It’s pretty chalky out West, as the top three seeds have the three best odds of anyone in the region to win the national title. Florida is one of the favorites to win it all after the Gators won 12 of their last 13 games and took down Tennessee to win the SEC tournament title on Sunday.

RJ Luis Jr., No. 2 St. John’s: The Red Storm star wing was the Big East Player of the Year and Most Outstanding Player of the conference tournament. He’s a slasher who is dangerous in the open court, and now that he is making his 3s at a more frequent rate, the junior has become incredibly difficult to defend.

The West Region’s opening-round games in Seattle will feature No. 5 Memphis against No. 12 Colorado State and No. 4 Maryland against No. 13 Grand Canyon, making its third straight NCAA Tournament appearance under coach Bryce Drew.

The stage is set for the 2025 NCAA Tournament. We start with a play-in appetizer, followed by the greatest weekend in sports. 48 games in four days. A field whittled down to 16 teams from 64. There is nothing on earth like it,

FOX Sports' Michael Cohen breaks down the West Region of the NCAA Tournament, including must-see players, first-round upsets and his pick to come out of the region.

Post-ing up: The Gators climbed as high as No. 2 in the nation and have top-10 units in both offensive and defensive efficiency, per EvanMiya.com. Senior Walter Clayton Jr. (17.2 points entering Friday), who chose Florida over following Rick Pitino from Iona to St. John’s, can help the program win its first title since the Billy Donovan days.

The UConn men’s basketball team will be a No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time, meeting No. 9 Oklahoma in Raleigh, N.C. on Friday.

With a win the Gators would face the winner between No. 8 seed UConn, the two-time defending national champion, and No. 9 seed Oklahoma (20-13) — 85-63 losers Feb. 18 in Gainesville. UConn (23-10) defeated UF 75-54 in December 2022 during Golden’s first season and en route to the Huskies’ national title, one of six by the school since 1999.

When the NCAA Selection Committee members filled out the West Region bracket, they must have been looking ahead to potential coaching matchups in the second round.

The selection committee’s work is in the books, and it’s finally time for the 2025 NCAA men’s basketball tournament to get underway. With the entire field finally set after a thrilling regular season,