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2025 March Madness Field Breakdown by Conference: How Many from Each League Made the NCAA Tournament

Nate Cunningham

The Florida Gators celebrate after defeating the Tennessee Volunteers in the 2025 SEC Championship Game at Bridgestone Arena.
The Florida Gators celebrate after defeating the Tennessee Volunteers in the 2025 SEC Championship Game at Bridgestone Arena. / Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

The madness is about to begin. The 2025 men's NCAA tournament begins with the First Four on Tuesday, March 18 and Wednesday, March 19.

Then, on Thursday, March Madness kicks into high gear with the first round.

The NCAA tournament is something unlike anything else in American sports. It brings an expectation of the miraculous. People are glued to the screen to watch David defeat Goliath. And every year, without fail, they get it in some form or another.

It's truly a magical time of year. Or, better yet, it's a truly mad time of year.

Before the games begin, let's take a look and go conference-by-conference to see who's dancing in 2025.

How Many Teams from Each Conference Made the NCAA Tournament?

The SEC set a NCAA record with 14 teams making the NCAA tournament. Six other conferences received multiple bids and are listed below. All other conferences received just one bid: the automatic qualifier.

Conference

Number of Teams

Top Seed

SEC

14

1

Big Ten

8

2

Big 12

7

1

Big East

5

2

ACC

4

1

Mountain West

4

10

West Coast

2

7

How Did the Bubble Shake Out? Who Got Snubbed?

North Carolina making the dance irritated many, especially considered the Tar Heels won just a single Quad 1 game. Of course, UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham is the chair of the selection committee, which won't help the conspiracy theories and developing ire.

The West Virginia Mountaineers are considered the biggest snub. WVU finished the season with six Quad 1 wins (five on the road), six wins against NET top 50 teams and four wins over ranked teams.

Cunningham mentioned the loss of WVU star Tucker DeVries as part of the reason the team didn't make the cut. But even that seems curious considering DeVries was injured way back in December.

The Mountaineers seemed to agree with the average sentiment across the country, releasing about as scathing of a statement as you can without incurring fines.

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Nate Cunningham
NATE CUNNINGHAM

Nathan Cunningham is a writer for Sports Illustrated and Minute Media. Throughout his career, he has written about collegiate sports, NFL Draft, Super Bowl champions, and more. Nathan has also been featured in FanSided and 90Min. Nathan loves colorful uniforms, mascots and fast-break pull-up 3-pointers. He graduated from BYU in 2016 with a degree in journalism.

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