Jay Bilas Facing Pressure to Change Official NCAA Tournament Picks on ESPN

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Owen Crisafulli | Last updated Mar 19, 2025 5:41 PM ET

March Madness is officially underway, but predictions for the 2025 NCAA Tournament are still rolling in left and right. ESPN's popular college basketball analyst Jay Bilas revealed his bracket on Tuesday, but he quickly faced backlash from fans for his picks, with many urging him to change his selections.

Bilas is in his 30th year working with ESPN as part of their college basketball coverage, and he's one of the most respected analysts in the sport. As a result, his predictions hold some water, so when he revealed his bracket, fans were quick to check out what he thought would happen in the upcoming tournament.

Many of Bilas' picks left fans scratching their heads, though. He has very few upsets taking place, and he predicted that all four No. 1 seeds will make it to the Final Four, which has only happened once since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985.

Many angry fans were flooding Bilas' replies after his bracket was revealed on X. @bets_liam called out Bilas for his overly safe bracket, saying, "Jay Bilas going all chalk with four 1-seeds in Final Four? That's why they call him ESPN's safest man in America."

@e3_ross84949 was similarly confused about Bilas' decision to pick relatively few underdogs, saying, "his biggest upset prediction is a 10 over a 7 and has all 4 1-seeds in the Final Four."

@CadenCollins20 certainly did not hold back on Bilas, claiming, "This is not even an attempt at predicting a real bracket," based on his lack of upset picks.

Time will tell whether or not Bilas' bracket ends up being correct, but for now, fans aren't too happy with what they are seeing from him. The round of 64 will officially get underway on Thursday at 12:15 p.m. EST when the Creighton Bluejays take on the Louisville Cardinals.

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

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