Coaches predict the NCAA tournament champion, contender flaws, upsets, more - ESPN

A handful of teams represent the cream of the crop in college basketball season.

Duke and Auburn have been in that discussion since Day 1, while Houston's dominant Big 12 run launched the Cougars into that tier before Florida entered the conversation after finishing the regular season and SEC tournament playing better ball than any other team in the country.

It's no surprise the top four teams in every predictive metric earned the four 1-seeds in the 2025 NCAA tournament — and were the only programs picked to win the national championship in our annual poll of 25 coaches and scouts.

Last season's edition featured 20 of 25 votes for the eventual champion UConn Huskies. But this season, we have some real disagreement and debate, with the most-picked team receiving 10 votes to the No. 2 team's eight, and another two splitting the final seven.

The official vote tally:

Duke: 10
Florida: 8
Auburn: 4
Houston: 3

In addition to collecting their votes, we consulted coaches about the potential flaws of the top four teams, the ceilings of St. John's and UConn, whether this is Kelvin Sampson's best Houston team, how injuries could impact Duke, popular Cinderella picks and who NBA scouts will be watching this tournament.

Sign up now to play the #1 Men's bracket game for FREE! $135,000 in prizes.
Play Men's Tournament Challenge

Despite Cooper Flagg's recent injury, Duke is among the two most-picked teams — the Blue Devils have lost only one game since late November and enter the tournament with one of the best efficiency margins in the past 25 years.

«After what they were able to accomplish without Flagg in the ACC tournament, I'm not sure there is a hole here with this team,» one NBA scout told ESPN. «Maybe it's the lack of experience