- The March Madness tip times for the first round of the 2025 men’s NCAA tournament are set.
- The tournament begins Tuesday with the first of four First Four games in Dayton, Ohio. The first round gets underway on Thursday with 16 games and then 16 games on Friday. Below are the start times for the First Four games and all 32 first-round games here. All times are Eastern.
Tuesday
- 6:40 p.m.: No. 16 St. Francis vs. No. 16 Alabama State
- 9:10 p.m.: No. 11 North Carolina vs. No. 11 San Diego State
Wednesday
- 6:40 p.m.: No. 16 Mount St. Mary’s vs. No. 16 American
- 9:10 p.m.: No. 11 Xavier vs. No. 11 Texas
THREE (!) Ivy League teams officially make the women’s NCAA Tournament. #3BidIvy
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) March 17, 2025
Bit of a stunner that ND falls to a No. 3 seed, but recent play had to be a factor
— Alexa Philippou (@alexaphilippou) March 17, 2025
- NC State will face No. 15 Vermont.
Home sweet home 🏠
For the fifth time in the last seven NCAA Tournaments, the Pack will host the first two rounds in Raleigh! pic.twitter.com/Em7tzvDLsn
— NC State WBB 🐺🏀 (@PackWomensBball) March 17, 2025
- It’s the most predictable part of Selection Sunday.
- Every year, there are more teams convinced they deserve an NCAA men’s tournament bid than there is room in the 68-team bracket.
- Three years ago, Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams distributed a nine-page manifesto arguing the Aggies were wronged and the selection process needed an overhaul. Last year, the Big East called itself “understandably very disappointed” over the conference’s historically low number of teams selected. This March, the bubble teams passed over in favor of North Carolina had the most reason to be fuming after the unveiling of the bracket Sunday evening.
- Many amateur bracketologists projected the Tar Heels to narrowly miss the field of 68 since they went 1-12 in Quadrant 1 games and beat only one projected NCAA tournament team all year. The committee apparently felt otherwise, awarding one of the final at-large bids to the Tar Heels (22-13) by virtue of their top-40 metrics and strong strength of schedule.
- While North Carolina experienced the relief of hearing its name called, other bubble teams weren’t so lucky. Here are this year’s biggest NCAA tournament snubs.
