The 2025 NCAA Tournament was chalk-heavy over the first two rounds, and while the lack of major upsets limited the madness, it also set up mouth-watering matchups for the Sweet 16 and beyond. Each of the remaining teams in the March Madness bracket hails from the high-major ranks, and in turn, most of the sport’s biggest stars remain in search of the national championship. From National Player of the Year frontrunners Cooper Flagg and Johni Broome to the best weapons the Big Ten and Big 12 have to offer, there is no shortage of big names in the field.
The road to the national championship runs through many of the top NBA Draft prospects, and the amount of high-end talent that will be on display in each of the ensuing rounds over the next two weeks is a treat to the college basketball world.
Whichever team cuts nets in San Antonio is almost guaranteed to feature one of the nation’s top players considering the amount of Power Five talent left standing.
Broome was a bucket away from logging two double-doubles in the first two rounds. They were not the most efficient performances of Broome’s electric season, but they were strong enough to lead Auburn to consecutive wins by at least 12 points. The do-it-all forward is capable of popping off for an unstoppable performance on any given day, and that might be what it takes for the Tigers to fully return to their overwhelming form and become the second No. 1 overall seed in as many years to win the national championship.
WALTER CLAYTON JR., FLORIDA
There might not be a better guard in the country than Walter Clayton Jr., who paced Florida with exactly 23 points in each of the first two rounds and hit the dagger on Sunday to fend off upset-minded UConn. His icy 3-pointer to separate from the Huskies made him 9-for-17 from downtown in the tournament and extended his run as the Gators’ leading scorer in each of the last six games. His hot streak coincides with Florida reaching another level and looking more and more like a national title frontrunner.