NCAA Tournament projections: Tennessee, Iowa State, Auburn, Oregon on top

Last updated: 2024/12/31 at 8:23 PM

BigP Published December 31, 2024

As the calander gets set to turn to 2025, college basketball is beginning to heat up with a steady dose of conference action on the way!

FOX Sports bracket forecaster Mike DeCourcy offered up his second edition of NCAA Tournament projections, and while there isn’t much movement at the top, one notable blue-blood program made a big jump following an impressive victory over the weekend.

Tennessee (Midwest), Iowa State (East), Auburn (South) and Oregon (West) remain the No. 1 seeds in DeCourcy’s latest bracket forecast.

Duke, Alabama, Marquette and Mississippi State are listed as the No. 2 seeds, while Kentucky, UConn, Kansas and Texas A&M make up the No. 3 seeds.

Michigan State, Florida, Maryland and Memphis are the No. 4 seeds in DeCourcy’s projections.

The biggest riser in DeCourcy’s latest tournament projections is UCLA. The Bruins moved up from a No. 7 seed to the No. 5 seed in the East Region following a 65-62 win over Gonzaga this past Saturday. Meanwhile, the Zags fell to a No. 6 seed following the loss.

As for teams on the bubble, DeCourcy has Texas Tech, Saint Mary’s, Vanderbilt and Penn State as his last four teams in the tournament. Northwestern, BYU, Missouri and Georgetown are listed as the first four out, while North Carolina, Iowa, Washington State and Arizona are the next four teams out.

The SEC has the most representatives in DeCourcy’s initial compilation, with 13 teams. The Big Ten has 11 teams represented, while the Big 12 has eight teams in the tournament, according to DeCourcy. The ACC has four teams, while the Big East has three teams. The Mountain West, West Coast and Atlantic 10 follow with two teams apiece.

Here’s a look at DeCourcy’s latest projections:

Michael DeCourcy covers college basketball for FOX Sports with an emphasis on NCAA Tournament bracket projections. He has appeared on FOX Sports college basketball game broadcasts, while also serving as a college basketball studio analyst at the Big Ten Network. He has been covering college basketball for nearly three decades at the Sporting News. You can follow him at @tsnmike.

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