The Elite Eight in the 2025 NCAA men’s basketball tournament is officially set, and it will feature another appearance from Michigan State’s Tom Izzo and the possibility of four SEC teams advancing to the Final Four.
Here are some of the winners and losers from Friday’s games.
Winner: Tom Izzo
The NCAA Tournament is Tom Izzo’s time to shine, and he is doing it again this season.
He has his Michigan State program in the Elite Eight for the 11th time in his 30 years on the bench thanks to their thrilling 73-70 win over No. 6 seed Ole Miss on Friday night.
When he gets to this point, he usually keeps going into the Final Four with an 8-2 Elite Eight record in his career.
If he is going to reach his ninth Final Four he is going to have to get through No. 1 seed Auburn on Sunday.
Loser: Fans of rivalry chaos
When Michigan State advanced, it created the opportunity for what would have been an epic Elite Eight showdown between Michigan and Michigan State.
But the No. 5 seed Wolverines were unable to hold up their end of the bargain, falling 78-65 to Auburn.
Winner: The chalk
If you like upsets, this tournament has not been for you. And that continued into the Sweet 16 with all four No. 1 seeds (Auburn, Duke, Florida and Houston) Elite Eight and three No. 2 seeds.
The lowest-seeded team in this year’s Elite Eight is No. 3 seed Texas Tech.
Is that the result of the current college sports landscape with NIL and the transfer portal?
Is it a one-off fluke?
Whatever the case may be, it will be fascinating to watch unfold in future seasons, and it took a lot of the unpredictability out of this year’s tournament.
Loser: Purdue still not able to get over the hump
Purdue has turned into an outstanding program during Matt Painter’s tenure and has been one of the best teams in the country over the past four seasons. They have been a No. 1 seed in two of the past three years, they played in the national championship game a year ago, and they moved into the Sweet 16 this season. But the one thing Painter and the Boilermakers have yet to accomplish is a national title to help validate all of their regular season success. They put up a huge fight against Houston on Friday, but they fell just short. Again. In absolutely devastating fashion.
