The 2025 NCAA men’s basketball tournament has seen some upsets, but the top programs have mostly stomped out any small-town underdog or would-be Cinderella story.
While all four No. 1 seeds have advanced to the regional semifinals, none of the remaining teams are from a small or mid-major conference and No. 10 Arkansas is the only team lower than a sixth seed to make it past the first two rounds.
Of the 16 teams remaining, the No. 1 Florida Gators have the second-best odds of winning the national championship. They won their first-round matchup by 26 points, then rallied in the second half of their matchup against the eighth-seeded UConn Huskies to eliminate the reigning champions in the second round.
Florida is set to face the fourth-seeded Maryland Terrapins in the Sweet 16, and they are already heavily favored to represent the West Region in the Final Four. The Terrapins, aided by Derik Queen’s buzzer-beater, have fought hard to reach this stage, but the coaching staff isn’t doing the team any favors.
Florida could advance if Maryland implodes amid coaching controversy
Maryland head coach Kevin Willard has led the Terrapins to the Sweet 16 in just his second year with the team, but he’s also raised some eyebrows along the way by openly discussing his future.
There has been speculation that Willard has his eyes on the coaching vacancy for Villanova, and he’s done little to quell any speculation. Instead, he offered his critiques about Maryland to explain why he hasn’t signed the contract extension that was offered to him by the program.
“I want this program to be great,” Willard said, per The Athletic. “I want it to be the best in the country, I want to win a national championship, but there’s things that need to change. … I need to make sure that where we are with [name, image and likeness] and revenue share is not where we’ve been with NIL over the past two years. We’ve been one of the worst, if not lowest, in the NIL in the last two years. So that’s first and foremost.”
Maryland has not made it to the Sweet 16 since the 2016 NCAA Tournament, and the current friction between the coach and the program won’t make it any easier for the Terrapins to upset Florida.
“I wanted to spend an extra night in New York this year to celebrate Christmas with my team, and I was told that we can’t do that because it’s too expensive,” Willard said. “I don’t know how we can be a top-tier program, and I can’t spend one extra night in New York because it’s too expensive.”
Willard could likely get the job in Villanova if he wants it, and he may not be the only person with complaints about Maryland’s commitment to winning. Maryland’s athletic director, Damon Evans, made a lateral move to join SMU last Friday.
Villanova has a proud basketball history and has won two national titles in the past decade. Maryland, on the other hand, has just one national title in the school’s history. The Terrapins made regular Sweet 16 appearances during the 1990s and early 2000s, but that success has faded away.
Maryland made its first Final Four appearance in school history in 2001 and won the championship in the 2002 NCAA Tournament. In the past two decades, they’ve only made it past the Round of 32 one time. After a Sweet 16 appearance in 2003, Maryland went 13 years before making it back. Now, nine years later, Willard is clearly pointing to the school’s commitment for the Terrapins’ lack of success.