March Madness conference performance breakdown: SEC sets men’s Sweet 16 record while mid-majors get wiped
Photo by Grant Halverson/NCAA Photos via Getty Images Major conferences are ruling the 2025 men’s NCAA tournament. With the first weekend of the 2025 NCAA Tournament in the books, it’s time to examine how college basketball’s best conferences performed. Big Ten and Big 12 dominance was the major storyline after the first round. The Round of 32, however, belonged to the SEC. The SEC went 7-1 in second-round matchups, setting the league up for a potentially memorable March filled with deep tournament runs. While the SEC’s dominance dictated the weekend’s play, the Big Ten and Big 12 filled out most of the rest of the Sweet Sixteen’s field. Title favorite Duke is the only team not from the SEC, Big Ten or Big 12 still left in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. This season marks a major change year-over-year for Sweet Sixteen representation after the ACC (4) and Big East (3) combined for seven bids and the eventual national champion (UConn) last season. Here’s a breakdown of how all seven multi-bid leagues performed in the second round. Sweet 16 conference breakdown for 2025 men’s NCAA tournament SEC: 7 (out of 14) Big Ten: 4 (out of 8) Big 12: 4 (out of 7) ACC: 1 (out of 5) SEC The SEC’s depth and overall talent showed in a major way during the weekend. After a sluggish 8-6 start in the first round, SEC teams finished an incredible 7-1 in the second round, with only Texas A&M losing to red-hot Michigan. Ole Miss and Arkansas earning upset wins over top-three seeds was just a bonus for the SEC after the conference’s five top-three seeds all won. The SEC is guaranteed at least one Elite Eight team thanks to next round’s Tennessee and Kentucky battle in the Midwest Region. Auburn, Florida and Alabama are also all favorites in their respective Sweet Sixteen matchups. Maybe the SEC wasn’t as deep as once believed after the 8-6 first round. But the second round showcased an unmatched level of top-tier talent in the SEC this season that is translating to postseason success. The SEC has a chance to make major noise in the 2025 NCAA Tournament after half of its 14 bids reached the second weekend. How many SEC teams reach the Final Four will be a major storyline for the second weekend. 2025: 14 bids, 15-7 record 2024: eight bids, 8-8 record 2023: eight bids, 9-8 record RESULTS No. 1 Auburn defeated No. 9 Creighton 82-70 No. 1 Florida defeated No. 8 UConn 77-75 No. 2 Alabama defeated No. 7 Saint Mary’s 80-66 No. 2 Tennessee defeated No. 7 UCLA 67-58 No. 3 Kentucky defeated No. 6 Illinois 84-75 No. 4 Texas A&M lost to No. 5 Michigan 91-79 No. 6 Ole Miss defeated No. 3 Iowa State 91-78 No. 10 Arkansas defeated No. 2 St. John’s 75-66 ALREADY ELIMINATED No. 6 Missouri, No. 8 Mississippi State, No. 9 Oklahoma, No. 9 Georgia, No. 10 Vanderbilt, No. 11 Texas Big Ten After an unbeaten first round, the Big Ten finished 4-4 in the second round to get half of its NCAA Tournament bids through to the second weekend. Michigan State headlines the Big Ten’s remaining teams as a No. 2 seed. Purdue, Maryland and Michigan also advanced. The Big Ten doubled its second weekend membership from two to four this season. Purdue also made the title game and Illinois was an Elite Eight team before bowing out. The Big Ten offers solid numbers representing the 2025 Sweet Sixteen but the league doesn’t have a lot of title hopes to break the 25-year national title drought. 2025: eight bids, 12-4 record 2024: six bids, 10-6 record 2023: eight bids, 6-8 record RESULTS No. 2 Michigan State defeated No. 10 New Mexico 71-63 No. 3 Wisconsin lost to No. 6 BYU 91-89 No. 4 Purdue defeated No. 12 McNeese 76-62 No. 4 Maryland defeated No. 12 Colorado State 72-71 No. 5 Michigan defeated No. 4 Texas A&M 91-79 No. 5 Oregon lost to No. 4 Arizona 87-83 No. 6 Illinois lost to No. 3 Kentucky 84-75 No. 7 UCLA lost to No. 2 Tennessee 67-58 Big 12 The Big 12 had a successful first weekend seeing four of its seven entrants reach the Sweet Sixteen. Considering the Big 12 had eight teams enter the 2024 NCAA Tournament with only two Sweet Sixteen teams and this season is a major upgrade. Houston and Texas Tech are top-three seeds left in the field while Arizona and BYU are talented teams who can still do damage against top seeds. A year ago, the Big 12 lost both of its Sweet Sixteen teams and didn’t have a deep NCAA Tournament run. Now, the league is positioned for potential extended runs from multiple teams. 2025: seven bids, 10-3 record 2024: eight bids, 7-8 record 2023: seven bids, 9-7 record RESULTS No. 1 Houston defeated No. 8 Gonzaga 81-76 No. 3 Texas Tech defeated No. 11 Drake 77-64 No. 3 Iowa State lost to No. 6 Ole Miss 91-78 No. 4 Arizona defeated No. 5 Oregon 87-83 No. 6 BYU defeated No. 3 Wisconsin 81-89 No. 9 Baylor lost to No. 1 Duke 89-66 ALREADY ELIMINATED No. 7 Kansas Big East A disappointing NCAA Tournament for the Big East ends by going 0-3 in the second round. It was a tough task for another Big East national championship this seas
Major conferences are ruling the 2025 men’s NCAA tournament.
With the first weekend of the 2025 NCAA Tournament in the books, it’s time to examine how college basketball’s best conferences performed.
Big Ten and Big 12 dominance was the major storyline after the first round. The Round of 32, however, belonged to the SEC. The SEC went 7-1 in second-round matchups, setting the league up for a potentially memorable March filled with deep tournament runs.
While the SEC’s dominance dictated the weekend’s play, the Big Ten and Big 12 filled out most of the rest of the Sweet Sixteen’s field. Title favorite Duke is the only team not from the SEC, Big Ten or Big 12 still left in the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
This season marks a major change year-over-year for Sweet Sixteen representation after the ACC (4) and Big East (3) combined for seven bids and the eventual national champion (UConn) last season.
Here’s a breakdown of how all seven multi-bid leagues performed in the second round.
Sweet 16 conference breakdown for 2025 men’s NCAA tournament
SEC: 7 (out of 14)
Big Ten: 4 (out of 8)
Big 12: 4 (out of 7)
ACC: 1 (out of 5)
SEC
The SEC’s depth and overall talent showed in a major way during the weekend. After a sluggish 8-6 start in the first round, SEC teams finished an incredible 7-1 in the second round, with only Texas A&M losing to red-hot Michigan.
Ole Miss and Arkansas earning upset wins over top-three seeds was just a bonus for the SEC after the conference’s five top-three seeds all won.
The SEC is guaranteed at least one Elite Eight team thanks to next round’s Tennessee and Kentucky battle in the Midwest Region.
Auburn, Florida and Alabama are also all favorites in their respective Sweet Sixteen matchups. Maybe the SEC wasn’t as deep as once believed after the 8-6 first round. But the second round showcased an unmatched level of top-tier talent in the SEC this season that is translating to postseason success.
The SEC has a chance to make major noise in the 2025 NCAA Tournament after half of its 14 bids reached the second weekend. How many SEC teams reach the Final Four will be a major storyline for the second weekend.
2025: 14 bids, 15-7 record
2024: eight bids, 8-8 record
2023: eight bids, 9-8 record
RESULTS
No. 1 Auburn defeated No. 9 Creighton 82-70
No. 1 Florida defeated No. 8 UConn 77-75
No. 2 Alabama defeated No. 7 Saint Mary’s 80-66
No. 2 Tennessee defeated No. 7 UCLA 67-58
No. 3 Kentucky defeated No. 6 Illinois 84-75
No. 4 Texas A&M lost to No. 5 Michigan 91-79
No. 6 Ole Miss defeated No. 3 Iowa State 91-78
No. 10 Arkansas defeated No. 2 St. John’s 75-66
ALREADY ELIMINATED
No. 6 Missouri, No. 8 Mississippi State, No. 9 Oklahoma, No. 9 Georgia, No. 10 Vanderbilt, No. 11 Texas
Big Ten
After an unbeaten first round, the Big Ten finished 4-4 in the second round to get half of its NCAA Tournament bids through to the second weekend.
Michigan State headlines the Big Ten’s remaining teams as a No. 2 seed. Purdue, Maryland and Michigan also advanced. The Big Ten doubled its second weekend membership from two to four this season. Purdue also made the title game and Illinois was an Elite Eight team before bowing out.
The Big Ten offers solid numbers representing the 2025 Sweet Sixteen but the league doesn’t have a lot of title hopes to break the 25-year national title drought.
2025: eight bids, 12-4 record
2024: six bids, 10-6 record
2023: eight bids, 6-8 record
RESULTS
No. 2 Michigan State defeated No. 10 New Mexico 71-63
No. 3 Wisconsin lost to No. 6 BYU 91-89
No. 4 Purdue defeated No. 12 McNeese 76-62
No. 4 Maryland defeated No. 12 Colorado State 72-71
No. 5 Michigan defeated No. 4 Texas A&M 91-79
No. 5 Oregon lost to No. 4 Arizona 87-83
No. 6 Illinois lost to No. 3 Kentucky 84-75
No. 7 UCLA lost to No. 2 Tennessee 67-58
Big 12
The Big 12 had a successful first weekend seeing four of its seven entrants reach the Sweet Sixteen. Considering the Big 12 had eight teams enter the 2024 NCAA Tournament with only two Sweet Sixteen teams and this season is a major upgrade.
Houston and Texas Tech are top-three seeds left in the field while Arizona and BYU are talented teams who can still do damage against top seeds.
A year ago, the Big 12 lost both of its Sweet Sixteen teams and didn’t have a deep NCAA Tournament run. Now, the league is positioned for potential extended runs from multiple teams.
2025: seven bids, 10-3 record
2024: eight bids, 7-8 record
2023: seven bids, 9-7 record
RESULTS
No. 1 Houston defeated No. 8 Gonzaga 81-76
No. 3 Texas Tech defeated No. 11 Drake 77-64
No. 3 Iowa State lost to No. 6 Ole Miss 91-78
No. 4 Arizona defeated No. 5 Oregon 87-83
No. 6 BYU defeated No. 3 Wisconsin 81-89
No. 9 Baylor lost to No. 1 Duke 89-66
ALREADY ELIMINATED
No. 7 Kansas
Big East
A disappointing NCAA Tournament for the Big East ends by going 0-3 in the second round. It was a tough task for another Big East national championship this season following back-to-back UConn titles. But after three Sweet Sixteen teams just a season ago, getting left out completely is a massive disappointment.
St. John’s coming out flat and losing to 10-seed Arkansas was by far the league’s most disappointing result.
Although the Big East improved on its overall bid total from three to five, missing the second weekend stings.
The Big East sent at least one team to the Sweet Sixteen each of the last four NCAA Tournaments. Finishing with only four NCAA Tournament wins in 2024, the league will look to bounce back next season.
2025: five bids, 4-5 record
2024: three bids, 10-2 record
2023: five bids, 12-4 record
RESULTS
No. 2 St. John’s lost to No. 10 Arkansas 75-66
No. 8 UConn lost to No. 1 Florida 77-75
No. 9 Creighton lost to No. 1 Auburn 82-70
ALREADY ELIMINATED
No. 7 Marquette, No. 11 Xavier
ACC
Duke kept the ACC alive in the NCAA Tournament with its second-round win over Baylor. Making the Sweet Sixteen for the third time in four years, the Blue Devils are cruising so far as a No. 1 seed.
But this is still a poor showing from the ACC. In 2024, the league had four Sweet Sixteen teams out of five bids to lead the second-weekend charge among all conferences.
Now it’s all up to Duke to keep the ACC’s hopes alive.
2025: four bids, 3-3 record
2024: five bids, 12-5 record
2023: five bids, 7-5 record
RESULTS
No. 1 Duke defeated No. 9 Baylor 89-66
ALREADY ELIMINATED
No. 5 Clemson, No. 8 Louisville, No. 11 North Carolina
Mountain West
The Mountain West is out of the 2025 NCAA Tournament following two respectable losses to Big Ten teams. Colorado State lost on a heartbreaking buzzer-beater to Maryland while New Mexico put up a solid battle against Michigan State before falling in the second half.
San Diego State’s run to the championship game and Sweet Sixteen over the last two seasons gave the Mountain West national credibility. Although the league won’t send one of its four NCAA Tournament teams into the second weekend, the Mountain West is still consistently sending multiple at-large teams into the NCAA Tournament over the last few years.
2025: four bids, 2-4 record
2024: six bids, 4-6 record
2023: four bids, 5-4 record
RESULTS
No. 10 New Mexico lost to No. 2 Michigan State 71-63
No. 12 Colorado State lost to No. 6 Maryland 72-71
ALREADY ELIMINATED
No. 10 Utah State, No. 11 San Diego State
West Coast Conference
For the first time since 2014, the WCC will be without a team in the Sweet Sixteen after the league went 0-2 in the second round.
Gonzaga’s incredible nine-tournament Sweet Sixteen streak finally snapped with its close loss to No. 1 seed Houston. The Bulldogs remarkable consistency includes 13 trips to the second weekend since 2000, unmatchable postseason consistency from a program coming from a non-power conference.
Saint Mary’s also fell to No. 2 seed Alabama. With three Round of 32 appearances in the last four years, the Gaels have a lot to build on. The next step is going to the second weekend for the first time since 2010.
2025: two bids, 2-2 record
2024: two bids, 2-2 record
2023: two bids, 4-2 record
RESULTS
No. 7 Saint Mary’s lost to No. 2 Alabama 80-66
No. 8 Gonzaga lost to No. 1 Houston 81-76
