Selection Sunday’s biggest winners and losers

Pauline Vu
·Senior Reporter
·4 min read
34

The brackets for the 2025 NCAA men’s basketball tournament are set — and as always, there’s controversy over who made the field of 68 and who didn’t. Conference champions took up 31 slots with automatic bids, while the NCAA Selection Committee determined which teams got the rest of the spots. While three weeks from now only one team will lift the championship trophy, we can already declare some winners and losers in this year’s Big Dance.

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Most bracketologists didn’t expect the Tar Heels to make the field, as they went 1-12 against higher-value Quadrant 1 teams; had an embarrassing loss to Stanford; and lost to rival Duke in the semifinals of the ACC tournament.

But the selection committee awarded the final at-large slot to UNC, spurring several questions for Bubba Cunningham, who’s not only the committee chair but also UNC’s athletic director.

Awkward.

Despite the apparent conflict of interest, the selection committee’s vice chair Keith Gill said Cunningham wasn’t in the room when the committee discussed UNC and conducted the vote. According to Cunningham, "All the policies and procedures were followed.”

Seth Trimble of the North Carolina Tar Heels reacts after a lane violation call on teammate Jae'Lyn Withers (not pictured) with 4.1 seconds left in the semifinal game against the Duke Blue Devils in the ACC men's basketball tournament at Spectrum Center on March 14, 2025 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images)
Seth Trimble of the North Carolina Tar Heels reacts after a lane violation call on teammate Jae'Lyn Withers (not pictured) with 4.1 seconds left in the semifinal game against the Duke Blue Devils in the ACC men's basketball tournament at Spectrum Center on March 14, 2025 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images) (Getty Images)

Indiana and West Virginia make up half of the “first four out,” or the four teams that just missed the cut (Ohio State and Boise State are the other two teams).

Of the four, Indiana and West Virginia will be the most upset about UNC snagging the tournament's final spot over them. Remember, UNC went 1-12 against Quad 1 teams; Indiana had four Quad 1 victories, and its only losses came in Quad 1 games, while West Virginia, which defeated Gonzaga and Arizona, was widely expected to make the field.

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Out of the four No. 1 seeds — which includes Florida, Houston and overall top seed Auburn — the Blue Devils have the easiest path to the Final Four. All four top seeds will probably win their first-round game; after that, Auburn will likely face a strong Louisville team in Lexington, Ky., essentially Louisville's home court; red-hot Florida could take on two-time reigning champions University of Connecticut; and Houston could face Gonzaga, which has made it to nine straight Sweet 16s. All incredibly stiff competition.

It’s not just about making the tournament, but how well you’re seeded. Although Michigan beat Wisconsin twice this season, including in the finals of the Big Ten tournament just seconds before the selection show, the Wolverines were only rewarded with a No. 5 seed — while the Badgers received a No. 3 seed. As a result, Michigan has a first-round matchup with a challenging UC San Diego team and a potential Sweet 16 game against top-seeded Auburn.

The Bulldogs are also victims of a worse-than-expected seeding. Although they're 8th overall in the latest data-driven NET rankings, they got a relatively low eight-seed in the tournament, putting them on a collision course to face top-seeded Houston in the second round. A team that won 11 of its last 13 games deserves better.

The Southeastern Conference is mostly known as a football powerhouse, but this year a whopping 14 teams — out of 16 — made the NCAA tournament, shattering the previous record set by the Big East in 2011 with 11 spots. Two of the four top seeds, Auburn and Florida, are SEC teams. The conference could take as many as 11 Sweet 16 spots and all of the Elite Eight spots.

But will this finally translate to another title for the SEC? Its last NCAA title came in 2012 by Kentucky.

The Atlantic Coast Conference’s four slots (Duke, Louisville, Clemson, UNC) is its lowest representation in the tournament since 2013. Considering UNC barely made the field, it’s not a particularly strong showing for the conference.

Then again, Duke is in a strong position to win it all. So even though the ACC's four teams pales in comparison to the SEC's 14 teams, quality could still trump quantity.

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