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There has only been one year in which a First Four winner has not won at least one game in the NCAA Tournament bracket, and North Carolina will try to continue that trend during March Madness 2025. The Tar Heels dominated San Diego State on Tuesday following their controversial entry into the NCAA bracket 2025. Now, they'll aim for a first-round win over No. 6 seed Ole Miss on Friday. Should you include the Tar Heels in your 2025 March Madness bracket picks?

Ole Miss was one of a record-setting 14 teams that earned a spot in the 2025 March Madness bracket, including top seeds Auburn and Florida. The Tigers and Gators are among the most popular 2025 March Madness championship picks, joining other No. 1 seeds Duke and Houston. Before making any 2025 March Madness bracket predictions, be sure to check out the 2025 NCAA Tournament bracket picks from the proven computer model at SportsLine.

Their proven projection model has simulated every game in the tournament 10,000 times. It has absolutely crushed its March Madness picks recently, beating over 91 percent of all CBS Sports brackets in four of the past six tournaments. It was all over UConn's championship run a year ago and nailed 13 teams in the Sweet 16. It also nailed Alabama's Cinderella run to the Final Four as a 4-seed.

It knows how to spot an upset as well. The same model has produced brackets that have nailed 24 first-round upsets by double-digit seeds since its inception in 2016. There's simply no reason to rely on luck when there's proven technology to help you dominate your 2025 March Madness bracket picks. 

Now, with the 2025 NCAA bracket revealed, the model is simulating the matchups and its results are in. You can only see it over at SportsLine.

Three 2025 March Madness bracket games to watch

One of the most intriguing 2025 March Madness matchups to watch: No. 5 Michigan vs. No. 12 UC San Diego in the South region. The Tritons will be a popular upset pick in the first round due to their hot shooting and elite defense. They are ranked inside the top 40 at KenPom, which is rare for a Big West school. This will be a tricky matchup for them though, as Michigan has a pair of 7-footers in its starting lineup. UC San Diego does not have a regular rotation player taller than 6-foot-8, so the battle in the paint could decide the outcome of this first-round game.

Another 2025 NCAA Tournament matchup to keep an eye on is No. 8 Louisville vs. No. 9 Creighton in the South Region. The Cardinals should have home court advantage with the game being played roughly 70 miles away from their campus in Lexington. While the Cardinals appear to be underseeded as a No. 8 despite being ranked No. 10 in the latest AP poll, they made it to the ACC Conference Tournament Championship Game before falling to Duke. Creighton enters off a loss in their conference title game as well, finishing runners up in the Big East to St. John's. These two teams seem likely to put on a back-and-forth competitive affair in the first game played of the Round of 64 on Thursday at 12:15 p.m. ET.

Another 2025 March Madness game to watch out for: No. 4 seed Texas A&M will battle No. 13 seed Yale in the South Region. The Aggies offense isn't pretty as it ranks among the bottom five of the 68 tourney teams in both field goal percentage and three-point percentage. It relies on offensive boards to score and leads the nation in that regard, but its seventh-ranked defense, per KenPom, makes up for the inconsistent offense. With Yale, it allowed 92 points in a loss in its only game versus a 2025 NCAA tourney team. However, the offense has top-12 national rankings in both FG percentage and 3P percentage, and the Bulldogs knocked off a fourth-seeded Auburn team in last year's tournament. You can see the model's 2025 NCAA bracket picks here.

How to make 2025 NCAA bracket predictions

Who wins every tournament-defining matchup? And which teams will make surprising runs through the 2025 NCAA Tournament bracket? With the model's track record of calling bracket-busting upsets, you'll want to see which stunners it's calling this year before locking in any 2025 NCAA bracket picks.

So what's the optimal NCAA Tournament 2025 bracket? And which NCAA Tournament Cinderella teams will shock college basketball? Visit SportsLine now to see which double-digit seeds you can back with confidence, all from the model that called UConn's national title and nailed 13 Sweet 16 teams in 2024.