It’s one of the greatest traditions in sports: Basketball fans and non-fans alike furiously check their brackets, brag to their friends and jockey for office pool supremacy. The first two days of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament are known for producing drama, excitement and a distinct lack of work in offices across the country, and celebrities want in on the fun, too.
The official 2025 March Madness men’s and women’s accounts have been sharing brackets from celebrities real and imaginary so we can all check who the real fans are.
Some picks come as no surprise. For example, Air Bud likes all of the teams with dog mascots to go far and Florida alum Tim Tebow wants the Gators to cut down the nets. Others are less predictable — Auburn alum Charles Barkley has his Tigers losing to Florida in the Final Four.
Keep scrolling to find out who the stars like in the men’s and women’s tournaments.
Barack Obama
Known when he was in office for filling out a bracket each year on ESPN, the 44th President turned in his picks for the 2025 men’s and women’s fields.
Barack Obama was never one to make bold picks on his bracket and this year is no different. On the men’s side, he has three 1 seeds and 2 seed Tennessee advancing to the Final Four with the Duke Blue Devils capturing their first championship since 2015.
In his women’s bracket, Obama likes the defending champion South Carolina Gamecocks to run it back and win it all, defeating UCLA in the title game. His Final Four also includes 1 seed USC and 3 seed Notre Dame.
Flavor Flav
Flavor Flav filled out a women’s bracket and, well, there’s a lot to unpack. He has 2023 champion LSU winning it all again, which is a reasonable take. But he also has Kentucky, North Carolina and MIchigan all making the Final Four. That would make for a Final Four of no 1 or 2 seeds, which has never happened in women’s basketball. He also likes 10 seed Harvard to make a run to the Sweet 16.
Jimmy Fallon
If you watch The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, it should come as no surprise that the host is picking the St. John’s Red Storm to win their first-ever men’s national championship. He had St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino on his show a couple weeks back where they collaborated on their own song parody.
In the women’s tournament, he has three 1 seeds and 2 seed UConn going to the Final Four, with UCLA defeating South Carolina in the title game. He also likes 11 seed Murray State to make a Cinderella run to the Sweet 16.
Joey Graziadei
The Bachelor and Dancing With the Stars alum seems to like picking rematches. Though Duke over St. John’s in the title game is a new one, he has a few old championship game rematches, including Michigan State vs. North Carolina and Duke vs. Wisconsin. He also likes conference rivals UConn and St. John’s to meet for a third time this season, as well as Kentucky and Tennessee.
Tim McGraw
Tim McGraw’s women’s bracket is pretty tame, but it would make for a fascinating Final Four if it happens. He likes the sport’s traditional powers to advance to the final weekend in Tampa, with LSU defeating UConn and South Carolina beating Tennessee. In the final, he likes the Tigers to beat the Gamecocks.
Gabby Thomas
Gabby Thomas must have come away impressed with North Carolina’s resounding win over San Diego State in the men’s First Four, because she has the Tar Heels making a run to the Sweet 16. In the Final Four, she likes Florida, Duke and Houston to make it as 1 seeds with 5 seed Michigan joining them. She has Florida beating Duke in the title game.
In Thomas’ women’s bracket, she is predicting a rematch of the 2022 championship game with South Carolina again defeating UConn for the title. The Huskies beat South Carolina by 29 points in Columbia earlier this season, but the Gamecocks are playing their best ball of the year right now.
Dr. Pimple Popper
Dr. Pimple Popper deserves some credit for compiling a truly bold men’s bracket. Her national champion, Michigan State, isn’t that outlandish (the Spartans are a 2 seed). But she likes 7 seed Kansas to make the Elite Eight, and 12 seed UC San Diego and 8 seed Gonzaga to reach the Sweet 16. She’s not off to a bad start, either. She called 12 seed McNeese beating 5 seed Clemson, which happened on March 20.
Sydney Thomas
Viral ring girl Sydney Thomas is rolling with the Tide in her men’s bracket, taking Alabama to return to the Final Four and win the National Championship. She has Alabama defeating 6 seed Missouri in the championship game, which is a bold call considering many have the Tigers losing right away to 11 seed Drake. She also has UC San Diego in the Elite Eight and 11 seed VCU in the Sweet 16.
Nickelback
Nickelback decided to fill out one men’s bracket between the four of them and it includes more “chalk” than just about anyone else. The band picked every 1 and 2 seed to meet in the Elite Eight with three 1 seeds advancing to the Final Four. In the title game, Nickelback has Florida defeating Houston.
Stephen A. Smith
A known Juju Watkins fan, Stephen A. Smith likes Watkins’ USC Trojans to win the whole thing, defeating longtime rival UCLA and Paige Bueckers’ UConn squad along the way. He also has two double-digit seeds reaching the Sweet 16: 11 seed George Mason and 10 seed Vanderbilt.
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