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The Big 12 is viewed as a basketball conference, but lacks the March Madness success of its peers. The ACC, SEC, Big Ten and Big East have seen teams win the NCAA Tournament at least 10 times, while the Big 12 has crowned just three champions. March Madness 2025 presents an opportunity for the Big 12 to close the gap, especially with the presences of several 2025 March Madness contenders like No. 1 Houston, 3-seed Iowa State and No. 3 Texas Tech. Plus, there's a conference newcomer, 4-seed Arizona, which has cut down the nets before.

Many metrics indicate that only the SEC was a tougher conference than the Big 12 this season entering the 2025 NCAA Tournament. With the Final Four taking place in the heart of Big 12 territory, San Antonio, how far should you advance the Big 12 schools in your NCAA Tournament bracket picks? Before filling out your NCAA Tournament bracket 2025, be sure to see the 2025 March Madness bracket picks from the proven computer model at SportsLine.

SportsLine's proven projection model has simulated every game in the tournament 10,000 times. It has absolutely crushed its March Madness picks recently, beating over 91% of all CBS Sports brackets in four of the past six tournaments. It was all over UConn's championship run a year ago and nailed 13 teams in the Sweet 16. It also nailed Alabama's Cinderella run to the Final Four as a 4-seed.

It knows how to spot an upset as well. The same model has produced brackets that have nailed 24 first-round upsets by double-digit seeds since its inception in 2016.

There's no reason to rely on luck when there's proven technology to help you dominate your 2025 March Madness picks. Now, with the 2025 NCAA bracket revealed, the model is simulating the matchups and its results are in. You can only see it over at SportsLine.

Top 2025 March Madness bracket picks

One of the Midwest Region picks from the model: No. 2 seed Tennessee, despite losing to Kentucky twice this season, beats the Wildcats in the Sweet 16. This isn't the same Wildcats team that knocked off UT twice in a two-week stretch earlier this season. The Wildcats have gone just 5-4 since, and they've lost second-leading scorer, Jaxson Robinson (wrist), for the season, and he dropped 17 in Kentucky's first win over Tennessee. This also isn't the same Vols team, which went 7-2 after that second UK defeat, with an improved offense a reason for its success.

The Volunteers averaged 68.1 points through their first 12 games versus SEC teams, but they've put up 75.9 points over these last nine games, all which also came versus SEC teams. That offensive uptick shouldn't minimize what the defense has done all year as Tennessee ranks among the top eight in Division I in FG percentage allowed, 3P percentage allowed and opposing points per game. Additionally, Kentucky coach, Mark Pope, is 0-2 all-time in March Madness, so a deep tourney run in his first year with UK may be expecting a bit too much.

Another surprise: No. 10 Utah State upsets No. 7 UCLA in the first round of the Midwest. This game will match one team's strength versus another's as Utah State ranks second in its conference in points per game, while UCLA is second in the Big Ten in points allowed per game. On the other end of the court, USU appears to have the edge with a frenetic defense that ranks among the top 50 in the country in both steals and turnovers forced per game. Meanwhile, the Bruins offense has no discernible strengths, ranking outside the top 100 in 2P percentage, 3P percentage, FT percentage and points per game.

Utah State has an efficient offense that leads the MWC in assist/turnover ratio and is a perfect 18-0 when shooting at least 48% from the field. The Bruins' defense enters March Madness not playing its best as it has allowed 48.6% from the field over its last four games. Add in that just five of the 68 tourney teams average fewer rebounds per game than UCLA, and Utah State can surprise many by taking down one of the sport's Blue Bloods. You can see the model's 2025 NCAA bracket picks here.

How to make 2025 NCAA bracket predictions

Who wins every tournament-defining matchup, and which teams will make surprising runs through the 2025 NCAA Tournament bracket? With the model's track record of calling bracket-busting upsets, you'll want to see which stunners it's calling this year before locking in any 2025 NCAA bracket picks.

So what's the optimal NCAA Tournament 2025 bracket, and which NCAA Tournament Cinderella teams will shock college basketball? Visit SportsLine now to see which region features three must-have upsets, including a play-in team that absolutely stuns its first-round opponent, all from the model that's beaten 91% of bracket players in four of the last six tournaments.