March Madness is the time of the year when people all over the nation eat, sleep, and breathe basketball. This year’s tournament was intense. With major upsets, major controversies, and major performances, the 2025 NCAA tournament was definitely one to remember.
The tournament hadn’t even started yet before controversies already rose above the surface. The first major controversy of the tournament was the fact that UNC was one of the last teams in the tournament. Many people’s speculation started with the fact that Bubba Cunningham is head of the selection committee, but also the University of North Carolina’s athletic director. However, Keith Gill, who is the Vice President of the selection committee, came out with a statement saying that an Athletic Director who is a part of the committee must leave the room when discussing their school or when it comes to a vote for their school. This rule eliminates all biased selections. Nonetheless, people were still upset about the decision of UNC’s participation in the tournament, but after their game against SDSU, they proved their spot in the tournament.
The first round of the tournament had some interesting outcomes. Some of the minor upsets were when the #9 seed, Creighton, beat the #8 seed, Louisville, and when the #9 seed, Baylor, beat the #8 seed,
Mississippi State. Other upsets were when the #10 seed, New Mexico, beat the #7 seed, Marquette, and when the #10 seed, Arkansas, beat the #7 seed, Kansas. Though based on their seed, this wasn’t a major upset; this game definitely had some fans shook. As the days of the first round went on, the large upsets began. The #12 seed, Colorado State, beat the #5 seed, Memphis; the #11 seed, Drake, beat the #6 seed, Missouri; but the LARGEST upset was when the #12 seed, McNeese, beat the #5 seed, Clemson. This game left a whopping 1.4 million perfect brackets remaining out of around 24 million.
Coming into the second round of the tournament, many people didn’t know what to expect. Because of this Clemson upset, people wanted to see how far McNeese could go. Sadly, their run to the finals was cut short this round when they fell short of Purdue. Some upsets in this round included the #5 seed, Michigan, beating the #4 seed, Texas A&M; the #6 seed, Ole Miss, beating the #3 seed, Iowa State; the the #6 seed, BYU, beating the #3 seed, Wisconsin, by only 2; but the biggest upset in this round would have to be the #10 seed, Arkansas, taking out the #2 seed, St. Johns. After Arkansas beat St. John’s, there was one perfect bracket remaining in the tournament.
Heading into the Sweet 16, the remaining teams knew there was a lot on the line. This round, all of the higher-seeded teams tried their very best not to get upset by the lower seeds, and they were more than successful. Every higher-seeded team won their game, advancing to the Elite 8. However, though mathematically it wasn’t an upset, Texas Tech’s win over Arkansas was huge. Before Duke’s matchup with Arizona, the Wildcats seemed very confident that they could take down the Blue Devils. What they didn’t know was that Duke’s star player, Freshman Cooper Flagg, was about to have an incredible game, scoring 30 of Duke’s points, along with 7 assists, 6 rebounds, and 3 total blocks. Alabama had a record-breaking performance against BYU, making a total of 25 3’s, with a final score of 113.
The number of teams in the tournament was winding down. The Elite 8 was completely dominated by the higher-seeded teams. There were no upsets, and most of the games weren’t even close. Texas Tech ended up trailing Florida by 5, which was the closest game in this round. Auburn’s Johni Broome led the Tigers to victory over Michigan State by scoring 25 of their points. As soon as Duke got a lead over Alabama, there was no chance for the Crimson Tide. Alabama ended up losing by exactly 20 points, ending their season on a harsh note.
The Final 4 was now here. Coming into the tournament, there were 4 #1 seeds: Auburn, Florida, Duke, and Houston. Coming into the Final 4, those are the exact teams that remained. Though there were many upsets in the tournament, this year it ended up being dominated by the higher powers. Because of this fact, fans all over the nation knew these games were going to be intense. Auburn had a lead for most of the game, but once Walter Clayton Jr. got hot, there was no stopping him. He scored a total of 34 points, five of them being 3-pointers. After this incredible performance by Florida guard, he officially became the first person to have back-to-back 30-point games this late in the tournament since the incredible Larry Bird.
Though this game was great, the matchup between Duke and Houston was even better. This game comes down to the final moments. By final moments, I mean the last 33 seconds of the game. With 33 seconds left on the clock, Houston was down by 6 points. Houston hit a clutch 3-pointer to cut Duke’s lead to 3 points. When Duke was throwing the ball in, Houston’s defense went to work. Houston forced a turnover by Duke, and in return, Houston shot a 3-pointer. When the shot didn’t go in, Houston got the rebound and put it in for 2 points, cutting Duke’s lead to 1 point with about 25 seconds on the clock. With 19 seconds left on the clock, Houston was fouled. J’Wan Roberts made both free throws, giving Houston the lead. With 17 seconds left in the game, Duke’s Cooper Flagg missed a crucial shot, which in return put Houston back on the free-throw line, making the score 70-67 with a small amount of time on the clock. In the end, Duke couldn’t come out with the win, making this the best comeback in March Madness in a while.
The two teams that made it to the championship were Florida and Houston. This game was intense as well. Early in the second half, Houston took a 12-point lead over Florida. This lead just made the Gators more hungry for the win. Florida ended up making a comeback after some heated moments between teams, taking the win 65-63. The Florida Men’s Basketball team now has 3 national championship titles: 2006, 2007, and now 2025.
