Who Will Win the 2025 March Madness South Region Bracket? Favorites, Sleepers & Final Four Picks

Led by Auburn, the No. 1 overall seed in the entire NCAA Tournament, the South region is loaded with legitimate March Madness contenders and a few potential Cinderellas as play begins today. 

Our 2025 March Madness South betting preview is targeting the Tigers to reach the Final Four as part of our March Madness predictions, but it won't be easy with a No. 2 seed like Michigan State potentially standing in its way. While Auburn is the favorite to win the South, there's a plethora of options to pick for your NCAA Tournament bracket.

📊 2025 March Madness South Region odds & betting favorites

Here are the odds for every team to win the NCAA Tournament South region.

👉 Want to bet on the NCAA Tournament? Check out the latest March Madness odds and Final Four odds.

🤖 See our March Madness AI bracket predictions for every game through Monday, April 7

🔮 South Region expert picks

Here are our experts' best predictions for every game in the South Region

• Auburn vs. Alabama State prediction
• Louisville vs. Creighton prediction
• UC San Diego vs. Michigan prediction
• Texas A&M vs. Yale prediction
• Ole Miss vs. North Carolina prediction
• Iowa State vs. Lipscomb prediction
• New Mexico vs. Marquette prediction
• Michigan State vs. Bryant

🏀 March Madness South Region betting preview

The South has the No. 1 team in March Madness (Auburn), the best Big Ten team (Michigan State), an Iowa State team that had been ranked as high as No. 2, a Texas A&M team that beat the Tigers, the Big Ten tournament champion (Michigan), and a Lousiville squad nobody wants to face.

This is a gauntlet, and it doesn't end there with New Mexico and UC San Diego being potential Cinderellas. Auburn isn't going to have an easy time reaching the Final Four.

💪 Who is the favorite to reach the Final Four?

Considered the best team in the country for much of the year, Auburn is the favorite to reach the Final Four from the South. The Tigers struggled down the stretch after playing arguably the toughest schedule in the country and their March Madness odds slipped as a result.

However, Johni Broome is the only player giving Duke's Cooper Flagg any competition in the Wooden Award odds race and Bruce Pearl's team has several capable scorers. The Tigers have been battle-tested all season and will be hard to knock off in the South.

📊 Best odds to win the South Region: +105 via Caesars ($10 to win $10.50)

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👠 Which Cinderella sleeper can make a deep run?

Despite the Wolverines winning the Big Ten tournament, UC San Diego is a popular pick to pull off an upset in the first round. It's an upset I highlighted in my March Madness bracket reactions, and I even have the Tritons upsetting Texas A&M in the second round to reach the Sweet 16.

UC San Diego is one of the highest-ranked mid-majors by KenPom (No. 36), and Eric Olen has a star scorer lead on in Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones and two talented guards in Hayden Gray and Tyler McGhie. New Mexico is another Cinderella to watch with Richard Pitino turning the Lobos into a Mountain West power.

📊 Best odds to win the South Region: +5500 via Caesars ($10 to win $550)

🚨 What is the best first-round upset pick?

Everyone is already all over UC San Diego taking down Michigan, so much so that the Wolverines are only a 2.5-point favorite. Even with Dusty May's squad showing off in the Big Ten tournament and beating Maryland with a last-second bucket in the semifinal, this Michigan team has questionable guard play and leans so heavily on its frontcourt combo of Danny Wolf and Vladislav Goldin. 

Meanwhile, Olen has been building this UC San Diego program for years and after moving up from Division I in 2020, this is the first season the program was eligible for the NCAA Tournament. So, naturally, the Tritons ran through the Big West with ease to the tune of a 30-4 record this year. I'm all over UCSD as a Sweet 16 Cinderella. 

📊 Best odds to win in first round: +125 via bet365 ($10 to win $12.50)

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👀 Which first-round matchup is the most intriguing?

There's a handful of options here with Creighton vs. Louisville, UC San Diego vs. Michigan, and New Mexico vs. Marquette. The Tritons could give us an electric upset over the Wolverines, but I actually think the Lobos taking on the Golden Eagles is poised to be the best overall game.

New Mexico will get attention because it's coached by Rick Pitino's son, but he's turned the Lobos into a defensive juggernaut. Meanwhile, Shaka Smart has one of the best scorers in the country at Marquette in Kam Jones. It's a perfect first-round matchup that I think the Lobos win.

📊 New Mexico best odds to beat Marquette: +145 via bet365 ($10 to win $14.50)

⛹️ Who are the best players in the South Region?

⭐ Johni Broome, F (Auburn) 

Right there with Flagg as the best player in the country, Broome is a shot-blocking machine who owns the paint both as a scorer and rebounder. The fifth-year senior can take over games, and the Tigers might need him to if they hope to reach the championship game.

⭐ Kam Jones, G (Marquette) 

Among the most dynamic scorers in the country, there was a time earlier in the season when Jones was in the Wooden Award conversation with Broome and Flagg - he's No. 8 in EvanMiya's player ratings. If Jones can rise to the occasion, he's got the ability to take Marquette to a Sweet 16.

⭐ Ryan Kalkbrenner, C (Creighton) 

For four seasons, Ryan Kalkbrenner has been one of the best bigs in the country and he's as decorated as any player in college basketball - he's won four Big East Defensive Player of the Year awards. Creighton needs him to put on a show if the Bluejays hope to make it far in March. 

📖 Check out our complete guide to the best players in the NCAA Tournament.

🏆 Who will win the South Region?

Although Auburn dropped its final two regular-season games to Texas A&M and Alabama before falling at the hands of Tennessee in the SEC tournament, the Tigers are the best team from the best conference. The SEC was ridiculous this season with a record-setting 14 teams selected for the NCAA Tournament, and one of the toughest schedules in college basketball history caught up to Auburn at the end of the season.  

I think Auburn is going to come back with a vengeance in March Madness with Pearl's squad having far too much talent to choke. Broome is a two-way star and the Tigers have four other capable scorers, plus a defensive monster in Dylan Cardwell. 

As long as Chad Baker-Mazara doesn't get ejected from any games, Auburn should cruise to the Elite Eight. From there, I think the Tigers' talent should be enough to beat either Iowa State or Michigan State to win the region and make the Final Four.

📊 Best odds to win the South Region: +105 via Caesars ($10 to win $10.50)

💰 March Madness South Region best bets & Final Four expert prediction

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🔮 March Madness South Region bracket predictions & expert picks for every game

Here's my pick for every game in the 2025 March Madness South Region from the first round to the Final Four. You can also check out my comprehensive guide on how to fill out a March Madness bracket.

1️⃣ First round

• No. 1 Auburn over No. 16 Alabama State
• No. 8 Louisville over No. 9 Creighton
• No. 12 UC San Diego over No. 5 Michigan
• No. 4 Texas A&M over No. 13 Yale
• No. 6 Ole Miss over No. 11 North Carolina
• No. 3 Iowa State over No. 14 Lipscomb
• No. 10 New Mexico over No. 7 Marquette
• No. 2 Michigan State over No. 15 Bryant

2️⃣ Second round

• No. 1 Auburn over No. 8 Louisville
• No. 12 UC San Diego over No. 4 Texas A&M
• No. 3 Iowa State over No. 6 Ole Miss
• No. 2 Michigan State over No. 10 New Mexico

🍬 Sweet 16

• No. 1 Auburn over No. 12 UC San Diego
• No. 2 Michigan State over No. 3 Iowa State

🎱 Elite Eight

• No. 1 Auburn over No. 2 Michigan State

👉 More March Madness regional previews: South | East | Midwest | West

🏀 March Madness first-round expert picks

• March Madness upset predictions
• Ranking No. 12 vs. No. 5 seed upsets
• How to predict March Madness upsets
• What are the most common March Madness upsets?
• What are the biggest March Madness upsets of all time?
• What are the best March Madness buzzer-beaters?

🔮 March Madness predictions for every game today

• Louisville vs. Creighton prediction
• Purdue vs. High Point prediction
• Wisconsin vs. Montana prediction
• Houston vs. SIU Edwardsville prediction
• Auburn vs. Alabama State prediction
• Clemson vs. McNeese prediction
• BYU vs. VCU prediction
• Gonzaga vs. Georgia prediction
• Tennessee vs. Wofford prediction
• Kansas vs. Arkansas prediction
• Texas A&M vs. Yale prediction
• Missouri vs. Drake prediction
• UCLA vs. Utah State prediction
• St. John's vs. Omaha prediction
• Michigan vs. UC San Diego prediction
• Texas Tech vs. UNC Wilmington prediction

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