California
Tulane
Utah
Villanova
Washington State

College Basketball Crown bracket

College Basketball Crown schedule

(All times in Eastern)

First round

Monday, March 31

Utah vs. Butler, 3 p.m. | FS1

George Washington vs. Boise State | FS1

Nebraska vs. Arizona State | FS1

Georgetown vs. Washington State | FS1

Tuesday, April 1

DePaul vs. Cincinnati | FS1

Oregon State vs. Central Florida | FS1

Colorado vs. Villanova | FS1

Tulane vs. Southern California | FS1

When is the 2025 College Basketball Crown?

The College Basketball Crown will take place from Monday, March 31 through the final on Sunday, April 6.

First round: Monday, March 31 and Tuesday, April 1
Second round: Wednesday, April 2 and Thursday, April 3
Semifinals: Saturday, April 5 (1:30 p.m. ET and 4 p.m. ET)
Final: Sunday, April 6 (5:30 p.m. ET)

Where will 2025 College Basketball Crown be played?

The entire tournament will be played in Las Vegas. The first and second rounds will be played at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. The semifinals and finals will be played at T-Mobile Arena.

How to watch College Basketball Crown 2025

All tournament games will be aired on Fox or FS1. The first and second round games will air on FS1. The semifinals and championship game will air on Fox.

The Los Angeles Dodgers won’t have one of their top players when they open the 2025 MLB season Tuesday in Japan.

Shortstop Mookie Betts will not play in the two-game series against the Chicago Cubs in Tokyo due to an illness that’s caused him to lose 15 pounds, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters Monday. Betts, an eight-time All-Star, has been battling an illness for the past week and although he’s feeling better, Roberts said he’s still trying to regain his strength.

‘He’s not going to play in these two games,’ Roberts said. ‘When you’re dehydrated, that’s what opens a person up to soft tissue injuries. We’re very mindful of that.’

Betts will likely return to the United States ahead of the rest of the Dodgers in order to rest up for the team’s stateside opener on March 27.

Veteran Miguel Rojas will most likely get the nod at shortstop for the games against the Cubs on Tuesday and Wednesday in Tokyo.

Betts, 32, is entering his sixth season with the Dodgers. He hit .289 with 19 homers and 75 RBI in 116 games last season in leading the Dodgers to a World Series title.

Don’t let that page of 68 school names intimidate you. Everyone who wants to build a winning NCAA men’s tournament bracket is in the same boat: Pick a bunch of favorites, play a few hunches and cross your fingers.

Regardless of how much research you do, your odds of picking all 63 games – not including the four play-in games – correctly are impossibly large. Perhaps that’s why we’ll give you $1 million to do it.

So your bracket doesn’t need to be perfect. Just a little lucky.

Printable 2025 NCAA March Madness bracket

We’ll give you a few trends based on 39 years of history since the tournament grew to 64 teams. Our tips will get you started, but you’ll still need to make a few guesses – educated or not – along the way.

Below is a different way to look at the traditional NCAA Tournament bracket. The first round comes down to four sets of these eight pairings. These 2,496 squares below represent all the teams – not counting the play-in teams – that have competed in the tournament since 1985.

1a. NCAA Tournament first-round winners are usually the top seeds

Unable to view our graphics? Click here to see them.

If you just pick the highest-seeded team throughout the tournament, your odds improve significantly – especially through the first few rounds. That makes the No. 1 and 2 seeds especially good bets in almost every tournament.

The NCAA has hosted its own online bracket contest during the past 10 tournaments. They’ve found that players get two-thirds of their picks right when they based their picks on ‘likely outcomes.’ That method improves your odds of a perfect bracket to 1 in 120.2 billion. 

That’s 70 million times better than coin flipping, but likely outcomes probably won’t be enough to win among your friends and co-workers.

1b. Lowest-seeded teams might not be a good bet to upset

The 15th- and 16th-seeded teams have won a combined 13 times in the past 39 years, or once every three years. So the odds are stacked against those eight lowest-seeded teams again this year because of No. 15 Princeton’s and No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson’s wins in the 2023 tournament.

Perhaps we’re either seeing the start of a new trend, or, more likely, you can feel relatively confident picking all the No. 1 and 2 seeds. If you do want to take a flier (which you’ll need to do to win), maybe try a few seeds up. On average, a 13 seed knocks off a 4 seed about once per tournament.

Which seeds have the best records in the round of 32

Not unsurprisingly, 47% or more of the 4 seeds or higher make it through to the Sweet 16. What might be surprising: If a 10, 11 and 12 seed wins their first-round game, they have a 40% chance of moving on to the Sweet 16.

3. How many upsets you should pick in you NCAA Tournament bracket

The guessing game begins here in Step 3 where you’ll likely differentiate your bracket from everyone one else’s.

On average between 1985 and 2024, there’ve been 8.5 upsets per tournament, or just about 13% of the 63 games, according to the NCAA. That said, some years are bound to break brackets. Both 2021 and 2022 had 14 total upsets.

The NCAA’s upset numbers don’t include the 8 vs. 9 games. That’s probably the best time to consider flipping a coin to make your picks. That said, the 9 seeds currently have a six-game edge on the 8s, so that might argue for a majority of 8-seed winners this year.

Upset rates for the first four rounds of the NCAA Tournament

While the 39-year average is just over eight upsets per year, upsets have become a bit more commonplace. In nine of the past 13 years, lower seeds have won at least 10 games, according to the NCAA. There were 10 upsets in 2023 and nine in 2024.

4. Picking the Final Four gets more challenging

Since 2011, at least one No. 7 seed or lower has made in the Final Four – except for 2019. Even that tournament would have required some creative guessing. The eventual champion Virginia was a No. 1 seed, but the other three included No. 2 Michigan State, No. 3 Texas Tech and No. 5 Auburn. 

Also, just picking all the No. 1 seeds to make the Final Four is less likely now than a No. 16 seed toppling a No. 1 seed, which has happened twice. All four No. 1 seeds made the Final Four only once: 2008.

5. A No. 1 seed is still the best choice for the tournament champion

Maybe you shouldn’t have four No. 1s in your Final Four, but they’ve piled up more than two dozen championships in nearly four decades, including nine of the past 12 tournaments. Since 2005, a No. 1 seed has won at least every other year.

Perhaps Connecticut will bring home its third consecutive championship this year?

Last season the Huskies were a heavily favored No. 1 seed, unlike 2023 when they started at No. 4. They have an even tougher road this year as an 8 seed. Should they win, Connecticut would be only the second 8 seed to win the tournament since 1985. The other schools that have won men’s basketball NCAA Championships:

Schools that have won the NCAA men’s tournament

What’s the longest a bracket has ever stayed perfect?

According to the NCAA, an Ohio man correctly predicted the entire 2019 men’s NCAA tournament into the Sweet 16, which set the record for the longest verified March Madness bracket win streak at 49 games. (The NCAA began tracking brackets from major online platforms, including their Men and Women’s Bracket Challenge Game, ESPN, CBS and Yahoo, since 2016.) Read more about perfect March Madness brackets here.

The madness of March is officially here.

On Sunday night, and after weeks of intense anticipation, 68-team brackets for the men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments were unveiled, setting the stage for what should be a beautifully frenetic three-week stretch leading up to the respective Final Fours and national championship games.

While women’s college basketball lost several famous faces after last season — most notably Iowa superstar and Division I all-time leading scorer Caitlin Clark — there will be plenty of intrigue surrounding the NCAA Tournament this season.

Can Dawn Staley and South Carolina successfully repeat as national champions? How far can JuJu Watkins, Clark’s heir as the brightest star in the sport, carry her USC team? Can No. 1 UCLA make its first-ever Final Four? And, once there, win a national title? Can standout guard Paige Bueckers and UConn add another award to the massive trophy case the Huskies have built up under legendary coach Geno Auriemma? Who will be the small-school upstarts and Cinderellas that will pull off stunning upsets and capture millions of hearts across the country?

Here’s a look at which teams in the women’s NCAA Tournament have the best opportunities at scoring an upset:

Most likely upsets in women’s March Madness bracket

Perhaps above all else, the NCAA Tournament on both the men’s and women’s side is defined by upsets.

Here are a few games in which a team seeded 11th or lower has a good opportunity to pull out a victory as an underdog:

No. 11 George Mason over No. 6 Florida State: This wouldn’t be the first time a George Mason basketball team has picked up a big March win as a No. 11 seed. Even though this Patriots team almost certainly won’t make a Final Four like their male counterparts did in 2006, they’re peaking at the right time, with 15 victories in their past 17 games in the respectable Atlantic 10.
No. 12 Green Bay over No. 5 Alabama: The Phoenix brought back six of their top seven scorers from a team that went 27-7 and made the NCAA Tournament last season. This year, they’re even better, at 29-5 and riding a 22-game win streak.
No. 12 Fairfield over No. 5 Kansas State: Not only are the Stags hot, with 22 wins in their past 23 games, but they’re getting a reeling opponent. The Wildcats have lost four of their past six games after a 24-3 start.

NCAA women’s basketball tournament sleeper picks

Here’s a group of teams that have the potential not only to win a game, but pull off unexpected victories in the second round and beyond against top seeds that could throw brackets into chaos:

No. 11 Iowa State: It has been a disappointing season for the Cyclones, a preseason top-10 team that’s 22-11 heading into the tournament. Still, this is a group that has its top three scorers, led by star center Audi Crooks, back from a squad that nearly upset No. 1 seed Stanford in the second round last season.
No. 8 Cal: The Golden Bears racked up 25 wins during the regular season, which included victories against ranked squads like NC State and Alabama. They may not be able to pull off the upset, but coach Charmin Smith’s team could at the very least give old Pac-12 mate USC a scare in the second round.
No. 7 Vanderbilt: There are few, if any, scoring tandems in the country more dynamic than Mikayla Blakes and Khamil Pierre, who combine to average 43.7 points per game. That kind of offensive punch could give anyone fits, including No. 2 seed Duke in a potential second-round matchup.

Who will win the NCAA women’s basketball tournament?

Unlike at many different points over the past two decades, the women’s NCAA Tournament doesn’t have some domineering Goliath that everyone else in the field is chasing.

Still, there’s a handful of squads who stand out as favorites entering March Madness.

UCLA is 30-2 this season, with its only two losses coming against USC. That gaudy record includes wins against top-20 teams like South Carolina, USC, Ohio State, Maryland and Baylor. If the Bruins can manage to avoid the Trojans, nobody else in the country has shown they can beat them. And even if they do draw Watkins and USC in the Final Four, they can win that, too, just as they did in the Big Ten Tournament championship game.

Despite losing key pieces like Kamilla Cardoso, South Carolina has continued to be one of the country’s best teams and still has several important players who were on last year’s national championship squad, a group that includes MiLaysia Fulwiley, Te-Hina Paopao and Chloe Kitts. Add in star freshman Joyce Edwards and the Gamecocks are right in the thick of the national title race.

USC has lost just three times this season, with two of those setbacks coming against top-10 teams. As brilliant as Watkins has been, the Trojans have more than just her, with forward Kiki Iriafen averaging 18.2 points and 8.3 rebounds per game.

Then, of course, there’s UConn, a program that’s more than familiar with deep runs in the NCAA Tournament. The Huskies have made the Final Four in three of the past four seasons and behind another talented roster featuring Bueckers, Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd, they enter the tournament with a 31-3 record, which included an undefeated run through the Big East.

The pick here, though, is Texas. The Longhorns are 31-3, with every loss coming to a top-10 team, two of which were at the hands of South Carolina, which it could meet again in the Final Four. Sophomore forward Madison Booker is one of the best players in the country and has a strong supporting cast behind her that includes Taylor Jones, Rori Harmon and Kyla Oldacre. They’re guided not just by a talented, well-rounded roster, but an experienced coach in Vic Schafer, who led Mississippi State to two NCAA championship games and has taken Texas to the Elite Eight three times in the previous four seasons. This year, the Longhorns break through and win it all.

Selection Sunday revealed one of the least controversial NCAA men’s tournament brackets in recent history thanks to a bubble-bursting final stretch of the regular season.

The list of teams left out of the 68-team field include Indiana, Boise State and West Virginia. This group might have a bone to pick with the selection committee, which instead gave the last at-large spot to North Carolina despite the Tar Heels’ miserable performance in games against Quad 1 competition.

But things generally went according to plan for the selection committee, which avoided a late dose of chaos after Memphis topped Alabama-Birmingham in the American Athletic championship game. That leaves Mountain West champion Colorado State as the only bid-stealing team in this year’s bracket.

The No. 1 line has Duke, Auburn, Florida and Houston. On the No. 2 line are Michigan State, Tennessee, St. John’s and Alabama. Among the teams joining the Tar Heels on the back end of the at-large picture are Texas, Xavier and Utah State.

Tournament action begins Tuesday with play-in games in Dayton, Ohio, pitting North Carolina against San Diego State and No. 16 seeds St. Francis and Alabama State.

Here are the winners and losers from Selection Sunday:

Winners

North Carolina

UNC made the field as a No. 11 seed in the South region despite winning all of one game against Quad 1 competition, which can be seen as both a damning indictment of the Tar Heels’ mediocrity and a statement about the dearth of qualified options on the back end of the at-large picture. While the tournament berth puts a positive spin on what has been an often miserable season – and helps coach Hubert Davis avoid a second tournament absence in three years — how far the Tar Heels advance in March depends on how quickly they can reboot, refocus and embrace this opportunity.

Duke

Duke were locked onto the No. 1 line after beating the Cardinals 73-62 despite missing star freshman Cooper Flagg, who injured his ankle in the ACC semifinals. This performance on Saturday night speaks to the Blue Devils’ depth beyond Flagg’s brilliance as perhaps the most well-rounded player in this year’s tournament. The East region is also kind to Duke, which is projected to face No. 8 Baylor or No. 9 Mississippi State in the second round before potentially facing off with No. 4 Arizona or No. 5 Oregon to decide the Elite Eight. But to get back to the Final Four, the Blue Devils might have to handle a matchup with No. 2 Alabama and the Crimson Tide’s high-potency offense.

LEFT OUT: Six teams snubbed by the NCAA men’s tournament

Memphis

Memphis was one of the toughest teams to predict in our bracketology, with the potential to land anywhere from the No. 5 line to a No. 7 seed after beating UAB. The Tigers landed as the No. 5 in the West, drawing an opening-round matchup with No. 12 Colorado State and then No. 4 Maryland or No. 13 Grand Canyon for a trip to the Sweet 16. Looking at the resume, it’s clear the committee valued the Tigers’ convincing run through the AAC and impressive 6-1 mark against Quad 1 teams, including non-conference wins against Missouri, Connecticut, Michigan State and Clemson.

The SEC

The SEC set a tournament record for a single conference with 14 teams in this year’s field: No. 1 Auburn, No. 4 Texas A&M and No. 6 Mississippi in the South; No. 2 Alabama and No. 8 Mississippi State in the East region; No. 1 Florida, No. 6 Missouri, No. 8 Oklahoma and No. 10 Arkansas in the West; and No. 2 Tennessee, No. 3 Kentucky, No. 9 Georgia and No. 11 Texas in the Midwest. After a banner regular season, the onus is on the SEC to deliver on this well-deserved respect by sending multiple teams to the second weekend and potentially two or more all the way to the Final Four.

Losers

Michigan

Several factors combine to make Michigan perhaps the biggest loser in this year’s field. For one, the Wolverines are a No. 5 seed in the South despite beating Wisconsin for the Big Ten championship; the Badgers, meanwhile, are the No. 3 seed in the East. Michigan also plays on Thursday in Denver, giving them a shortened turnaround time to recover from the grind of the Big Ten tournament. Lastly, the Wolverines will take on No. 12 UC San Diego, which ended the regular season No. 35 in the NET rankings after going 30-4 overall and 4-2 against Quad 1 and Quad 2 competition. In Michigan’s favor is the postseason track record of first-year coach Dusty May, who led Florida Atlantic to the Final Four two years ago.

Louisville

That dismal perception of the ACC clearly had a major influence on Louisville, which scaled the conference standings under new coach Pat Kelsey before falling to Duke in yesterday’s championship game. Despite winning 27 games during the regular season, including a combined 15 wins against Quad 1 and Quad 2 competition, the Cardinals drew the No. 8 seed in the South and a first-round matchup with No. 9 Creighton. With a win there, Louisville would face SEC regular-season champion Auburn, which spent most the year as the unquestioned top-ranked team in the country. That’s a very rough draw for one of the biggest major-conference success stories of this season. But Louisville does get to play the first weekend in Lexington, Kentucky, which might be enemy territory but will provide a very friendly crowd.

St. John’s

There’s good news and bad news for the Big East champions, which on Saturday cut down the nets after the Big East tournament at Madison Square Garden for the first time in 25 years. (Turns out that Rick Pitino was a good idea.) The good news: St. John’s lands as the No. 2 seed opposite No. 15 Nebraska-Omaha in the West region, the program’s highest NCAA tournament seeding since that 2000 season. That sets up the potential for a second-round matchup with John Calipari and No. 10 Arkansas, should the Razorbacks get past No. 7 Kansas. The bad news can be found in that West region landing spot. Had they been placed in the East, the Red Storm could’ve played for a Final Four appearance in nearby Newark, New Jersey.

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.

IT’S BRACKET MADNESS: Enter USA TODAY’s Bracket Challenge contest for a chance at $1 million prize.

‘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:

Can your picks survive March Madness? Join our Survivor Pool to find out

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.