2025 NCAA Tournament Picks & Predictions: Round 2 (Sunday)

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Sunday will be an exciting day in the East Region of the NCAA Tournament bracket. Three tickets to Raleigh will be punched with Duke taking on Baylor, Alabama squaring off with St. Mary's, and Arizona playing Oregon. Let's take a deeper look at these matchups to see who may be moving onto the Sweet 16.

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NCAA Tournament Best Round 2 Bets (Sunday)

(Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)

No. 1 Duke vs No. 9 Baylor

Cooper Flagg and the Blue Devils showed up and showed out in a 44-point stomping of Mount St. Mary's. If you look at Duke’s resume, there are very few flaws. They shoot the ball well, they take care of the ball and they play stout defense. Throw in the fact that they have perhaps the best player in the country, Cooper Flagg, and it's hard to see how Baylor stays in this one.

The Bears give up a lot of three-point attempts and opponents hit them at a high rate. Duke is a 37.7% three-point shooting team which is top 20 in the country while Baylor's offense is an average shooting team all over the floor. Unfortunately for them, Duke is elite and allowing 43.3% from two-point range and 30.4% from deep. Those marks are third and 21st in the country, respectively. 

Baylor came into the tournament limping. They went 6-8 down the stretch before their win over Mississippi State. This one should be just another step along the way for a Duke team with championship glory in their sights.

Pick: Duke -11.5 (-110)

No. 2 Alabama vs No. 7 St. Mary's

There couldn't be a bigger contrast in styles between two teams than Alabama and St. Mary's. The Crimson Tide play the fastest tempo in the country while St. Mary's tempo ranks in the bottom five. This could be bad news for Alabama who finished just 2-2, including an overtime win, against teams with average possession lengths in the bottom 100 of the nation.

St. Mary's top 10 defense was on full display in their First Round win over Vanderbilt. They allowed just 40% shooting from the field and yielded just seven free throw attempts. Alabama is a much tougher test, ranked fourth in offensive efficiency and top 10 in eFG%. The Tide also rely heavily on getting to the line. Over 20% of their scoring this season has come at the free throw line. They will find against the Gaels' defense that those attempts will dry up as they give up one of the lowest FTA rates in the country.

Alabama made their mark this season by playing fast and shooting at an elite clip. St. Mary's couldn't be a worse matchup in that respect. The Gaels are disciplined defensively and rarely get sped up. They won't allow Alabama to get the good looks they're accustomed to creating and that could make this game very interesting. Be on the lookout for a big upset in the East Region.

Pick: St. Mary's +5.5 (-110)

No. 4 Arizona vs. No. 5 Oregon

Longtime Pac-12 foes will reunite on Sunday as the Wildcats of Arizona take on the Oregon Ducks. Both teams easily took care of trendy upset picks in Akron and Liberty, respectively. Obviously, both are strong teams given their seeding, but coming into the tournament they were also known to be incredibly streaky.

Arizona has ridden a fast-paced and efficient offense to a 12th-ranked efficiency in Ken Pom's metrics. That was on full display against Akron, dropping 93 points on 56.5% shooting. The concern with Arizona is how they've looked against solid opponents. The Wildcats went 0-4 against major non-conference opponents and finished the Big 12 regular season on a 3-5 skid. Which Arizona team will we see on Sunday?

Oregon got off to a scorching start on the year with wins over Alabama and Texas A&M, but a midseason stretch of five games in 15 days including four on the road halfway across the country saw the Ducks go 0-5, accounting for over half their losses on the season. Outside of that stretch, Oregon has looked like a top-15 team in the country. Dana Altman and the Ducks are familiar with Arizona and should give them everything the inconsistent Wildcats can handle.

Pick: Oregon +4.5 (-110)