2025 NCAA Tournament Survivor Pool Advice: Sweet 16 (Friday)

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Each of our two NCAA Tournament survivor pool picks from Sunday (Maryland and Alabama) helped us advance in our survivor pools. But perhaps we should not pat ourselves on the back too much, as this has been one of the least upset-filled tournaments to date.

Compared to two years ago when just two No. 1 seeds reached the Sweet 16, who were joined by the likes of Princeton, Florida Atlantic and Arkansas, this year's March Madness has had a much chalkier feel to it with seven of the eight No. 1 and No. 2 seeds still alive.

Depending on the format of your survivor pool, one has to either make one pick in total for the Sweet 16, or one selection for each day of the round. Thus, be sure to check out our article for Thursday’s games as well to make the best decision going forward.

We have ranked all four Friday Sweet 16 games in order of most to least confident and provide a short narrative for each.

2025 NCAA Tournament March Madness Bracket Strategy & Betting Picks>>

2025 March Madness Survivor Pool Advice: Sweet 16 (Friday)

Here is a list of odds (via DraftKings Sportsbook) for all the favorites to win their Sweet 16 matchups on Friday:

Best Sweet 16 Survivor Picks (Ranked in Order)

(odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)

Houston (-395)

In our survivor pool column for Thursday’s games, we advised saving both No. 1 seed Florida and Duke for future use. However, if seeding holds, Houston would have Tennessee and Duke standing in its path to a National Championship game appearance. I would not feel comfortable favoring the Cougars in either of those games.

Much will be made of the huge geographic advantage Houston’s opponent has on Friday, as Purdue figures to have the massive support of the crowd playing in Indianapolis. But I expect Kelvin Sampson’s squad will use that as motivation. Perhaps no team is better built defensively to handle Purdue’s elite pick-and-roll tandem of Braden Smith and Trey Kaufman-Renn.

Tennessee (-218)

Similar to the thought process with using Houston in this round, Tennessee is staring down two No. 1 seeds (Houston and Duke) as its potential next two opponents. Barring a big Purdue upset or a massive shakeup in the East Region, there is perhaps no better time to use Tennessee than now.

It may seem blasphemous to back the Volunteers against a Kentucky team they were swept by in the regular season, losing both meetings by a combined 16 points. But Tennessee has locked down on defense by holding its first two NCAA Tournament opponents to an average of 60 points. I believe Rick Barnes has the answers for the Wildcats’ offensive approach the third time around.

Michigan State (-162)

Michigan State played with fire with a slow start against New Mexico, trailing at the half in its second-round game. The depth of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) was no joke this year, so one should not take Ole Miss lightly just because it was given a No. 6 seed in this tournament.

Chris Beard’s teams have always been some of the best in the country in transition defense, and the Rebels should give the Spartans all they can handle if they are successful in turning this into a half-court rock fight.

Auburn (-340)

Michigan has been a tough draw for its first two opponents, as UC San Diego and Texas A&M had difficulty with the Wolverines’ tandem of 7-footers. Vladislav Goldin and Daniel Wolf have 10 fouls to give in attempting to slow down Player of the Year candidate Johni Broome, but Auburn has a significant advantage in the backcourt.

The Wolverines struggled with many of the faster-paced teams they have played this year, with losses to Arkansas, Illinois and Michigan State (twice) While I expect the Tigers to win, they should be saved for future use still as arguably the most viable National Championship contender of this group of four teams.

Mike Spector is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @MikeSpector01.