Tag: 2025 Bracketology

Joe Lunardi puts Duke and North Carolina on 2-seed line in ESPN’s latest 2025 Bracketology

Duke opened as early favorites for the 2025 national championship, but ESPN’s Joe Lunardi now thinks the Tar Heels are on their same tier.

When ESPN bracket expert Joe Lunardi released his first projections for the 2025 NCAA Tournament, he listed Jon Scheyer’s Blue Devils as the top overall seed.

In almost every successive update since, Duke has dropped a little lower.

After dropping them from the top spot in May, Lunardi slid the Blue Devils down to a No. 2 seed in June. Now, in another update on Tuesday, the ESPN analyst thinks North Carolina might be on Duke’s same footing in the ACC thanks to two big transfers and a few incoming freshmen.

“It might be that North Carolina is the favorite when the ACC conducts its preseason poll in October,” Lunardi wrote.

In his latest full-field projection, both the Blue Devils and the Tar Heels finished on the 2-seed line. Lunardi paired Duke with No. 1 Alabama in the East Region, and UNC paired with No. 1 Kansas (the top overall seed in the tournament) in the Midwest Region.

Four other ACC teams made the bracket in Lunardi’s way-too-early Bracketology; Clemson (No. 8, South), Wake Forest (No. 9, Midwest), and Miami (No. 10, West). Pittsburgh finished in the First Four, battling Maryland for the No. 11 seed in the East.

Wisconsin basketball appears in Joe Lunardi’s 2025 bracketology

Wisconsin basketball appears in Joe Lunardi’s 2025 Bracketology

Wisconsin men’s basketball program appeared in Joe Lunardi’s latest 2025 March Madness men’s field prediction on Thursday. 

Fresh off their round of 64 loss to No. 5 James Madison, Lunardi projected Wisconsin as one of the last four teams to make the tournament.

Wisconsin, alongside Saint Mary’s, Illinois and NC State, is forecast as an “on the bubble team” in the way-too-early estimates for 2025.

Over the past few weeks, UW’s program has experienced a complete shift in personnel. Thus far, the Badgers have landed Missouri transfer guard John Tonje, Central Arkansas guard Camren Hunter and Northern Illinois power forward Xavier Amos via the transfer portal.

With the departures of former Badgers Chucky Hepburn (portal), AJ Storr (portal) and Tyler Wahl (graduation), Greg Gard’s starting lineup will look much different in the fall. 

Wisconsin boasts four Final Four appearances, six Elite Eight bids and 10 Sweet 16 seasons in its storied history. The crew finished 22-14 a season ago, but will welcome three newcomers and freshman Daniel Freitag into the rotation next season.