March Madness is here and Auburn is the No. 1 overall seed in the men's NCAA Tournament.
The beloved annual tradition that is the NCAA Tournament opens this week. Tens of thousands will fill out brackets in hopes of winning the office poll or at least a bit of respect.
Who will win it all? Auburn, Duke, Florida and Houston are the top seeds. But anything can happen once the tournament tips off with the First Four on Tuesday and the first round begins on Thursday.
No. 5 seed and Big Ten champion Michigan opened as only a 2.5-point favorite vs. No. 12 seed UC San Diego, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.
No. 8 seed Louisville had one of the hottest stretches in the country late in the season in the ACC but drew Big East stalwart Creighton.
No. 8 seed UConn will open its bid for a third consecutive national championship as a 4.5-point favorite vs. 9 seed Oklahoma.
Every game of the men’s tournament will be aired — here is a schedule that will be updated with matchups — either on CBS, TBS, TNT or TruTV and their digital platforms, including Paramount+. CBS will handle the Final Four and national title game this year.
The NCAA will also stream games via its March Madness Live option.
The top betting favorites as the tournament arrives are (in order) Florida, Duke, Auburn and Houston, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.
There are 31 automatic bids that were filled via league tournaments and they were combined with 37 at-large picks by the NCAA selection committee. All the surprises were unveiled Sunday in the bracket matchups.
The First Four is in Dayton, Ohio, on Tuesday and Wednesday and first- and second-round games are Thursday and Friday, stretching from Providence, Rhode Island, to Seattle.
The Sweet 16 weekend will see games March 27-30 in Newark, New Jersey (East Regional), Atlanta (South), Indianapolis (Midwest) and San Francisco (West).
The Final Four is in San Antonio on Saturday, April 5, with the championship game the night of Monday, April 7.
AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
Tennessee guard Zakai Zeigler (5) celebrates after a basket against Auburn during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in the semifinal round of the Southeastern Conference tournament, Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Florida guard Bennett Andersen (22) celebrates with fans after a win over Alabama in an NCAA college basketball game in the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament, Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Virginia Commonwealth forward Christian Fermin celebrates after an NCAA college basketball game in the championship of the Atlantic 10 tournament, Sunday, March 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Israel launched a wave of airstrikes across the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, saying it was hitting Hamas targets in its heaviest assault in the territory since a ceasefire took effect in January.
The strikes killed more than 320 people, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered the strikes because of a lack of progress in talks to extend the ceasefire. Officials said the operation was open-ended and was expected to expand. The White House said it had been consulted and voiced support for Israel’s actions.
Hamas warned that Israel’s new airstrikes breached their ceasefire and put the fate of hostages in jeopardy.
The surprise attack shattered a period of relative calm during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and raised the prospect of a full return to fighting in a 17-month war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and caused widespread destruction across Gaza.
Here's the latest:
The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres says he is “shocked” by the Israeli airstrikes in Gaza and has called for the ceasefire in Gaza to be respected.
Guterres, in a statement, called for humanitarian aid to resume for people in Gaza and for the hostages held by Hamas to be released unconditionally.
Freed British-Israeli hostage Emily Damari says her “heart is broken, crushed and disappointed” by the resumption of fighting in Gaza. In a story on Instagram shared by Israeli media, she said she would keep fighting for the remaining hostages.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israeli strikes across the territory have killed at least 326 people. The wave of strikes that began early Tuesday is among the deadliest since the start of the 17-month war.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called for the ceasefire to be maintained following Israel’s attack on Gaza.
“There’s already been enormous suffering there, which is why we’re calling upon all parties to respect the ceasefire and hostage deal that was put in place,” Albanese told reporters.
“We’ll continue to make representations. Australia will continue to stand up for peace and security in the region,” he added.
An Israeli airstrike flattened a prison run by the Hamas-led government in Gaza Strip, killing dozens of prisoners and policemen, according to hospital records.
The prison was located in the urban Shati refugee camp in Gaza City. Associated Press footage showed a collapsed building and people trying to reach bodies buried under the rubble.
The bodies of more than three dozen prisoners and guards were taken to the nearby Shifa hospital.
The Hamas-run government operates a police force that numbered in the tens of thousands before the war and quickly returned to the streets after a ceasefire took hold in January.
The Israeli military ordered people to evacuate eastern Gaza and move toward the center of the territory after Israel carried out a wave of airstrikes across the territory.
The orders issued Tuesday indicate Israel could launch renewed ground operations.
The Hamas-run Education Ministry in the Gaza Strip says classes have been suspended in dozens of schools that had recently reopened.
The decision came after Israel launched a wave of heavy airstrikes across Gaza early Tuesday, shattering a nearly two-month ceasefire.
Schools shut down across Gaza after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack ignited the war, and most were converted to shelters for displaced people.
The ministry said it had resumed classes in around 70 schools in recent weeks.
A United Nations staffer in the Gaza Strip described a “very tough night” as Israel resumed heavy strikes across the territory after a nearly two-month ceasefire.
Rosalia Bollen, a communications specialist with the U.N. children’s agency, said she woke up around 2 a.m. on Tuesday to “very loud explosions.”
She said the UNICEF bass near the southern city of Rafah “was shaking very heavily.” When the strikes subsided, she heard “people yelling, people screaming and ambulances.”
“The bombardments have continued throughout the night,” though at a lower intensity than the initial barrage, she said. “The whole night, there’s been just the constant buzzing of drones and planes flying over.”
She said the strikes hit tents and structures housing displaced families. “We’re seeing, as of this morning, at least several dozen children killed,” she said.
The main group representing the families of hostages held in Gaza has slammed the decision to return to fighting, saying the move shows the government “chose to give up on the hostages.”
The Hostages Families Forum said “military pressure endangers hostages.” It asked the government in a post on X why it “backed out of the agreement” with Hamas that set out a release of all the living hostages in exchange for an end to the war.
“We are shocked, angry, and terrified by the deliberate dismantling of the process to return our loved ones from the terrible captivity of Hamas,” the group said.
A key governing partner of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the return to fighting in Gaza.
Bezalel Smotrich had threatened to leave the government if fighting did not resume, which would imperil Netanyahu’s rule. Critics said those political considerations were influencing Netanyahu’s wartime decision-making.
“We remained in the government for this moment despite our opposition to the (ceasefire) deal, and we are more determined than ever to complete the task and destroy Hamas,” Smotrich posted on X.
Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip have killed at least 235 people, according to local hospitals.
The toll from the strikes overnight and into Tuesday is based on records from seven hospitals and does not include bodies brought to other, smaller health centers.
Rescuers are still searching for dead and wounded.
North Korea has criticized the United States over its new campaign of airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
The state-run KCNA news agency on Tuesday quoted Ma Tong Hui, North Korea’s ambassador to Egypt and concurrently to Yemen, as describing the attacks as a “wanton violation of all international laws including the U.N. Charter and it is an open encroachment upon the sovereignty of other nation that can never be justified.”
He also criticized “U.S. hooliganism.”
Trump during his first term held summits with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, but the diplomacy collapsed over disagreements on US sanctions.
A senior Hamas official says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to launch widespread strikes on the Gaza Strip amounts to a “death sentence” for the remaining hostages held there.
In a statement early Tuesday, Izzat al-Risheq, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, accused Netanyahu of resuming the war to try and save his far-right governing coalition.
“Netanyahu’s decision to return to war is a decision to sacrifice the (Israeli) occupation’s captives and a death sentence against them,” he said.
He said Israel didn’t respect its commitments in the ceasefire deal reached in January and urged mediators to “reveal facts” on which side broke the agreement.
National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said the militant group “could have released hostages to extend the ceasefire but instead chose refusal and war.”
U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, who has been leading mediation efforts along with Egypt and Qatar, had earlier warned that Hamas must release living hostages immediately “or pay a severe price.”
Israeli officials said the latest operation was open-ended and was expected to expand.
“Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says the “Trump administration and the White House were consulted by the Israelis on their attacks in Gaza tonight.”
“As President Trump has made it clear, Hamas, the Houthis, Iran — all those who seek to terrorize not just Israel, but also the United States of America — will see a price to pay: All hell will break lose,” Leavitt continued, speaking to Fox News on Monday evening.
Leavitt is one of three administration officials who face a lawsuit from The Associated Press on First- and Fifth-Amendment grounds. The AP says the three are punishing the news agency for editorial decisions they oppose. The White House says the AP is not following an executive order to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
The bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli army airstrikes are brought to Shifa hospital in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A body of a Palestinian killed in an Israeli army airstrikes is brought to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
The bodies of Palestinians killed in an Israeli army airstrikes are brought to Shifa hospital in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A body of a Palestinian killed in an Israeli army airstrikes is brought to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A dead person killed during an Israeli army strike is taken into the hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Tuesday March 18, 2025.(AP Photo/ Mohammad Jahjouh)
Palestinians walk amid the rubble of destroyed homes and buildings in Jabaliya, northern Gaza Strip on Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians walk surrounded by the rubble of destroyed homes and building in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, Friday, March 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
