NCAA Men’s Basketball March to the Madness 2025: Schedule, storylines, matchups
With the NFL season over, the sports world now moves to basketball. While the NBA still has multiple months before they crown a champion, college basketball is one month away from March Madness, the greatest tournament in sports. 68 teams will play in the NCAA Tournament, which starts on March 18. Fans will get a small taste of tournament action when teams conduct their conference tournaments at the beginning of the month.
The 2024-2025 season does not have a clear favorite to cut down the nets. Last season, UConn dominated the competition on their way to a sixth national title. In 2025, Auburn, Alabama, and Duke have consistently stayed near the top of the polls, but all three teams have their flaws. These next few weeks in February will go a long way in determining seeding on Selection Sunday.
Before conference tournaments begin, check out our March to the Madness preview, which highlights the top storylines and games for the rest of February.
NCAA Men’s Basketball: Storylines to follow leading into March Madness
After dominating football for the last 15 years, the SEC is now the top conference in college basketball. Nine SEC teams are in Week 15’s AP Top 25 Men’s College Basketball Poll, including five in the top 10. The top two spots belong to Auburn and Alabama, who will make history on February 15 when they become the first SEC teams ranked No. 1 and No. 2 to face each other. Bruce Pearl and Auburn are looking to return to the Final Four for the first time since 2019, while Nate Oats and Alabama are attempting to return to the Final Four for the second consecutive season.
Florida, Tennessee, and Texas A&M are the other SEC schools in the top 10 for Week 15. The Gators are a team that has big wins over Auburn and Tennessee. After a first-round exit in 2024, Todd Golden’s Gators can make some noise in this year’s tournament behind a trio of guards — Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin, and Will Richard.
Before losing to Clemson on February 8, the Duke Blue Devils had won 16 straight games. Duke is led by sensational freshman Cooper Flagg, who leads the Blue Devils in points (19.5), rebounds (7.7), and assists (4.0). Barring an epic collapse or injury, Flagg should become the first freshman since 2019’s Zion Williamson to win National Player of the Year.
🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯💀🙆♂️🙆♂️🙆♂️🙆♂️🙆♂️🙆♂️🙆♂️🙆♂️🙆♂️🙆♂️🙆♂️🙆♂️🙆♂️🙆♂️🙆♂️🙆♂️🙆♂️🙆♂️🙆♂️🙆♂️🙆♂️🙆♂️🙆♂️🙆♂️ @Cooper_Flagg pic.twitter.com/K0cqvzuWtY
— Duke Men’s Basketball (@DukeMBB) January 8, 2025
In the Big 12, five teams — including Houston, Arizona, Iowa State, Texas Tech, and Kansas — are jockeying for position to win the conference. Houston sits atop the conference for now, but Arizona is knocking on the door, especially after their season came alive thanks to a miraculous half-court shot by Caleb Love. Houston and Arizona play on February 15 for first place in the Big 12.
The Big Ten is still Purdue’s conference to lose thanks to its tandem of Trey Kaufman-Renn and Braden Smith. Michigan State has another scrappy bunch under coach Tom Izzo. Thanks to the addition of freshman Jace Richardson, the Spartans could have aspirations higher than a Sweet 16 appearance. Elsewhere, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Maryland could play spoiler and win next month’s conference tournament.
The surprise team of 2025 is easily St. Johns. The Red Storm entered the top 10 in the AP Poll for the first time since the 1999-2000 season. Rick Pitino’s squad went to UConn on February 7 and defeated the defending national champions on their home court. The Red Storm and Huskies will rematch at Madison Square Garden on February 23.
NCAA Men’s Basketball Schedule: Games to watch
Auburn vs. Alabama start time, channel, and live stream
- Date: February 15, 2025
- Start Time: 4 p.m. ET
- Channel: ESPN
- Stream: Sling TV
Duke vs. Virginia start time, channel, and live stream
- Date: February 17, 2025
- Start Time: 8 p.m. ET
- Channel: ESPN
- Stream: Sling TV
Purdue vs. Michigan St start time, channel, and live stream
- Date: February 18, 2025
- Start Time: 7 p.m. ET
- Stream: Peacock
Michigan St vs. Michigan start time, channel, and live stream
- Date: February 21, 2025
- Start Time: 8 p.m. ET
- Channel: Fox
- Stream: Sling TV
Tennessee vs. Texas A&M start time, channel, and live stream
- Date: February 22, 2025
- Start Time: 12 p.m. ET
- Channel and Stream: TBD
Oregon vs. Wisconsin start time, channel, and live stream
- Date: February 22, 2025
- Start Time: 12 p.m. ET
- Channel: Fox
- Stream: Sling TV
Iowa St. vs. Houston start time, channel, and live stream
- Date: February 22, 2025
- Start Time: 8 p.m. ET
- Channel: ESPN
- Stream: Sling TV
Kentucky vs. Alabama start time, channel, and live stream
- Date: February 22, 2025
- Start Time: 6 p.m. ET
- Channel: ESPN
- Stream: Sling TV
Duke vs. Illinois start time, channel, and live stream
- Date: February 22, 2025
- Start Time: 8 p.m. ET
- Channel: Fox
- Stream: Sling TV
UConn v. St. John’s start time, channel, and live stream
- Date: February 23, 2025
- Start Time: 12 p.m. ET
- Channel: Fox
- Stream: Sling TV
Houston vs. Texas Tech start time, channel, and live stream
- Date: February 24, 2025
- Start Time: 9 p.m. ET
- Channel: ESPN
- Stream: Sling TV
Mississippi St. vs. Alabama start time, channel, and live stream
- Date: February 25, 2025
- Start Time: 9 p.m. ET
- Channel and Stream: TBD
Vanderbilt vs. Texas A&M start time, channel, and live stream
- Date: February 26, 2025
- Start Time: 7 p.m. ET
- Channel: SEC Network
- Stream: Sling TV
Watching college basketball with Sling TV
Most of the channels listed above can be watched with a cable TV subscription. However, many consumers are electing to cut the cord and sign up for a streaming TV service. With a cheaper cost and no cable box required, why wouldn’t anyone explore these streaming options? One of the ideal services that includes college basketball coverage is Sling TV. With Sling TV, users can watch sports, news, and live television for a fraction of the cost of cable.
Sling TV offers two plans: Orange at $46 per month and Blue at $51 per month. Sling is offering a 50% discount for the first month. The difference in price affects the number of channels, as Orange features 35 while Blue has 46. Orange features ESPN, a staple in every sports fan’s household. However, Orange does not include local broadcasts to ABC, Fox, and NBC. The best Sling option is probably to combine Orange and Blue for $66 per month. Consumers can also purchase Sports Extra, which adds popular channels like Big Ten Network, NBA TV, and NFL RedZone.
