MBB: 2025 Final Four Predictions (and a Poll!)

Which 3 teams will join Duke in the 2025 Final Four in San Antonio? Please choose 3 options below.

  • Total voters
    55
  • Poll closed .
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Trilly Donovan posted a "chalky" set of Duke, Houston, Alabama, and Connecticut as his Final Four predictions earlier today.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1852018468792483846

The staff of CBK Report also made their picks. I would have included them in the list below if I knew their real names.

cbkreportfinalfour.jpg

I didn't think these posts were worth their own thread until I saw how many others did the same thing. (Any predicted champions below are marked with an asterisk.)

Tobias Bass, The Athletic: Connecticut, Gonzaga, Houston*, Iowa State
Kyle Boone, CBS Sports: Connecticut*, Duke, Illinois, Kansas
Tripp Carrington, Talk of Troy: Connecticut, Duke, Houston, UNC
David Cobb, CBS Sports: Alabama, Connecticut, Houston*, Iowa State
Scott Dochterman, The Athletic: Alabama*, Connecticut, Gonzaga, Iowa State
Jeff Eisenberg, Yahoo Sports: Alabama, Connecticut, Duke, Houston
Brian Hamilton, The Athletic: Arizona, Gonzaga*, Houston, Kansas
Brendan Marks, The Athletic: Alabama, Duke, Iowa State, Kansas*
CJ Moore, The Athletic: Alabama*, Gonzaga, Houston, Kansas
Matt Norlander, CBS Sports: Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Houston*
Jerry Palm, CBS Sports: Alabama, Connecticut*, Duke, Houston
Gary Parrish, CBS Sports: Alabama, Duke, Houston, Kansas*
Brendan Quinn, The Athletic: Connecticut*, Duke, Gonzaga, Houston
Joe Rexrode, The Athletic: Alabama, Baylor, Connecticut, Gonzaga*
Cameron Salerno, CBS Sports: Alabama*, Baylor, Duke, UCLA
Jesse Temple, The Athletic: Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa State, Kansas*
Isaac Trotter, CBS Sports: Alabama, Duke, Gonzaga*, Tennessee
Sam Vecenie, The Athletic: Alabama, Connecticut*, Gonzaga, Houston
Justin Williams, The Athletic: Baylor, Gonzaga*, Kansas, Texas A&M

Then I thought, why not add a poll? So here goes...

In addition to Duke, what three teams will reach the 2025 Final Four in San Antonio? Choose three of the options provided in the poll above. You CAN change your votes until the poll closes in a month. If you select "Other", tell us who you're picking in your reply.

(If you're not predicting Duke to get to the Final Four, tell us the 4 teams that you think will be there instead.)
 
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If I counted correctly from the list of Final Four predictions, 8 out of 10 writers from The Athletic do NOT see Duke reaching the Final Four.

Maybe we're overly optimistic homers, but I'm surprised to see this degree of Duke skepticism from the knowledgeable writers at The Athletic.
 
Phredd3 said:
And none of them see Duke winning it. Interesting.
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Local guy Brendan Marks does have Duke winning it.

Brendan Marks covers Duke and North Carolina basketball for The Athletic. He previously worked at The Charlotte Observer as a Carolina Panthers beat reporter, and his writing has also appeared in Sports Illustrated, The Boston Globe and The Baltimore Sun. He's a native of Raleigh, N.C.
 
Auburn, Iowa State, Baylor. Duke over Baylor in the semi, Duke over Iowa State in the final. 74-64. It's a lock.
 
As a long-time observer of "how these things go," I think the odds would favor Alabama and UConn, because they got there last year and have great coaches. Hope this the year when Coop, Kon, and Jon kick down the door 🚪 to the Final Four.
 
Huhn. I just realized we can see almost a month of results before finalizing our votes. That’s plenty of time to see which conferences are going to look strong in the rankings, which has to affect seeding.
 
Went with Gonzaga out West, Houston in the South, Kansas in the MW along with Duke in the East. I think there will be 4-6 teams that will basically be dominant. Thought about Zona and Baylor but those teams don't defend good enough for me. Auburn is my 5th choice. I think I read since '00 teams make go back to the the FF at a 17% clip. UConn lost a ton and Bama has to prove to me they want/can defend. They have the pieces though.
 
I agree with the love that Houston and Alabama are getting, so those are two of my three. Baylor is my third right now, but I could switch that out for Gonzaga.
 
Here are some more Final Four predictions I've found, including the first three to pick Duke to win it all. (Matt Cox, Carter Elliott, and Greg Waddell are all Big Ten guys, which makes them fairly neutral at picking a national champion.)

Noah Bieniek, College Experience: Auburn*, Duke, Houston, Texas Tech
Jeff Borzello, ESPN: Alabama, Baylor, Duke, Kansas*
Zach Braziller, NY Post: Alabama, Auburn, Baylor*, Xavier
Matt Cox, Three Man Weave: Alabama, Connecticut, Duke*, Houston
Gavin Downard, TWSN: Alabama, Arizona, Gonzaga, Kansas
Carter Elliott, Sleepers Media: Alabama, Baylor, Duke*, Kansas
Justin Golba, Land Grant Holy Land: Alabama, Duke, Kansas, Texas
Jeff Goodman, Field of 68: Alabama, Duke, Kansas, Ole Miss
Robbie Hummel, Field of 68: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Kansas
Connor Lemons, Land Grant Holy Land: Alabama, Baylor, Connecticut, Oregon
Joe Lunardi, ESPN: Auburn, Creighton, Duke, Kansas*
Ryan McIntyre, College Experience: Gonzaga, Houston, Kansas*, St. John's
Ky McKeon, Three Man Weave: Auburn, Duke, Gonzaga, Houston*
Myron Medcalf, ESPN: Alabama*, Duke, Houston, Kansas
Neil Paine, ESPN: Alabama, Duke, Houston*, Iowa State
Jim Root, Three Man Weave: Auburn*, Gonzaga, Houston, Texas Tech
Joshua Sheldon, The Crossover: Alabama*, Florida, Gonzaga, St. John's
Kanaye Tesoro, The Crossover: Alabama*, Baylor, Gonzaga, Kansas
Greg Waddell, Sleepers Media: Arizona, BYU, Duke*, Kansas

dlmzzz said:
Huhn. I just realized we can see almost a month of results before finalizing our votes. That’s plenty of time to see which conferences are going to look strong in the rankings, which has to affect seeding.
Click to expand...

That was intentional. Giving everyone a month gets all the lame "Well, I'd have to see these teams first" excuses out of the way, while the ability to change votes doesn't penalize people who make their picks early.
 
crote said:
Auburn, Iowa State, Baylor. Duke over Baylor in the semi, Duke over Iowa State in the final. 74-64. It's a lock.
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I liked your post, not because I necessarily agree with your final four, wbecause you’ve got a pretty good handle on who’s gonna win it all!
GD! 9f!
 
I picked my three teams to meet Duke in the final four without reading the several posts already up in this thread. Found it interesting that my three, Alabama Kansas Houston, seem to be the majority or plurality choices. Let’s get it on! 2 1/2 hours until it starts! I cannot wait! (OK I can but…)
Go Duke! 9F!
 
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