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NCAA tournament bracket picks

Published

9 months ago

March 18, 2025

Only two No. 1 seeds have lost to a No. 16 seed since the men’s tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985. Both upsets have happened in the last seven years. No. 16 seed UMBC beat No. 1 overall seed Virginia in 2018 in what then stood alone as the biggest seeding upset in tournament history. Then Fairleigh Dickinson upended Zach Edey and Purdue in 2023.Looking deeper, No. 2 seeds lose in the second round to either a No. 7 or 10 seed 1.2 times per tournament. It’s not a bad idea to have at least one No. 2 seed fall short of the Sweet 16.There are six rounds of NCAA play beyond the First Four, and the stakes double with each round in Bracket Mayhem (1, 2, 4, 8, 16 and 32 points). Picking first-round winners will earn you one point, while correctly picking the NCAA champion is worth 32 points — the equivalent of correctly picking each of the first-round games. Losing Final Four and championship game teams in the first round is a good way to knock yourself out of the running early.Brackets are for everyone, and just because you’re cramming doesn’t mean that you don’t have a chance. Armed with a few fundamentals, you too can compete with the person who’s organized your bracket contest and watched college hoops since November.Ten out of 120 No. 13 seeds have posted wins since the field expanded, and there were none last year. And remember, only one team seeded 14-16 has ever won.* NO PURCHASE NECESSARY; void where prohibited. Open only to legal residents of the 50 U.S., D.C. or CA, 18+. Entry period ends prior to official tournament tip-off on 3/20/25 for Men’s Contest and 3/21/25 for Women’s Contest. See Men’s Official Rules and Women’s Official Rules.[Full NCAA tournament bracket revealed | Printable bracket]

The NCAA bracket is easy to fill out. Read on for different strategies. (Grant Thomas/Yahoo Sports)

How the NCAA tournament and bracket scoring works

Upsets in 12-5 matchups are popular picks each year. Those who went heavy on 12 seeds in 2024 were rewarded with a 50% win rate with two No. 12 seed winners (Grand Canyon over Saint Mary’s and James Madison over Wisconsin) in four first-round games.The NCAA men’s tournament bracket has been announced. It’s time to make your picks.[Yahoo Fantasy Bracket Mayhem is back: Enter for a shot to win up to K]If you want to look at early upsets in the women’s bracket, starting with No. 12 seeds is usually the way to go. Since 1994, 33 women’s No. 12 seeds have secured first-round upsets over No. 5 seeds, an average of more than one per year. But there were none in 2024.

Pick upsets, but proceed with caution

Finally, if you’re torn, let the experts be your guide. Analytics guru Ken Pomeroy crunches the advanced data and spits out a ranking system called KenPom for the men’s field. Think of it as a top 25 from the analytics set — and one that extends to the entire 363 NCAA Division-I field.What used to be deemed impossible is now at least feasible in the modern iteration of college basketball with more parity. But it remains an overwhelming long shot.When looking for early upsets, common sense comes into play. Games with teams more closely seeded produce more upsets. The wider the gap, the rarer the upset. The NCAA generally does a good job of seeding teams properly.

More college basketball news

Picking high seeds to lose early isn’t the best idea, but…

In 2022, St. Peter’s beat No. 2 seed Kentucky, then advanced all the way to the Elite Eight, meaning that if you picked the Peacocks, you had a seven-point edge over most of the bracket field that picked them to lose in the first round. St. Peter’s was the lowest seed to ever win three games in NCAA men’s tournament play.In total, 61 No. 11 seeds have recorded men’s first-round upsets, which works out to a roughly 39.1% win rate. No. 10 seeds aren’t far behind, with 60 total first-round wins. No. 12 seeds have produced 55 first-round winners, No. 13 seeds 33 and No. 14 seeds 23.Picking early upsets correctly is key to winning your bracket. Even more important is not losing a team that ends up making a deep run.

The NCAA bracket is easy to fill out. Read on for different strategies. (Grant Thomas/Yahoo Sports)

Whether you’re a die-hard hoops head, a casual or someone who’s never watched a college basketball game, there’s a decent chance you’ve been invited to fill out a bracket. If you’re in one of the latter camps and want to play, don’t be discouraged.

JuJu Watkins leads USC into the NCAA tournament as a No. 1 seed. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

So there’s real upside to picking these upsets if you believe a high seed is vulnerable. And higher seeds are more vulnerable than they’ve ever been before. Just know that this is the riskiest play you can make. It’s the ultimate high-risk, high-reward play that, in all likelihood, will tank your bracket.Per the NCAA, 11-6 upsets are the most common, even more than 10-7s, but just barely. From there, the commonality of upsets corresponds with the gap in seeding from 12-5 and so on all the way to the elusive 16-1 upset. This doesn’t consider 8-9 matchups, which are as close to pick ’ems as it gets. Go with your gut in those games.

Where to look for upsets

JuJu Watkins leads USC into the NCAA tournament as a No. 1 seed. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

March is here.Understanding how the tournament and bracket scoring works is the first step to success. The NCAA tournaments start with fields of 68 teams that were announced Sunday evening. Eight of those teams in each tournament — the last four at-large selections and the lowest-seeded automatic bid winners — will play elimination play-ins called the First Four. For bracket purposes, you don’t have to worry about picking those games.How do you avoid making that mistake? Well, that’s the fun — and the challenge of the bracket. But the first rule is making sure to pick your higher-seed upsets selectively and to know the history of early-round upsets.If you’re entering your brackets into Bracket Mayhem, you’ll have two chances at ,000 — one each for our men’s and women’s contests*. Winner takes all in each bracket, so you’re going to have to beat out a lot of competition. But the price (free) is right.Tournament games start in Round 1, which is split up into 16 games each on Thursday and Friday for the men and Friday and Saturday for the women. Higher seeds will play corresponding lower seeds in the four bracket regions — East, South, Midwest and West — which are split up into 16 teams. The No. 1 seed will play the No. 16 seed; the No. 2 seed will play the No. 15 seed — and so on until the No. 8 and No. 9 seeds face off.Then there’s betting lines, where you can look to BetMGM for first-round point spreads and futures. Keep in mind that point spreads consider which way the public is leaning in addition to expert input.

Advanced analytics and betting lines are your friends

High-seed upsets are even more rare on the women’s side. No. 16 Harvard beat No. 1 seed Stanford in 1998. That remains the lone first-round upset of an NCAA women’s No. 1 seed since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1994. In fact, it’s the only time a team seeded 14-16 has ever recorded a win in the women’s tournament. Per the NCAA, those teams are 1-360 in NCAA tournament play.Randomly picking teams based on colors or mascot preference isn’t an optimal strategy. But if mascot madness makes you happy, by all means. Brackets should be fun. But if you want to go in with a sound strategy to take down your bracket contest, we’ve got some tips to consider. And one of our experts has even already predicted the outcome of each first-round matchup to make it easier on you.Once the eight First Four teams are cut down to four, the true 64-team NCAA fields are set. You can fill out your brackets now, but if you think any of the First Four teams have a chance to make a deep run, it’s best to hold off on that section of your bracket to make sure the teams you’re picking actually advance to the field.

Bracket guidance

[Click for NCAA women’s printable bracket]

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Men’s Track and Field Starts 2026 Campaign With Strong Showing at Springfield College Season Opener

Published

13 minutes ago

December 7, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Springfield, Mass. – December 6, 2025 – The Springfield College men’s track and field team had a strong showing as it hosted the Springfield College Season Opener for the first meet of the season.

Shane Erb (Marion, Iowa) took first place in the mile after finishing with a time of 4:23.30 and was the second place finisher in the 3000-meter run after crossing the finish line at 9:02.42. Erb’s mile time ranks sixth in Division III to start the campaign, while his 3,000-meter time ranks 14th.

Mike Anderson (Cromwell, Conn.) and Isaiah Hannah (Ballston Spa, N.Y.) finished first and second, respectively, in the 60-meter hurdles. Anderson finished with a time of 8.16 to tie his school record he broke just a season ago, while Hannah finished at 8.59. Anderson’s time currently ranks second in Division III this season.

In his debut, Luca Kabel (Merrimack, N.H.) won the 60-meter dash crossing the finish line at 7.04. He also competed in the 200-meter dash where he finished second at 22.58.

Colin Hansen (Ipswich, Mass.) won the 400-meter dash at 50.54 and Seth Twarog (Hubbardston, Mass.) was close behind at 50.70 which was good for a second place finish with both now ranking inside the top-20 nationally to kick off the seaosn. Parker Ruger (Rhinebeck, N.Y.) won the 600-meter run finishing in 1:26.74 while Eli Burt (Topsham, Maine) came in third at 1:29.34 in their first meets for the Pride.

The 4×400-meter relay team of Twarog, Ruger, Hansen, and first-year Caleb March (Hampden, Maine) took the win after crossing the finish line at 3:37.78.

In the field events, Alex McKenney (Ossining, N.Y.) won the pole vault after clearing 4.45-meters (14 feet, 7.25 inches), which currently stands eighth in the country, while Jamil Manu (Manchester, Conn.) claimed second in the high jump after jumping 1.92-meters (6 feet, 3.50 inches).

Martin Nyagilo (Randolph, Mass.) won the shot put with a throw of 15.21-meters (49 feet, 10.75 inches), a mark that ranks sixth in the country early in the season and Peyton Blanchard (Kennebunk, Maine) came in third with a mark of 14.28-meters (47 feet, 2.25 inches). Charles Botelho (Middleboro, Mass.) finished third in the weight throw with mark of 15.01-meters (49.3 feet).

Springfield will await the new year and travel to Tufts on Saturday, January 17 for the Branwen Smith-King Invitational.

Sign up for free today to receive the latest news about your favorite Springfield College Athletics program directly to your email here.

For the latest on Springfield College Athletics, follow the Pride on social media on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Be sure to tune into all Springfield College Athletic events by subscribing to FloSports.

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West Fargo volleyball coach Kelsey Titus resigns after four seasons – InForum

Published

15 minutes ago

December 7, 2025

Your Sports Nation

WEST FARGO — West Fargo High School volleyball coach Kelsey Titus has resigned after four seasons guiding the Packers.

West Fargo activities director Justin Behm confirmed the resignation to The Forum late Friday.

In an email to The Forum Saturday, Titus cited family as the primary reason in her decision to step down.

“The main reason is to be more present with my family,” Titus said. “The decision was extremely difficult as I have absolutely loved my time coaching at West Fargo. (Behm) has been an incredible person to work for and with. I am extremely grateful for his support and guidance.

“The decision came after a lot of prayer. My husband is also a (football) coach, and having both of us coaching in the fall — with a very active 7-year-old — has become challenging. As hard as it is to be done, I know that being more involved and present in our son’s activities is where I am supposed to be. I have peace knowing it’s where the Lord wants me to be.”

10xx22.S.FF.Chwialkowski — West Fargo’s Raina Chwialkowski is recognized by coach Kelsey Titus for her 1,000th dig before play against Valley City at the Packers gym on Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022.

Titus took the reins of the West Fargo program ahead of the 2022 season. Over four seasons, she led the Packers to a 96-48 record that included two state tournament appearances and an East Region tournament championship.

The Packers first advanced to state under Titus during her first season in 2022 where the team placed fifth that season. The 2025 campaign was West Fargo’s strongest with Titus at the helm, finishing 28-8 overall to go with a third-place finish at the state tournament and the East Region tournament title — which ended in

a five-set thriller

over crosstown rival West Fargo Sheyenne.

Titus coached three all-conference and all-state players throughout her tenure. Raina Chwialkowski was a four-time all-conference selection under Titus while Ellee McIntosh was named to the all-conference team three times. Olivia Soine was an all-conference player for Titus in 2022.

Chwialkowski was also an all-state selection four times, McIntosh three times and Soine one time. Chwialkowski was named both East Region and Division AA Senior Athlete of the Year in the sport of volleyball this season. She’ll head to NCAA Division I Maryland next season to continue her career while McIntosh will play for North Dakota.

Titus received Division AA Coach of the Year honors this season upon conclusion of the state tournament. West Fargo

defeated Bismarck in five sets

during this year’s Division AA quarterfinals before

falling to Fargo Davies

in the semis. The Packers proceeded to defeat Bismarck Century in five sets in the third-place match.

“The girls have truly bought in to our culture and have been so much fun to work with,” Titus said. “I truly feel blessed to have gotten the chance to coach such wonderful young women. They mean so much to me and my family. This past season was an incredible one for me to witness on and off the court. I am so thankful for the girls and their trust in me and our coaching staff. These girls are truly special and have brought so much joy into the game of volleyball, to each other and to us coaches.”

Titus previously served as an assistant volleyball coach at the University of Jamestown for seven seasons prior to coming to West Fargo. There, she also served as associate athletic director for three years.

A search for Titus’ successor will begin immediately.

“Again, I can’t thank West Fargo High School and Justin Behm enough for the opportunity and the trust they put in me to run the volleyball program the last four years,” Titus said. “I also want to thank my coaching staff — they have become such a huge part of my life and I’m so thankful they chose to do this with me. I will forever be grateful for my time at West Fargo High School. Go Packers.”

Ryan Spitza joined The Forum in December 2021 as a sports reporter. He grew up in Marquette, Mich., a city of 20,000 on the southern shore of Lake Superior. He majored in multimedia journalism and minored in public relations at Northern Michigan University, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in May 2019. While attending college, Spitza gained real-world experience covering high school and college athletics for both The Mining Journal and The North Wind.

Spitza can be reached at 701-451-5613 or rspitza@forumcomm.com. Follow him on Twitter @ryspitza.

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Haugen Sets Norwegian National Record at Youree Spence Garcia Invitational

Published

29 minutes ago

December 7, 2025

Your Sports Nation

QUEENS, N.Y. – The St. John’s track and field team opened its indoor campaign by hosting the Youree Spence Garcia Invitational on Saturday afternoon at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island. Senior Nora Haugen started her indoor campaign by setting a program, national and facility record in the 600m. Her time of 1:26.91 is the fastest time in the NCAA as of Saturday evening. Haugen was named the Most Outstanding Track Performer of the Meet for her results.

The Red Storm collected six event wins and 10 top-three finishes. In addition, five Johnnies etched their names on indoor top-10 all-time lists.

On the track, Haugen’s program record is the first to fall at Ocean Breeze this season. Chinenye Josephine Onourah won the 400m in a time of 53.13, which sits number two on the indoor all-time list. St. John’s took first through fifth place in the 400m. Freshman Nia-Ruby Forbes-Agyepong kicked off her Red Storm career with a top five finish in the 60m hurdles, stopping the clock in 8.90.

Both the 4x400m relay and the 4x800m relay quartets crossed the line first. The 4x400m squad finished 10 seconds ahead of second place, while the 4x800m group cruised to a 17 second margin of victory.

In the field, senior Jamora Alves started her indoor campaign with a second place showing in the women’s shot put. Her toss of 14.30m (46ft 11in.) is her second-best season opening mark of her career and gives her another top-10 performance in program history. Linn Hertz Saebbo won the long jump on her final attempt, leaping 6.05m (19ft 10.25in). The mark sits third all-time on the indoor list. Freshman Tatiana Camilo also made the long jump final, with a jump of 5.45m (17ft 10.50in) and Nyla Branche placed second in the high jump with a 1.62m (5ft 3.75in) clearance.

Youree Spence is regarded as one of the greatest track and field athletes in St. John’s history. She is an 11-time BIG EAST Champion and holds three top-10 performances across three disciples. The track and field legend and the meet’s namesake was in attendance, along with several other alumni.

A portion of the team is set to compete next Friday, Dec. 12, back at Ocean Breeze in the Wagner Seahawk Shootout.

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NCAA Tournament: Nebraska vs. Kansas State Volleyball Watch Thread

Published

30 minutes ago

December 7, 2025

Your Sports Nation

#1 Nebraska vs. Kansas State

When: Saturday, December 6th, 7:00pm CST

Where: Bob Devaney Sports Center, Lincoln, NE

Both Kansas State and Nebraska won their 1st round matches to create an old Big 12 matchup for Round 2 in Lincoln, NE on Saturday night. Though the Huskers played a little later, they probably have the upper hand tomorrow since they only had to play 3 sets while Kansas State had to battle through 5 tough sets against San Diego earlier on Friday afternoon.

Since the match is less than 24 hours away, you’re only going to get the spark notes version for this Kansas State team and a quick recap of their match against San Diego. Kansas State could be bringing a good amount of fans tomorrow as they are only roughly 2 and half hours from Lincoln.

Kansas State finished the 2025 season going 18-9, 10-8 in conference play, in the Big 12 conference and getting ranked wins against North Carolina, Kansas, Colorado, Baylor, and Iowa State. The Big 12 was one of the most, if not the most, competitive conferences this year putting the most teams in the tournament in 2o25.

The stats get a little rough for K-State if you just look at the record between them and Nebraska. These two teams played their first match against each other in 1975 and the most recent one was in 2023 in the non-conference portion of the season. K-State is 4-81 against the Huskers, all time, with their last win coming in 2011 in the tournament. Nebraska hosted this match.

K-State’s top player, in their match against San Diego, was SR OH Shaylee Myers, who is a Lincoln Southwest graduate. She had 26 kills on 58 swings and hit .328%. She only recorded 7 errors.

RS-JR OH Aniya Clinton was another top Wildcat on Friday night, recording 19 kills in the 5 set match, hitting .304%. She also added 13 digs as well.

MB Jordyn Williams and Setter Ava LeGrand were the top blockers for K-State with Williams blocking 7 balls and LeGrand blocking 6. Brenna Schmidt is the Wildcats’ other middle blocker and she had a pretty good night defensively, but struggled offensively ending in the negatives with 2 kills and 3 errors. Schmidt had 4 assisted blocks and also had 1 of 2 solo blocks. Clinton had the other solo block.

Nebraska will look to continue their hunt for a national championship Saturday night against a Kansas State team that will be hungry to take out the only undefeated team left in D1 volleyball, and the predicted national champion. The match will begin at 7:00pm CST on ESPN+.

#1 Nebraska Cornhuskers (31-0, 20-0 B1G)

Kansas State Wildcats (18-9, 10-8 Big 12)

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Indoor Track and Field’s Mia Hoskins Breaks Weight Throw Record on Opening Weekend

Published

46 minutes ago

December 7, 2025

Your Sports Nation

NEW YORK — The Columbia track & field team began its 2025-26 season this weekend, competing in three meets in the New York City Area. The Lions had a successful start to the year, with many successful performances, which included a new program record.

The weekend began at the Armory Collegiate Distance Carnival, where Columbia dominated in the field events. Tyler Yen and Madison Williams won the long jump events, posting 6.85m and 5.63m, respectively, to lead the pack.

Viktoria Mihaylova picked up a win in the triple jump, posting a 11.97m jump. Rocco Carpinello took second in the men’s triple jump with a mark of 14.58m.

In the distance events, Elia Ton-That had the top finish for the Lions, placing second in the 3000m with a time of 9:42.63.

On Saturday evening, the Lions continued to compete at the Armory in the TCNJ Indoor Open. The highlight of the meet came in the mile run, where Jacob Van Orden (4:08.14) and Maggie Boler (5:02.17) both finished in first place.

Moriah Luetjen took first in the 400m with a time of 57.09. In addition, Collin Moore (1.93m) and Norina Khanzada (1.68m) won the high jump events, Mignonne de Beer (5.72m) won the long jump, and Liam Wright (4.60m) and Lucy Markow (3.62m) won the pole vault.

Elsewhere, Columbia sent its throwers to compete at the Army Crowell Open, where history was made.

Mia Hoskins took second in the weight throw, setting a new program record with a mark of 17.94m.

Marcus Blasucci also placed second in the shot put, with the second best mark in program history at 17.59m.

Parker Kim won the weight throw with a throw of 19.70m.

Full results from the Armory Collegiate Distance Carnival, including all of Columbia’s other top finishers, can be found HERE.

Full results from the TCNJ Indoor Open, including all of Columbia’s other top finishers, can be found HERE.

Full results from the Army Crowell Open, including all of Columbia’s other top finishers, can be found HERE.

ON DECK:

The Lions will be off the rest of December for the holidays, before returning to action in the new year on January 9 in the TCNJ Lions Invite at the Armory.

Stay up to date on all things Columbia track & field by following the Lions on Twitter (@CULionsXCTF), Instagram (@culionsxctf) and on Facebook (@ColumbiaAthletics).

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Nebraska advances to Sweet 16 after sweeping Kansas State

Published

48 minutes ago

December 7, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Nebraska hosted Kansas State in the second round of the NCAA Volleyball Tournament on Saturday.The Huskers got on the board first thanks to Harper Murray.Virginia Adriano forced a Wildcat timeout after a solo block and a kill. Nebraska led 13-7.Check out this incredible play.Nebraska won set 1, 25-17.Kansas State got on the board first, but the Huskers bounced back quickly.The Huskers won set 2, 25-21.The Wildcats got out ahead of the Huskers, but Andi Jackson was able to tie things up at five apiece.Adriano with a kill made it 18-12 Nebraska.With a 25-16 set 3 win, the Husker swept Kansas State to advance to the Sweet 16 for the 41st time in program history.Nebraska will play Kansas in the next round of the tournament. The time and date have yet to be announced.Make sure you can always see the latest news, weather, sports and more from KETV NewsWatch 7 on Google search.NAVIGATE: Home | Weather | Local News | National | Sports | Newscasts on demand |

LINCOLN, Neb. —

Nebraska hosted Kansas State in the second round of the NCAA Volleyball Tournament on Saturday.