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The Arizona Wildcats basketball program lost to the Houston Cougars in the 2025 Big 12 tournament championship.

Akron will be a popular 4/13 upset, and rightly so, as the Zips can really shoot it. They have also won 20 of their past 21 games. Caleb Love is a March type of player, and even though the Wildcats have had their struggles this season, they'll handle the Zips.

Madness teams could pull off upsets in the first round? Here's eight bracket-buster predictions for Round of 64 NCAA Tournament bracket.

Odds, Expert Picks, Betting Trends and Stats The top-seed in the Midwest, the Houston Cougars (30-4) take the court in their first game of the 2025 NCAA Tournament against the 16-seed SIUE Cougars (22-11).

The top-seeded Cougars headline a contingent of seven Big 12 teams heading to the NCAA tournament, which begins this week.

Houston basketball enters the NCAA Tournament, coming off another terrific season under head coach Kelvin Sampson. The Cougars have seamlessly transitioned from dominating the American Athletic Conference to running through the Big 12 in consecutive seasons.

Overall top seed Auburn was joined by Duke, Houston and Florida as 1-seeds, and a record 14 teams from the SEC were selected to participate in the NCAA tournament.