The 2025 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 is officially set.
On Sunday evening, the second round concluded when No. 4 Arizona defeated No. 5 Oregon 87-83 in Seattle, Washington. The field is now down to 16 teams, each with an opportunity to climb the mountaintop for a national title.
Following Oregon’s defeat, just four Big Ten squads remain in the field — No. 2-seed Michigan State (South), No. 4-seed Purdue (Midwest), No. 4-seed Maryland (West) and No. 5-seed Michigan (South). A total of eight Big Ten programs earned a spot in the tournament before falling in the second round this weekend.
Most notably, East Region No. 3-seed Wisconsin suffered a crushing 91-89 defeat to No. 6-seed BYU at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado, on Saturday evening. Despite receiving 37 points from star wing John Tonje and 21 from guard John Blackwell, Greg Gard’s group could not overcome an impressive shooting performance from the Cougars (49.2% from the field and 46.2% from beyond the arc).
Had UW pulled through, the Badgers would have met the No. 2-seed Alabama Crimson Tide in the Sweet 16 in Newark, New Jersey. Instead, for the eighth consecutive season, the program will watch the second weekend from Madison and begin its offseason.
The Terrapins, Boilermakers, Spartans and Wolverines will lace up for another round of the Big Dance later this week. Here’s a closer look at how each team reached the coveted pool of regional semifinalists.
Michigan Wolverines
After defeating Wisconsin 59-53 in an old-school, grind-it-out Big Ten title game on March 16, the Wolverines earned the No. 5 seed in the South Region. Dusty May’s bested No. 12-seed UC San Diego, courtesy of a clutch three-point jumper from guard Tre Donaldson late in the second half and a pair of free throws from star center Vladislav Goldin.
Pitted against the No. 5-seed Texas A&M Aggies in the round of 32, Michigan fell behind by as many as 10 points with roughly 13 minutes to spare in the second stanza. Fueled by a scoring barrage from guard Roddy Gayle Jr., the Wolverines orchestrated a 25-10 burst over the ensuing eight minutes of play to take a five-point lead. Goldin, Donaldson and Gayle would close it out to lift the Wolverines to a 91-79 triumph and Sweet 16 appearance.
Michigan will now take on No. 1-seed Auburn on March 28.
Purdue Boilermakers
Backed by Big Ten Player of the Year Braden Smith, Purdue entered the tournament as the Midwest Region’s No. 4 seed. The Boilermakers traded buckets with the No. 13-seed High Point Panthers for a majority of the first half, but a strong final five minutes before intermission fueled Matt Painter’s team to a 10-point halftime lead.
High Point remained within five points throughout the second half. That is, until Smith, Fletcher Loyer and Camden Heide took control of the final six minutes of action, securing a 12-point win.
Purdue’s next game against the No. 12-seed McNeese Cowboys looked much different. Fueled by 22 points, 15 rebounds and three assists from All-Big Ten First-Team forward Trey Kaufman-Renn, the Boilermakers built a 20-point first-half lead en route to a blowout win. Purdue is now slated to play No. 1-seed Houston on March 28.
Michigan State Spartans
After winning the Big Ten regular-season title, Tom Izzo’s ensemble earned March Madness as the South Region’s No. 2 seed. The No. 15-seed Bryant Bulldogs made the first half as competitive as possible, but the Spartans’ 53-point second half and 18-point, nine-rebound performance from Coen Carr off the bench propelled them to a 25-point blowout win.
The Spartans then squared off against Richard Pitino’s No. 10-seed New Mexico Lobos in the round of 32. Izzo’s group struggled to generate offense early on and even faced a 10-tally deficit within the first 10 minutes of play. Michigan State would then take control before the Lobos knotted the game at 51 with under eight minutes to spare. The Spartans’ bench unit made a late-game push, before star freshman guard Jase Richardson closed the game at the free throw line.
MSU will tip off against No. 6-seed Ole Miss in Tom Izzo’s 16th second-weekend appearance.
Maryland Terrapins
Kevin Willard’s Maryland Terrapins pocketed the West Region’s No. 4 seed, but the team looked much better than that ranking in its 81-49 win over No. 13-seed Grand Canyon. The Terrapins received at least nine points from six players, including 18 points and nine boards from forward Julian Reese and 15 rebounds from star freshman center Derik Queen, a name March Madness fans became familiar with on Sunday evening.
Maryland’s next test against No. 12-seed Colorado State was as tight as a game could be. The two groups traded blows for the entire second half until Rams guard Jalen Lake drilled a three-point jumper to put CSU up 71-70 with six seconds to go. Maryland advanced the ball, Willard called timeout and the crowd waited in anticipation.
Queen, a 6’10” freshman, received the inbounds pass, drove left and banked in a buzzer-beating runner to lift Maryland to its first Sweet 16 in nearly a decade. Maryland’s reward — a date against No. 1-seed Florida on March 27.
Recapping how the rest of the Big Ten fared
Before falling to BYU, Wisconsin rolled to an 85-66 win over No. 14-seed Montana in the first round. John Blackwell finished with 19 points, Steven Crowl added 18 and John Tonje finished with 15.
Midwest Region No. 6-seed Illinois received 22 points from Will Riley and 20 from center Tomislav Ivisic to trounce No. 11-seed Xavier in the first round. The Illini were then crushed by Koby Brea and No. 3-seed Kentucky in the round of 32.
Midwest No. 7-seed UCLA dispatched No. 10-seed Utah State 72-47 in the first round. Its luck ran out there, as it fell behind by as many as 19 points against No. 2-seed Tennessee in the round of 64 en route to a 67-58 loss.
Finally, East Region No. 5-seed Oregon demolished No. 12-seed Liberty 81-52 in the first round. The Ducks then faced a determined Caleb Love and No. 4-seed Arizona in the round of 32. Love dropped 29 points, leading his Wildcats to a four-point triumph and Sweet 16 appearance.
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