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

East Region (Newark)

Raleigh

1.) Alabama vs. 16.) Wagner/Southern

8.) BYU vs. 9.) St. John's

Denver

5.) Cincinnati vs. 12.) McNeese State

4.) Texas vs. 13.) Samford

Cleveland

6.) Kentucky vs. 11.) Oregon/Pittsburgh

3.) North Carolina vs. 14.) Colgate

Lexington

7.) Illinois vs. 10.) Memphis

2.) Baylor vs.15.) Eastern Kentucky

Coming off the first final four in school history the Alabama Crimson Tide will be looking to take the final step this season. All-American candidate Mark Sears returns to spearhead the effort. Add in some key transfers that fit Nate Oats' style perfectly, and some freshmen that can be key pieces and there's no reason they shouldn't be considered national title contenders and start the year as the No. 1 seed in the East region.

Alabama may be the No. 1 seed in the East, but the region is full of teams that can keep them from back-to-back final fours and play with a football-like toughness. Baylor is the region’s No. 2 seed and North Carolina rounds out the top three. Two other physical teams sit at Nos. 4 and 5 with Texas and Cincinnati respectively, and Mark Pope begins a new era at Kentucky as the No. 6 seed.

Could this be the year that Penny Hardaway and Memphis climb the mountain in the American? If they do it’ll be because of the work Hardaway did rebuilding the roster. He lost 12 players off of last year’s roster and as a result brought in nine transfers and freshman guard Jared Harris. Senior Nicholas Jourdain is the only returner and he will be joined by centers Dain Dainja and Moussa Cisse, point guard PJ Haggerty, and shooting guard Colby Rogers. If Hardaway can get these new pieces to mesh, the Tigers might be the class of the American this year.