A guide to the 2025 NCAA Tournament’s Milwaukee games Tyler Maas March 20, 2025 Following a week that was packed with conference tournaments and Sunday’s selection show, March Madness is officially here. The 2025 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament officially started with play-in games on Tuesday and Wednesday, and will be getting into full swing on Thursday. The state of Wisconsin has some rooting interest in the field of 64 this year, as the third-seeded Badgers will face Montana on Thursday afternoon and seven-seed Marquette will take on New Mexico on Friday night. Beyond Marquette’s involvement, the local appeal of the tourney increases here in Milwaukee on Friday with a quartet of games at Fiserv Forum. Iowa State (3) will take on Lipscomb (14) at 12:30 p.m., followed by a matchup between Ole Miss (6) and North Carolina (11) at 3:05 p.m. Later on, Kentucky (3) will look to stave off an upset by Troy (11) before the night ends with the Illini (6) facing Xavier (11) at 8:45 p.m. The winners will square off on the same court on Sunday, March 23. Even if only two of these schools have true local appeal, there’s no time in sports that’s wrought with more drama, craziness, and fun than the NCAA tourney’s first two rounds. If you’re looking to cheer on (or against) some Midwest schools, witness some possible upsets in person, or if you just want to have something—anything—to say when you inevitably encounter someone decked out in Troy University apparel this week, we have you covered. University Of Illinois Located: Champaign, Illinois. Enrollment: Approximately 60,000 students. Famous Alum: George Halas, Roger Ebert, Hugh Hefner, Jesse Jackson. Team name: Fighting Illini. Conference: Big Ten. Record: 21-12. An eighth of this year’s tournament is composed of Big Ten schools. Even though Illinois is the lowest-seed of that bunch, the six-seeded Illini still carries a solid 21-12 record into the tourney. They’ll face off against Xavier at 8:45 p.m. on Friday. Of the eight schools playing at Fiserv Forum this weekend, Illinois is the closest to Milwaukee, so they might have something of a home court advantage in Round 1 (and possibly Round 2). Xavier University Located: Cincinnati, Ohio. Enrollment: Approximately 6,000. Famous Alum: Jim Bunning, John Boehner. Team name: Musketeers. Conference: Big East. Record: 22-11. Xavier bested Texas in the First Four play-in game on Wednesday night to land a spot in the field of 64. They’ll have about 48 hours to get ready to take on the Fightin’ Illini at Fiserv Forum on Friday night. Will Bill Murray be at this game? Probably not because his son is an assistant at UConn now. University Of Kentucky Located: Lexington, Kentucky Enrollment: Approximately 36,000. Famous Alum: Ashley Judd, Anthony Davis, Randall Cobb, William Lipscomb. Team name: Wildcats. Conference: SEC. Record: 22-11. If you watch men’s college basketball, you know Kentucky and you probably have an opinion about them. They’re still a certified powerhouse and they’re taking on 14-seed Troy on Friday evening. Troy University Located: Troy, Alabama Enrollment: Approximately 14,000 students. Famous Alum: DeMarcus Ware, Oi Umenyiora. Team name: Trojans. Conference: Sun Belt. Record: 23-10. Troy upset the Arkansas State Wolves to win the Sun Belt Conference tournament and earn a bid in the NCAA Tournament (in the only way they could). They have a tough task against the Kentucky Wildcats, but they shocked the Sun Belt world, so maybe the unexpected run could continue? (Probably not.) Iowa State University Located: Ames, Iowa. Enrollment: Approximately 30,500 students. Famous Alum: George Washington Carver, Tyrese Haliburton, Jeff Hornacek, Clayton Anderson. Team name: Cyclones. Conference: Big 12. Record: 24-9. Damn, are we literally just realizing how good the Big 12 was this year? Wow. Iowa State, a three-seed, is one of seven teams from the conference to make the tournament. The Cyclones have cracked the Sweet 16 two of the last three years. Could they do it again? Lipscomb University Located: Nashville, Tennessee. Enrollment: Approximately 5,000 students. Famous Alum: Pat Boone, Kelsea Ballerini, Doug creator Jim Jinkins. Team Name: Bisons. Conference: Atlantic Sun. Record: 25-9. Forget the incorrect pluralization of Bison in their name, the Lipscomb BisonSSSS won the Atlantic Sun Tournament and had the best record in the conference. So could they topple Iowa State for the biggest upset in school history? We’re going to guess that will not happen. Sorry, Doug fans. University Of Mississippi (Ole Miss) Located: University, Mississippi Enrollment: Approximately 25,000. Famous Alum: Eli Manning, John Grisham, James Meredith. Team name: Rebels. Conference: SEC. Record: 22-11. Did Ole Miss win its conference? No. Did it event make the semifinals of its conference tournament? Also no. No worries, they’re in an amazing conference and they went 22-11, so anything is possible. University Of North Carolina Located: Chapel Hill, North Carolina Enrollment: Approximately 32,000. Famous Alum: Michael Jordan, Andy Griffith, Lewis Black. Team name: Tar Heels. Conference: ACC. Record: 23-13. The Tar Heels are among the more controversial at large selections in this year’s tourney, but they did beat the ever-loving shit out of San Diego State in the First Four matchup on Tuesday, so maybe there’s something to them getting a spot. We’ll see as 11-seed UNC takes on Ole Miss on Friday afternoon.
