Happy New Year! Now that 2024 is officially in the books, it’s time to take our first look at the year that has just begun. Here are my top 10 predictions for 2025….
10. The SEC will break the record with 12 NCAA tournament bids
The Big East had 11 back in 2011. Look for the following to make the tourney: Auburn, Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi State, Texas A&M, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Texas, Oklahoma, Georgia and Arkansas. The conference has 14 teams ranked in the Top 50 of the NET and LSU is closed behind at No. 54. The only team that doesn’t have much of a shot right now is South Carolina.
9. UConn won’t get out of the first weekend of the NCAA tourney
Yes, I know the Huskies have gotten their mojo back after losing all three games out in Maui, but this team isn’t built to make a deep run come March. Dan Hurley has done the unthinkable in this age of the transfer portal and NIL: He’s won back-to-back titles. But it won’t be a three-peat. This UConn roster just isn’t overpowering like the last two. In fact, this team is more likely to be bounced early in the tourney than make a return trip to the Final Four.
8. Duke will make the Final Four
It says here that Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer will lean on an 18-year-old freshman, Cooper Flagg, to reach the Final Four for the first time in the post-Coach K Era. Flagg just turned 18 years old, but the native of Maine is mature beyond his years both on and off the court. The 6-foot-8 forward basically does everything on the court and is the heavy favorite to be the No. 1 overall pick in June’s NBA Draft. Teams led by freshmen haven’t generally gone deep in the NCAA tourney, but Flagg is different.
7. Mark Few will be the next big-time coach to retire due to the changing landscape of college sports
Few is 62, he has turned Gonzaga into a national power on the west coast and has always had as much balance between family and work as just about anyone in the business. Sure, he is still missing a national title, but Few was just nominated for the Hall of Fame and while he is ultra-competitive, he won’t stick around for the money or just to chase that elusive national title. This year’s Gonzaga team is good enough to make another Final Four, but it’s tough to envision the Zags winning it all.
6. Ben McCollum’s tenure at Drake will be short-lived
McCollum was on a bunch of Division I athletic director’s lists when he was winning championships at Division II Northwest Missouri State, but he waited and wound up taking the Drake job last offseason. He took four players with him from his former school and the Bulldogs are one of the nation’s final remaining unbeatens. Expect high-majors to look at him now that he’s proven himself at this level.
5. A player is going to bail out of playing in the NCAA tournament due to NIL
The day is coming where a college player refuses to play in the Big Dance over compensation, either because he wants more money or didn’t get paid what he was promised. There have already been players who have shut it down because they aren’t content with their roles in order to be able to get another season of NIL compensation. But it’s a matter of time before this happens during March Madness.
4. The NCAA will agree to expand the tournament to 76 teams
I’m not an advocate of this, but it’s headed that way and it feels more a matter of when and not if. My personal preference, if the committee opts to go the expansion route, is to have a play-in in which the final 16 teams play for 8 spots. But make it so the final eight at-large teams face the last eight automatic qualifiers and the winners advance into the main bracket. That would add far more intrigue and entertainment to the first two days.
NCAA President Charlie Baker: The Hoops HQ Interview
In an exclusive with HHQ, the NCAA’s head hocho dishes on the House settlement, NIL collectives, the proposed football Superleague and whether the NCAA Tournament should expand3. One of the Pitinos will replace Jim Larranaga at Miami
Rick is in his second season at St. John’s, he is 72 years old and loves Miami. But it’s more likely that he would push for his son, Richard, to get out of New Mexico. The Lobos are remaining in the Mountain West (for now) while San Diego State, Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and Utah State are headed to the new Pac-12. So it’s a good time to leave if Richard can find something elsewhere.
2. Freshmen will run college hoops again in 2025-26
This will be due to a combination of factors. Next season’s freshman class is loaded with long and athletic wing AJ Dybantsa (BYU), Cameron and Cayden Boozer (Duke), combo guard Darryn Peterson (Kansas) and uncommitted and skilled forward Nate Ament leading the way. Also, this season is the final one of the extra COVID year, so the age gap won’t be quite as significant as it has been in the past few years.
1. Auburn will win the national title
When Bruce Pearl took over Auburn in 2014, it was one of the worst high-major programs in the country. Tony Barbee was 49-75 in his tenure and Jeff Lebo was 96-93. Now, Pearl has put together a team primarily with former mid-major players and used development and retention to give him a chance to win the national title. The offense is led by National Player of the Year frontrunner Johni Broome, who is averaging 18.5 points and 11.5 rebounds. But the pieces around Broome fit, the Tigers’ offense is ranked No. 1 in the country and Auburn’s defense ranks just outside of the top 10. Pearl took Auburn to a surprise Final Four, the program’s first, in 2019, but this time the Tigers will win their first-ever national title.
