SportsLine's model has nailed 24 first-round upsets by double-digit seeds and revealed its optimal NCAA Tournament bracket 2025

The top-seeded Tigers will face No. 16 seed Alabama State on Thursday at 1:50 p.m. CT in Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky. The Hornets earned the right to face Auburn by defeating St. Francis on Tuesday, 70-68. Alabama State secured the win thanks to an Amarr Knight layup with 0:01 remaining in the game.

March has officially begun, courtesy of Alabama State in the First Four. The Hornets notched their first NCAA tournament win in program history on Tuesday with a football pass-turned-tip-drill-turned-lay-up from Amarr Knox, who put them ahead 70-68 over St. Francis with an assist from Micah Simpson.