Welcome to the month of madness!
For college basketball fans across the globe, there is no better month on the calendar than March. It's when conference champions are decided, conference tournaments are settled, and the biggest stars on the biggest teams shine the brightest with one goal in mind: a national championship.
There are plenty of fans who have been plugged into the sport throughout the season, but for those who are just now starting to tune in, let this serve as a guide to what you've missed and what you have to look forward to as the calander flips to March.
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Here are the top 10 storylines in college hoops this season:
Duke freshman sensation Cooper Flagg has lived up to the hype.
Considered by many to be one of, if not the most hyped freshman prospects in college basketball history, Flagg entered the 2024-25 season with an immense amount of pressure to succeed. With only three games remaining in the regular season, the Blue Devils' freshman phenom has lived up to the hype, and then some. The 6-foot-9 Flagg is averaging 19.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.1 blocks per game this season. He is looking to become the first freshman in NCAA men's basketball history to lead his team in all five of those statistical categories and play in the NCAA Tournament.
Rick Pitino delivering again in his second season, this time at St. John's.
All Pitino does in his second year is win. The 72-year-old head coach did it in his second season at Boston University, leading the Terriers to a first-place finish in the ECAC North and an NIT berth. In his second year at Providence College, he took on a modern approach at the time by embracing 3-point shooting and led the Friars to the Final Four. In Year 2 at Kentucky, back in 1991, Pitino won 22 games and led the program to an SEC regular-season crown. Year 2 at Louisville? From 19 wins to 25 victories. At Iona, he more than doubled the program's win total from 12 to 25. And now, in his second season at St. John's, Pitino has led the Red Storm to the program's first outright Big East title in 40 years. St. John's has become not only one of the top storylines throughout New York sports, but throughout all of college basketball.
Michigan State in driver's seat for Big Ten title in Tom Izzo's 30th season.
Not only did Tom Izzo break Bob Knight's Big Ten wins record this season, but he did so while guiding the Spartans to one of their best seasons in recent memory. Heading into a conference showdown against Big Ten foe Wisconsin on Sunday, Michigan State currently sits at 23-5 overall and 14-3 in the Big Ten standings, tied with rival Michigan among the conference leaders. Following Sunday's game against Wisconsin, Izzo's Spartans travel to Iowa and then close out the regular-season with a home matchup against Michigan that could be for the conference title.
UConn's fall from grace.
It was one of the biggest stories in the basketball world this past offseason when Dan Hurley flirted with the idea of leaving UConn to coach LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers but instead opted to return to UConn in hopes of a three-peat. The Huskies entered the season ranked No. 3 in the Preseason AP Top 25 Poll, but it's been far from smooth sledding for the Huskies this season. Hurley's team currently sits at 20-0 overall and 12-6 in Big East play, good for fourth place in the conference standings. FOX Sports bracket forecaster Mike DeCourcy has the Huskies listed as a No. 9 seed in his latest NCAA Tournament projections.
Auburn and Johni Broome are on top of the college hoops world.
Bruce Pearl's team has been the best team in college basketball for the majority of the 2024-25 season. The Tigers' star big man, Johni Broome, has been the best player in the nation. It appears to be a two-man race between Broome and Flagg for national player of the year honors, with Broome currently listed as the betting favorite at -260, while Flagg is listed at +200 to take home the honors. Broome and the Tigers currently sit at 27-2 overall and fresh off an impressive 94-78 win over Kentucky.
Indiana to move on from Mike Woodson, Hoosiers on the bubble.
Back on Feb. 6, news dropped that Indiana would be moving on from head coach Mike Woodson following the 2024-25 season. The Hoosiers were sitting at 14-9 and just 5-7 in Big Ten play at that point. However, since then, Indiana has notched a pair of impressive wins over both Michigan State and in-state rival Purdue. The Hoosiers are currently 17-11 and are listed as one of the first teams out of the NCAA Tournament in Mike DeCourcy's latest projections.
NCAA Tournament expansion has been put on hold.
Talks of the NCAA Tournament expanding have been swirling around the college basketball universe this season. However, according to a recent report from NCAA senior vice president of basketball Dan Gavitt, the NCAA has not finalized expansion plans for the NCAA Tournament and a decision is unlikely to come anytime soon. Both the men's and women's tournaments will stay at 68 teams for now, despite there being talk of expanding the field to 72, or even 76 teams.
Kansas unranked for the first time since 2020-21.
Kansas men's basketball team has been ranked in every AP Top 25 Poll dating back to the 2020-21 season, until now. After being ranked for 80 straight weeks, the Jayhawks' steak came to an end last week. The Jayhawks have struggled mightily this season, especially as of late, having lost seven of their last 14 games, including a 78-73 defeat at home to Texas Tech on Saturday. Bill Self's team currently sits at 19-10 overall and 10-8 in the Big 12 heading into a road matchup at No. 4 Houston on Monday. The Jayhawks are currently projected as a No. 6 seed in DeCourcy's latest NCAA Tournament projections, and that could change following their loss to the Red Raiders.
The SEC's dominance this season has been nothing short of incredible.
What the SEC is doing in college basketball this season can't be understated. The conference currently features eight teams ranked in the latest AP Top 25 Poll and four of the top-six ranked teams in Auburn (1), Florida (3), Tennessee (5) and Alabama (6). According to DeCourcy's latest NCAA Tournament projections, the SEC is expected to get an eye-dropping 13 teams in this year's Big Dance. The next closest is the Big Ten with 10 teams.
The Big Ten race should come down to the end.
The Big Ten regular-season title race has been incredible to watch this season as Michigan State and Michigan are both tied atop the conference standings at 14-3, followed by Wisconsin at 12-5 and Purdue and Maryland both at 12-6. Michigan State and Wisconsin will square off at 1:30 p.m. ET Sunday, but the biggest game of the season should come on March 9, when in-state rivals Michigan and Michigan State close out the regular season against one another in East Lansing. That one could be for all the marbles.
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