SportsLine's model has nailed 24 first-round upsets by double-digit seeds and revealed its optimal NCAA Tournament bracket 2025

The top-seeded Tigers will face No. 16 seed Alabama State on Thursday at 1:50 p.m. CT in Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky. The Hornets earned the right to face Auburn by defeating St. Francis on Tuesday, 70-68. Alabama State secured the win thanks to an Amarr Knight layup with 0:01 remaining in the game.

Where the selection committee stumbled a bit: selecting North Carolina over more deserving teams like West Virginia. The Tar Heels snared the final at-large spot in the field despite going 1-12 in Quadrant 1 games and only defeating one at-large-caliber NCAA tournament team.