March 17 (UPI) -- Duke, Auburn and Florida are among the expected top contenders in the 2025 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, which includes a record 14 teams from the Southeastern Conference.
The annual March Madness competition will begin with the First Four matchup between No. 16 seeds St. Francis and Alabama State at 6:40 p.m. EDT Tuesday in Dayton, Ohio. Games will continue through the April 7 title game in San Antonio.
"I've been in this tournament enough [to know], at least from our view or perspective, a good or bad draw," Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer said on ESPN's "Selection Sunday" broadcast.
"You just have to take it one game at a time. But I could not be more excited for this group and what they've earned and the position we're in."
The 67 postseason matchups -- including four First Four competitions -- will air on truTV, CBS and TNT. A full schedule, including game times and channels for the First Four and opening round, is listed below.
Freshman phenom Cooper Flagg -- the projected No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft -- and the Duke Blue Devils (31-3) are the outright favorites to win the championship.
They earned one of the four No. 1 seeds and will start their run Friday against American (22-12) or Mount St. Mary's (22-12), two No. 16 seeds who will meet in a First Four game at 6:40 p.m. Wednesday in Dayton.
The Auburn Tigers (28-5), who earned the No. 1 overall seed, will take on Alabama State (19-15) or Saint Francis (16-17) on Thursday in Lexington, Ky.
"For us, we sort of feel like it makes us the regular-season national champion, but it is a tournament sport," Tigers coach Bruce Pearl told reporters, when asked about the top seed.
"We are six wins away from winning our first national championship."
The top-seeded Florida Gators (30-4) will start their run Friday against No. 16 Norfolk State (24-10). The Houston Cougars (30-4), the other top seed, will face Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (22-11) in their opener Thursday in Wichita, Kan.
The No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide join the Blue Devils, Gators, Tigers and Cougars as Top 5 favorites to win the title. The No. 2 Tennessee Volunteers, No. 3 Texas Tech Red Raiders, No. 3 Iowa State Cyclones, No. 2 Michigan State Spartans and No. 2 St. John's Red Storm are among other expected contenders.
The No. 8 UConn Huskies (23-10), who won the last two titles, are not among among the Top 10 favorites for the March Madness crown.
Just two of the SEC's 16 teams -- LSU and South Carolina -- failed to make the NCAA tournament cut, setting a record for the most teams from one conference to participate. The Big East, which sent 11 teams to the tournament in 2011, held the previous record.
No. 9 Baylor's V.J. Edgecombe, No. 11 Texas' Tre Johnson, No. 4 Maryland's Derik Queen, Duke's Khaman Maluach and Kon Knueppel, Michigan State's Jase Richardson and No. 6 Illinois' Kasparas Jakucionis are among top projected NBA Draft picks to watch.
No. 5 Memphis' P.J. Haggerty, who ranks third in the nation with 21.8 points per game, is the top individual scorer. No. 10 New Mexico's Donovan Dent (20.6), No. 4 Purdue's Trey Kaufman-Renn (20.2) and No. 14 Lipscomb's Jacob Ognacevic (20.1) join Texas' Johnson (19.8) and Dukes' Flagg (18.9) among the other prolific bucket-getters set to compete.
No. 8 Gonzaga's Ryan Nembhard, who averaged a national-best 9.8 assists per game so far this season, will attempt to guide the Bulldogs into contention. Purdue's Braden Smith (8.7), Tennessee's Zakai Zeigler (7.3) and No. 9 Creighton's Steven Ashworth (6.8) are among the other top assist men in the tournament.
New Mexico's Nelly Joseph (11.2), Baylor's Norchad Omier (10.9) and Auburn's Johni Broome (10.6) are among the top rebounders.
A total of 32 teams will advance to the second round on Saturday and Sunday. Sweet 16 games be March 27 and 28. The Elite Eight will be March 29 and 30. Final Four games will beApril 5 in San Antonio. The Final Four and finale will air on CBS.
NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
All times EDT
First Four
Tuesday
No. 16 St. Francis vs. No. 16 Alabama State at 6:40 p.m. on truTV
No. 11 North Carolina vs. No. 11 San Diego State at 9:10 p.m. on truTV
Wednesday
No. 16 Mount St. Mary's vs. No. 16 American at 6:40 p.m. on truTV
No. 11 Xavier vs. No. 11 Texas at 9:10 p.m. on truTV
First Round
Thursday
No. 9 Creighton vs. No. 8 Louisville at 12:15 p.m. on CBS
No. 13 High Point vs. No. 4 Purdue at 12:40 p.m. on truTV
No. 14 Montana vs. No. 3 Wisconsin at 1:30 p.m. on TNT
No. 16 SIU Edwardsville vs. No. 1 Houston at 2 p.m. on TBS
No. 16 St. Francis or No. 16 Alabama State vs. No. 1 Auburn at 2:50 p.m. on CBS
No. 12 McNeese vs. No. 5 Clemson at 3:15 p.m. on truTV
No. 11 VCU vs. No. 6 BYU at 4:05 p.m. on TNT
No. 9 Georgia vs. No. 8 Gonzaga at 4:35 p.m. on TBS
No. 15 Wofford vs. No. 2 Tennessee at 6:50 p.m. on TNT
No. 10 Arkansas vs. No. 7 Kansas at 7:10 p.m. on CBS
No. 13 Yale at No. 4 Texas A&M at 7:25 p.m. on TBS
No. 11 Drake vs. No. 6 Missouri at 7:35 p.m. on truTV
No. 10 Utah State vs. No. 7 UCLA at 9:25 p.m. on TNT
No. 15 Omaha vs. No. 2 St. John's at 9:45 p.m. on CBS
No. 12 UC San Diego vs. No. 5 Michigan at 10 p.m. on TBS
No. 14 UNC Wilmington vs. No. 3 Texas Tech at 10:10 p.m. on truTV
Friday
No. 9 Baylor vs. No. 8 Mississippi State at 12:15 p.m. on CBS
No. 15 Robert Morris vs. No. 2 Alabama at 12:40 p.m. on truTV
No. 14 Lipscomb vs. No. 3 Iowa State at 1:30 p.m. on TNT
No. 12 Colorado State vs. No. 5 Memphis at 2 p.m. on TBS
No. 16 Mount St. Mary's or No. 16 American vs. No. 1 Duke at 2:50 p.m. on CBS
No. 10 Vanderbilt vs. No. 7 Saint Mary's at 3:15 p.m. on truTV
No. 11 San Diego State or No. 11 North Carolina vs. No. 6 Ole Miss at 4:05 p.m. on TNT
No. 13 Grand Canyon vs. No. 4 Maryland at 4:35 p.m. on TBS
No. 16 Norfolk State vs. No. 1 Florida at 6:50 p.m. on TNT
No. 14 Troy vs. No. 3 Kentucky at 7:10 p.m. on CBS
No. 10 New Mexico vs. No. 7 Marquette at 7:25 p.m. on TBS
No. 13 Akron vs. No. 4 Arizona at 7:35 p.m. on truTV
No. 9 Oklahoma vs. No. 8 UConn at 9:25 p.m. on TNT
No. 11 Texas or No. 11 Xavier vs. No. 6 Illinois at 9:45 p.m. on CBS
No. 15 Bryant vs. No. 2 Michigan State at 10 p.m. on TBS
No. 12 Liberty vs. No. 5 Oregon at 10:10 p.m. on truTV
