Bracketology 2025: Auburn jumps to the top of the field in the latest field projection

South Region (Atlanta)

Raleigh

1.) Auburn vs.16.) Norfolk State

8.) Xavier vs. 9.) Wake Forest

Denver

5.) Texas A&M vs. 12.) McNeese State

4.) Houston vs. 13.) Louisiana Tech

Milwaukee

6.) Arizona vs. 11.) Clemson/LSU

3.) Purdue vs. 14.) Furman

Raleigh

7.) Illinois vs. 10.) Mississippi

2.) Duke vs. 15.) Kent State

The Auburn Tigers were in the news for the wrong reasons just a week into the season as they had to abort their original flight to Houston to take on the Cougars due to an in-flight altercation. The Tigers went on to defeat Houston for one of the biggest wins of the season. Since then the Tigers have gone 5-0 including a 3-0 showing in the Maui Invitational to take home the title in a loaded field. The No. 1 seed in the South and top overall seed have been led by the forward duo of Johni Broome and Chaney Johnson, who have put down 30.7 points and grabbed 18.9 rebounds per contest.

Auburn’s South region is loaded with potential pitfalls in the top five seeds. A young but extremely talented Duke team is the No. 2 seed. The new-look Purdue Boilermakers with the dynamic duo of Braden Smith and Trey Kaufman-Renn and a Houston team looking for revenge are the No. 2 and 3 seeds respectively. Sitting at the No. 5 seed is Texas A&M who have won six of their last seven with Wade Taylor IV and Zuric Phelps averaging 30 points per game.

The team to keep an eye on in the South region is the No. 7 seed Illinois. The Illini are 6-1 with their best win over Arkansas and their lone loss came against Alabama. They’re averaging 89 points per game with four players in double figures, three underclassmen, and Will Riley and Kasparas Jakucionis are freshmen.