These teams will not go anywhere other than NIT if they get upset over the next 11 days. Still, they have established themselves as top dogs in their respective leagues and are on track to scare hell from single digit seeds over the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
1. Yale (Ivy League)
Did you know that the Ivy League is almost 0.500 in the last five NCAA tournaments? The Ivy League is almost 0.500 in the last five NCAA tournaments.
Yale knocked out Auburn last March, causing an upset that took place just a year after Princeton ran Cinderella to the Sweet 16.
The Bulldogs dominate the rest of Ivy this season (12-1) so far, and can have completely another magical marching moment (or two) in a few weeks.
2. Akron (Middle American)
Typically, one of the more balanced meetings in the sport, the Mac is dominated by the Zips this season. Akron is 16-1 in league play, heading into the regular season finale, resulting in a loss of loneliness with Ohio.
They still need to win a Mac tournament to go to dance, but this is a team with enough offensive firepower to knock off four or five seeds in the first round.
3. High Point (Big South)
The Panthers finished regular season 3 games from both Winthrop and UNC Asheville, bringing a 26-5 overall record to shine.
4. Mcney (Southland)
You know about Willwade. You know about flashy records (25-6, 19-1).
But let's go to the real star of the show here…
His team has to take care of the business at the Southland Tournament, but this guy was built for March Madness.
5. Towson (Coastal Athletic Association)
Towson may have been the worst program in Division I when Pat Skelly took over in 2011-12. In his first season at work, the Tigers started 0-22 and finished 1-31. Last week they put together their first full regular season conference championship under Skelly's watch. Next up, he is about to create his first NCAA tournament since 1991.
6. Chattanooga (South)
MOC has been a SoCon class all season, winning regular season titles in two games. This is no. This is especially important in the conference where the first seed has won the league tournament for the seventh year in a row. The next long winning streak in Division I is 3.
7. Omaha (Summit League)
If you've never heard of the Mavericks, now is the time to get used to yourself.
Omaha was chosen to finish eighth in the Summit League before the start of the season, but won the league's regular season title in a match at St. Thomas.
But that's not the wild part of the Omaha story. The wild part is a tradition created by Maverick defeating absolute hell from the trash can in the locker room after victory.
If you're wondering what it looks like, it's exactly what it sounds like.
Omaha was chosen 8th and won the Summit League title while defeating this ridiculous, ridiculous, incredible tradition from the trash cans is all that makes this ridiculous sport amazing. pic.twitter.com/wvlvxxddb8
– Rob Dauster (@robdauster) March 2, 2025
The world's largest sport.
8. Southern (SWAC)
There's still a week left in the regular season for SWAC, but the Jaguars have already locked their share of the league's regular season title, almost rock to win completely. They only lost twice since the calendar turned over until 2025.
