Jay Bilas Confidently Predicts the 2025 NCAA Tournament Champion

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Cole Sullivan | Last updated Mar 16, 2025 8:23 PM ET

The anticipation leading up to Selection Sunday is always an exciting time, and with the full bracket now unveiled, millions of brackets will be filled out over the coming days, only to be busted within hours of the madness that is the NCAA Tournament.

After the reveal, the ESPN "College GameDay" crew—Rece Davis, Jay Williams, Seth Greenberg, and Jay Bilas—shared their predictions for who would make the Final Four and, ultimately, take home the national championship.

Bilas made his prediction with plenty of confidence, picking the No. 1 seeded Florida Gators to win it all. He highlighted them as the best and most complete team in the country.

"I just happen to think that Florida is the best team in the country," Bilas said. "And I think it's gonna be Florida and Houston in the championship game... we've all watched Florida play. The size of their frontline, they're like an unbelievable hockey team."

Bilas' Final Four consists of Auburn, Florida, Duke, and Houston—all No. 1 seeds—which certainly caught the attention of college basketball fans.

"Jay Williams, Jay Bilas and Seth Greenberg all had chalk for their elite 8 picks. Way to go out on a limb, gentlemen," A fan said.

Another fan posted, "Jay Bilas is the Michael Jordan of picking four #1 seeds to go to the Final 4 on the Bracketology show."

"Wow Jay Bilas picked all four 1 seeds to make the final four in his bracket. So innovative," Someone else added.

One more fan commented, "The whole damn set of ESPN just now all picked Florida to beat Duke for National Championship. Jay Bilas, Jay Williams and Seth Greenberg. Rat poison at an all time high. My goodness."

The whole damn set of ESPN just now all picked Florida to beat Duke for National Championship. Jay Bilas, Jay Williams and Seth Greenberg.

Rat poison at an all time high. My goodness.
— FlawdaGata (@AirFlawdaJordan) March 16, 2025

Bilas also mentioned that he has no seed 13 or higher pulling off any upsets in the NCAA Tournament. He's sticking with chalk, and while that often works out to an extent, there's always the promise of drama during March Madness.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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