Finding the right 2025 March Madness Cinderella teams to go on a deep NCAA Tournament run can be a significant difference-maker when filling out 2025 March Madness bracket picks. Last year, the South region brought the madness into the NCAA Tournament with four double-digit seeds winning in the first round and No. 11 North Carolina State eventually making the Final Four. The South region features intriguing 2025 March Madness sleepers for the NCAA Tournament 2025, including No. 13 Yale playing in its third NCAA Tournament over the last four years.
Yale won as a No. 13 seed last year, knocking off Auburn in the first round, so can the Bulldogs repeat that against No. 4 Texas A&M this year to shock another SEC opponent? Also in the South region of the NCAA bracket 2025, No. 12 UC San Diego enters on a 15-game winning streak, the longest in the nation, ahead of a matchup against No. 5 Michigan. Before you make your 2025 NCAA Tournament predictions, see the March Madness bracket picks from the proven computer model at SportsLine.
Last year, SportsLine's computer simulation nailed massive upsets, including huge wins by No. 11 Oregon over No. 6 South Carolina, No. 11 NC State over No. 6 Texas Tech, No. 10 Colorado over No. 7 Florida, and No. 12 James Madison over No. 5 Wisconsin last year. The model has beaten over 91 percent of all CBS Sports bracket players in four of the past six tournaments.
This model, which simulates every game 10,000 times, has nailed 24 first-round upsets by double-digit seeds since its inception in 2016 and nailed UConn's championship run last year. It nailed 13 teams in the Sweet 16 and was all over Alabama's Cinderella run to the Final Four as a 4-seed.
Now, SportsLine's advanced computer model has simulated the entire 2025 March Madness bracket 10,000 times to come up with the perfect 2025 NCAA Tournament bracket and find out which teams will pull off the biggest upsets. You shouldn't even think about making a pick without seeing what their model has to say.
Top 2025 March Madness bracket upset picks
One South Region surprise the model has identified: the First Four winner of North Carolina vs. San Diego State will knock off No. 6 Ole Miss in the first round. Since the First Four was introduced in 2011, a First Four winner has gone on to win at least one game in the Round of 64 in 12 of 13 NCAA Tournaments. North Carolina surprised some by landing on the right side of the bubble this year, but a near-upset over Duke in a 74-71 contest in the ACC Tournament semifinals helped secure their spot. Meanwhile, San Diego State is coming off back-to-back deep NCAA Tournament runs, losing to national champion UConn both years. This 2025 March Madness upset pick also shows the model's lack of belief in Ole Miss, who is 3-5 over its last eight games. Ole Miss was one of the least efficient shooting teams in the SEC, ranking 14th among conference schools at 44.2% from the field.
Another South Region surprise the model has identified: Creighton beats Louisville in the all-important 8-9 matchup. The selection committee didn't do Louisville any favors with a No. 8 seed after going 27-7, reaching the ACC Championship Game and entering conference championship week ranked No. 13 in the nation. Creighton has an old-school approach of trying to control the game inside the arc and that's worked to its advantage this year. The Bluejays are shooting 60.5% on two-pointers, the second-best percentage in the nation, led by the size and efficiency of 7-foot-1 center Ryan Kalkbrenner. The fifth-year senior is fourth in the nation in field goal percentage (65.5%) while averaging 19.4 points per game. Creighton has won at least one NCAA Tournament game in four straight years. See which other 2025 March Madness matchups to target here.
How to make 2025 NCAA Tournament 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 region features two mammoth upsets in the first round, including one by a team that's only ever won a single tournament game, and see which 6-seed makes the Sweet 16, all from the model that's nailed 24 first-round upsets by double-digit seeds.