Who is predicted to win March Madness 2025: Discover the top teams and possible upsets
The NCAA men’s basketball tournament gets underway this week with the UConn Huskies in the hunt for a historic three-peat championship.
Picking a winner at March Madness is a notoriously difficult task. With 68 teams in contention for a national championship the field is wide and a single slip-up could prove decisive in the single-game elimination format.
The UConn Huskies come into this year’s tournament as the reigning NCAA champions, looking to record a historic three-peat title. The Duke Blue Devils wrapped up No. 1 seed in the ACC on Saturday night and will soon have superstar Cooper Flagg back on the court.
However neither of those two storied teams were favored by Perplexity AI, an artificial intelligence chatbot that was tasked with predicting the NCAA champions for 2025. After the March Madness tournament bracket was confirmed on Sunday evening The Sporting News revealed the AI program’s picks for glory.
AI predicts March Madness shocks
With 68 teams involved the AI was tasked with selecting winners from all of the first round games, through to the Elite Eight matchups. At the Elite Eight stage, Michigan State are tipped to beat Auburn; Alabama are expected to overcome Duke; Houston are predicted to beat Kentucky; and Florida can close out the Final Four with a win against St. Johns.
Those predictions will see Michigan State take on Florida and Alabama face Houston for a spot in the national championship game. In both those Final Four games the lower seed - Michigan and Alabama - are tipped to advance at the expense of their No. 1 seed opponents.
The Perplexity system is calling an Alabama - Michigan State national championship game, with Alabama tipped to come out on top. The AI chatbot explained: “While Michigan State has had a strong season under Tom Izzo, Alabama’s recent form and head-to-head success against top opponents suggest they have the potential to outperform the Spartans in a tournament setting.”
In terms of shocks, Perplexity has its eyes on UC San Diego, the No. 12 seed in the South, as potential giant killers. The chatbot has them beating No. 1 Michigan and No. 4 Texas A&M in the first two rounds, before losing to top seed Auburn at the Sweet 16 stage.
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