The first weekend of the 2025 NCAA Tournament has come to look into how the best college basketball meetings took place in the book.
The Big Ten and Big 12 Dominance were the main storylines after the first round. However, 32 rounds belonged to the SEC. The SEC went 7-1 in the second round matchup, bringing the league up and making it a potentially memorable march filled with deep tournament runs.
The SEC dominance decided to play for the weekend, but the Big Ten and Big 12 filled most of the rest of the Sweet Sixteen. The title's favorite Duke is the only team of the SEC, Big Ten, or Big 12 that are still remaining in the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
This season shows a major year-over-year change for the sweet 16 representatives after the ACC (4) and Big East (3) combined seven bids with the ultimate national champion (3).uconn)Last season.
This is a breakdown of how all seven multi-vid leagues were performed in the second round.
Breakdown of the Sweet 16 Conference of the 2025 Men's NCAA Tournament
Seconds:7 (out of 14)
Big Ten: 4 (out of 8)
Big 12: 4 (out of 7)
acc:1 (out of 5)
Seconds
The depth and overall talent of the SEC were shown in a great way over the weekend. After a slow start of 8-6 in the first round, the SEC team finished an incredible 7-1 in the second round. Texas A&M He lost to Michigan State.
Olemis And Arkansas' winning an upset victory with the top three seeds was just a bonus for the SEC after all five top three seeds in the conference won.
The SEC is guaranteed at least one elite eight team thanks to battles in the next round of Tennessee and the Midwest Kentucky region.
Auburn, Florida and Alabama are all favorites for their respective 16 sweet matchups. Perhaps the SEC wasn't as deep as once believed after the first round of 8-6. However, in the second round, we featured unparalleled top tier talents at the SEC, translated into postseason success this season.
The SEC has the chance to make a loud noise at the 2025 NCAA Tournament after half of the 14 bids reach the second weekend. The number of SEC teams reaching the Final Four will be the main storyline for the second weekend.
2025: 14 bids, 15-7 records
2024: 8 bids, 8-8 records
2023: 8 bids, 9-8 records
result
No. 1 Auburn defeated No. 9 Creighton 82-70
No. 1 Florida beat No. 8 UConn 77-75
No. 2 Alabama beat No. 7 Saint Mary's 80-66
No. 2 Tennessee defeated No. 7 UCLA 67-58
No. 3 Kentucky beat Illinois 84-75
No. 4 Texas A&M lost to No. 5 Michigan 91-79
No. 6 Ole Miss defeated No. 3 Iowa 91-78
No. 10 Arkansas beat No. 2 St. John's 75-66
Already excluded
No. 6 Missouri, No. 8 Mississippi, No. 9 Oklahoma, No. 9 Georgia, No. 10 Vanderbilt, No. 11 Texas
Big Ten
After an undefeated first round, the Big Ten finished 4-4 in the second round and bid for half of the NCAA Tournament in the second weekend.
Michigan Find the remaining teams in the Big Ten as the second seed. Purdue, Maryland and Michigan also went on. The Big Ten doubled to quadrupled membership for the second weekend of this season. Purdue also made the title game, and Illinois was an elite eight team before bowing.
The Big Ten offers solid numbers representing the 2025 Sweet Sixteen, but the league doesn't have much hope for the title to break the drought of its 25 national title.
2025: 8 bids, 12-4 records
2024: 6 bids, 10-6 records
2023: 8 bids, 6-8 records
result
No. 2 Michigan defeated No. 10 New Mexico 71-63
No. 3 Wisconsin lost to No. 6 BYU 91-89
No. 4 Purdue defeated No. 12 McNeese 76-62
No. 4 Maryland defeated Colorado 72-71 No. 12
No. 5 Michigan beat No. 4 Texas A&M 91-79
No. 5 Oregon lost to No. 4 Arizona 87-83
No. 6 Illinois lost to No. 3 Kentucky 84-75
No. 7 UCLA lost to No. 2 Tennessee 67-58
Big 12
Big 12 made its first weekend a success, watching four of the seven participants reach Sweet 16. Considering that Big 12 participated in the 2024 NCAA Tournament with eight teams, there are only two sweet 16 teams. This season is a major upgrade.
The Houston and Texas technology is a talented team that Arizona and BYU can do damage against the top seed.
A year ago, the Big 12 lost both Sweet 16 teams and did not play a deep NCAA tournament run. Currently, the league is in the position of potential expansion runs from multiple teams.
2025:7 bids, 10-3 records
2024: 8 bids, 7-8 records
2023:7 bids, 9-7 records
result
No. 1 Houston defeated 81-76 No. 8 Gonzaga
No. 3 Texas Tech defeated No. 11 Drake 77-64
No. 3 Iowa State lost to No. 6 Ole Miss 91-78
No. 4 Arizona defeated Oregon 87-83 No. 5
No. 6 BYU defeated Wisconsin 81-89 No. 3
No. 9 Baylor lost No. 1 Duke 89-66
Already excluded
No. 7 Kansas
Big East
The disappointing NCAA tournament for the big East end by going 0-3 in the second round. This season, following UConn's back-to-back titles, has been a tough task for another Big East National Championship this season. But just before the season, it's a huge disappointment to be left completely behind after three sweet 16 teams.
St. John's was on the flat and losing to 10-seeded Arkansas was the most disappointing result in the league.
Big East improved overall bid total from 3 to 5, but missed a stab wound on the second weekend.
The Big East sent at least one team to Sweet 16 for each of the last four NCAA tournaments. With only four NCAA tournaments in 2024, the league is aiming to bounce back next season.
2025: 5 bids, 4-5 records
2024: 3 bids, 10-2 records
2023: 5 bids, 12-4 records
result
No. 2 St. John's lost to No. 10 Arkansas 75-66
No. 8 UConn lost to Florida 77-75 No. 1
No. 9 Creighton lost to No. 1 Auburn 82-70
Already excluded
No. 7 Marquette, No. 11 Xavier
acc
Duke kept the ACC alive in the NCAA Tournament, winning Baylor in his second victory. The Blue Devils, who will make their third sweet 16 in four years, have been cruising to the number one seed so far.
But this is still a poor show from the ACC. In 2024, the league had 16 sweet teams, four out of five bids, leading two weeks of accusations in all meetings.
Now it's up to Duke to keep the ACC hope alive.
2025: 4 bids, 3-3 records
2024: 5 bids, 12-5 records
2023: 5 bids, 7-5 records
result
No. 1 Duke beat No. 9 Baylor 89-66
Already excluded
No. 5 Clemson, No. 8 Louisville, No. 11 North Carolina
Mountain West
Mountain West It's been removed from the 2025 NCAA Tournament after suffering two respectable losses to the Big Ten team. Colorado lost on a heartbreaking buzzer beater to Maryland, and New Mexico had a solid battle with Michigan before falling into the second half.
Over the past two seasons, the Sweet 16 has given Mountain West national credibility as a run to the championship game at San Diego State. The league will not send one of the four NCAA Tournament teams to the second weekend, but Mountain West has consistently sent multiple stagnant teams to the NCAA Tournament over the past few years.
2025: 4 bids, 2-4 records
2024: 6 bids, 4-6 records
2023: 4 bids, 5-4 records
result
No. 10 New Mexico lost to Michigan No. 71-63
No. 12 Colorado lost to Maryland No. 6 72-71
Already excluded
10th Utah, 11th San Diego
West Coast Conference
For the first time since 2014, the WCC has no Sweet 16 teams after the league went 0-2 in the second round.
Gonzaga's sweet 16-game winning streak of an incredible nine tournament has finally been snapped in close defeat to No. 1 seed Houston. Notable consistency for the Bulldogs includes 13 trips to the second weekend since 2000, and an unparalleled postseason consistency from the program from non-power conferences.
St. Mary also fell to No. 2 seed Alabama. With 32 32 rounds appearances over the past four years, Frog has a lot to do. The next step is to go on your second weekend for the first time since 2010.
2025: Two bids, 2-2 records
2024: Two bids, 2-2 records
2023: Two bids, 4-2 records
result
No. 7 Saint Mary's lost to No. 2 Alabama 80-66
No. 8 Gonzaga lost to No. 1 Houston 81-76
