The 2025 Final Four is less than two months away. At this point, plenty of usual suspects have emerged as serious contenders to cut down the nets at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
Auburn overcame a fight on a plane to become far away the best team in the country, even with some adversity to work through. Cooper Flagg and Duke are rolling through conference play. Alabama and Houston are among the teams living up to their preseason billing.
As always, there are surprises too. Both the Gators and Missouri are ranked in the top 15, while Kansas and UConn are not at this stage; neither team is ranked at all.
While it may seem clear at this point what teams are threats for March and April and which ones aren't, there are still some sleepers lurking in the push for a 2025 Final Four appearance.
For this list, we're considering sleepers as any team not presently in the AP Top 25; if you're receiving votes but not 1 to 25, you qualify. These are the teams that don't have a number next to their name when the scorebug displays the teams on the hardwood during any given game.
That often means they're flying under the radar. Perhaps one of these teams will sneakily help you win a bracket challenge when March Madness officially begins next month.
In no particular order, here are five teams that are being slept on when it comes to the 2025 Final Four in San Antonio.
Illinois Fighting Illini
If there's one word that can describe Illinois' season, it's inconsistent. The team has experienced jubilant highs and devastating lows, with injuries playing a significant role in the latter.
Right now, Brad Underwood's square is a mid-tier team in the Big Ten, with a 17-11 overall record and an 9-8 record in Big Ten play. That's not the most exciting conference record, but the Big Ten is stacked and there are several likely NCAA Tournament teams behind the Fighting Illini in the standings.
Illinois didn't have too many ugly losses on their resume, but they've been having a hard time piecing together runs lately and took some brutal defeats during their current three-game losing streak, capped by a 43-point loss to Duke that was the largest margin of defeat in program history.
They started Big Ten play with an impressive blowout at Oregon and wins over Washington and Penn State.
It's easy to discount Illinois because of the lack of national name-brand players, but it's a talented squad. Lithuanian Kasparas Jakucionis deserves more recognition on a national scale. The freshman is pacing Illinois with 15.5 points and 4.8 assists per game.
This is a team that can go toe-to-toe with the best teams in the nation. Losses against ranked foes Michigan State and Tennessee were by two points apiece. They lost to Alabama by 13 early in the season in an Elite Eight rematch that was their first big game of the year.
Illinois ranks 23rd in the NET and has six Quad 1 wins to their name, against just one Quad 2 or lower loss. The Illini seem unlikely to be tripped up by inferior opponents, giving them a chance to make a run in March.
Creighton Bluejays
Creighton entered the season with legitimate Final Four aspirations. While Craig McDermott's squad hasn't always played with that potential, it's still hidden within.
The Bluejays are 19-8, good for second place in the Big East. The team recently snaped a two-game losing streak (vs. UConn, at St. John's), but has a fairly easy schedule to close the regular season, with a trip to Xavier being the only one of four games against a team with at least a .500 record in league play.
That should position Creighton to be on a positive run entering the Big East tournament. They can then harness that momentum towards the NCAA Tournament. And if you think momentum doesn't matter in the Big Dance, Kevin Keatts could likely tell you otherwise.
Creighton also has some real star power, led by big man Ryan Kalkbrenner, who ranks third in the Big East by averaging 18.7 points per game. He suffered a scary foot injury a week ago, but it's not expected to be a major factor going forward.
Steven Ashworth is one of the top second options in the nation, averaging 17.1 points and seven assists per game. That relegates Pop Isaacs to the third spot, where he's averaging 16.3 points per game. Combined, Creighton's top three scorers are averaging 52.1 points per game.
McDermott got this program to just its second Elite Eight two years ago, but a Final Four would be the first for these Bluejays. Creighton has the top-end talent needed to make it there.
Drake Bulldogs
Until a week or so ago, there were only two teams in the country with two or fewer losses on the season. One was the No. 1 ranked team in the country, Auburn. The other was the unranked Drake Bulldogs.
Drake isn't totally running away with the Missouri Valley Conference, as all three of its losses are in league play, but the team is positioning itself for an at-large bid if they fail to take Arch Madness. The team's losses came in consecutive games at Illinois-Chicago and against Murray State, as well as a tight contest against Bradley.
Bennett Stirtz is the kind of player who can make a name for himself in March. That's not to say he's Steph Curry, but he leads the Bulldogs in all sorts of statistical categories, averaging 19 points, six assists, and 2.3 steals per game. Not bad for a player who had never played in Division 1 basketball game before the year.
A valid concern about Drake is how they would handle the upgrade in competition come tourney time. Only one of the team's games have been against Quad 1 opponents at this point. A neutral site win against Vanderbilt and what essentially was a road win at Kansas State are fine, but the Bulldogs will immediately face harsher competition in March.
But this is a program with postseason appearance, even with a new coach. Drake has been to the NCAA Tournament in each of the past two years, losing their First Round games by single figures each time. Third time could be a charm for the Bulldogs.
They did make the Final Four once, back in 1969. It was so long ago, the team finished in third because there was a Third Place Game.
Oregon Ducks
The Oregon Ducks haven't announced themselves as a major threat in the Big Ten, but Saturday's road upset of Wisconsin shows Dana Altman's team has untapped potential.
The Ducks have shown a flair for the dramatic in recent games. Just look at their win probability chart against the Badgers, which plummeted to the depths, only for a Jackson Shelstad three-pointer to pull them into overtime; the Ducks ultimately beat the Badgers by four.
Shelstad is tied with big man Nate Bittle for the team's leading scorer at 13.3 points per game, though Bittle is the superior player. Other key contributors include TJ Bamba and Keeshawn Barthelemy, while All-Name Team Supreme Cook is on the bench.
This is a team with some wins on the resume that have aged like fine wine. The Ducks defeated Texas A&M, San Diego State, and Alabama on neutral courts. It's been tough sledding since, but the win at Wisconsin gets this team back on the right track. Its final three games are against USC and Indiana, then on the road at Washington.
Oregon has played a whopping 15 games against Quad 1 teams so far. It would be safe to assume a team outside of the Top 25 has lost a majority of those, but the Ducks are 9-6 in those games. Altman's team feels underrated.
Altman has been a coach at the Division I level for 35 years, but has only taken one team - the 2016-17 Oregon Ducks - to the Final Four. Is it high time for him to return to that stage?
Baylor Bears
The Baylor Bears didn't get a single vote in the AP poll this week. It doesn't matter. Scott Drew's team will always be a threat come March.
Of these teams, Baylor might have the most pure talent. There are threats across the roster to go off in any game and opponents need to constantly be on guard for a run.
Norchad Omier is a double-double machine, averaging 15.8 points and 10.4 rebounds per game, while VJ Edgecombe is one of the nation's best freshmen, averaging 14.7 points per game. Baylor can use more from the trio of Jeremy Roach, Langston Love and Jayden Nunn, but the talent is there.
Unfortunately, Baylor has some work to do to get themselves into the NCAA Tournament. They followed up an understandable loss to Arizona with a less understandable loss at Colorado, just the Buffaloes' second win in league play this year.
Baylor's underwhelming record can be chalked up to a brutal schedule in a challenging league. The Bears have five Quad 1 victories, but have already played 14 Quad 1 games. Only one of their losses is to a team outside of Quad 1.
Three of their last four games appear very winnable. The big one could be the one that gives them a boost going into the Big 12 Tournament: a home date on national television against the Houston Cougars.
Besides, Drew is not one to count against. He's made at least the Second Round in every NCAA Tournament since 2018. One of those runs resulted in a historic title for the Bears. He'll have his guys ready to go when the time comes.