Bracketology 2025: Kansas and Houston lead the first projected field of the year

Midwest Region (Indianapolis)

Wichita

1.) Kansas vs. 16.) Saint Peter's

8.) Xavier vs. 9.) Mississippi State

Milwaukee

5.) Texas A&M vs. 12.) Bradley

4.) Purdue vs. 13.) Louisiana Tech

Wichita

6.) Mississippi vs. 11.) Dayton

3.) Creighton vs. 14.) Toledo

Cleveland

7.) Rutgers vs. 10.) Miami

2.) Auburn vs. 15.) Oakland

In the Midwest region fans in Indianapolis will see familiar faces if the No. 1 seed makes the second weekend, as Kansas is the No. 1 overall seed. The Jayhawks are built to win the national title. With the best-returning trio in the country, the No. 29th recruiting class, including the No. 3 transfer class in the country, and a gauntlet of a non-conference schedule before playing in the deepest conference in the country, Kansas has all the makings of a No. 1 overall seed.

As the No. 2 seed in the region Auburn could be a big threat to Kansas, but Creighton is sitting there as the No. 3 seed. Despite key losses in Trey Alexander and Baylor Scheierman, the Bluejays are loaded, especially with the portal additions of Jamiya Neal from Arizona State and Pop Isaacs from Texas Tech. Don’t look past Ole Miss aa the No. 6 seed that could make a run. Chris Beard is likely to have his team really gelling in his second year, and they could be dangerous.

The team to watch in this region is No. 5 Texas A&M. The Aggies had a couple of key losses but add Zhuric Phelps, Pharrel Payne, and CJ Wilcher to a returning core headed by Wade Taylor IV and they may finally reach those expectations of a team that can challenge for the SEC title and be a second-weekend team in March. Buzz Williams needs to get them playing consistently on both ends of the floor, especially behind the arc if they are to realize their potential.