Men’s Bracket Challenge Game users agree that it’s good to be No. 1.
Top seeds Duke (65.3 percent), Florida (50.64), Auburn (42.11) and Houston (39.1) are easily the most-picked teams to advance to the 2025 Final Four by Men’s BCG entries.
Duke’s lofty number is particularly impressive, as defending champion UConn romped its way to a second national title last year and was in the Final Four on “only” 57.98 percent of brackets.
Here are some other highlights:
No. 2 Michigan State — seeded behind only Auburn in the South — is the highest non-No. 1 seed. Coach Tom Izzo’s bunch are in the Final Four on 30.37 percent of brackets.
Kentucky is the most popular No. 3 seed — and comes in behind all No. 2 seeds. The Wildcats are in the national semifinals on 10.83 percent of brackets.
Maryland is easily the favorite No. 4 seed. In the Final Four on 9.98 percent of entries, the Terrapins come in more than double the next-highest No. 2 seed in Arizona (4.25).
Gonzaga is easily the choice outside the general favorites. Though the Bulldogs are seeded No. 8, they are the fourth-most picked team in the Midwest and 12th overall at 7.85.
For a Cinderella, fans are looking at UC San Diego. The No. 12 Tritons are the most popular double-digit seed at 2.16 percent.
South
Team
Percent picked to Final Four
No. 1 Auburn
42.11
No. 2 Michigan State
30.37
No. 3 Iowa State
7.22
No. 5 Michigan
4.73
Auburn might be the No. 1 overall seed, but the Tigers are the third-strongest No. 1 seed in reaching the Final Four, at least for Men’s BCG players. No. 5 seed Michigan is ahead of No. 4 Texas A&M (2.91) to break onto this list.
East
Team
Percent picked to Final Four
No. 1 Duke
65.3
No. 2 Alabama
15.38
No. 3 Wisconsin
5.85
No. 4 Arizona
4.25
The Blue Devils are far ahead from the pack, making the Final Four on almost two-thirds of brackets. With Duke taking up a bulk of the East region picks, that brought Alabama down as the least-picked No. 2 seed to make the Final Four.
Midwest
Team
Percent picked to Final Four
No. 1 Houston
39.1
No. 2 Tennessee
24.69
No. 3 Kentucky
10.83
No. 8 Gonzaga
7.85
This region gave pickers the most headache, at least in terms of coming to a consensus. However, while Houston may be the least-popular No. 1 seed this year, the Cougars’ percentage would have ranked second overall last year. But in 2025, Men’s BCG entries are leaning even more heavily on all the top seeds. Houston was also the top pick in its region last year at 41.1.
No. 8 Gonzaga is the lowest seed to make its region’s top-four list of Final Four percentage.
West
Team
Percent picked to Final Four
No. 1 Florida
50.64
No. 2 St. John’s
17.01
No. 4 Maryland
9.98
No. 3 Texas Tech
8.59
The Gators are the clear winners in the West, reaching the Final Four on more than half of brackets. Maryland did come in just ahead of Texas Tech to keep this from being a 1-2-3-4 region.
However, No. 8 UConn remains a popular choice considering its seeding. The two-time champs are the fifth-highest team in the West at 3.69 percent.
Wayne Staats is a senior interactive producer for NCAA.com. His work has also appeared in the Augusta Chronicle, augusta.com and Land of 10. He is a graduate of Penn State University.
