UCF will not appear in March Madness bracket for 2025 NCAA Tournament

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UCF Knights basketball: Darius Johnson talks Senior Night vs. OK State

In his final home game as a UCF basketball player, senior Darius Johnson scored a career-high 36 points, leading the Knights past Oklahoma State.

UCF will not be part of the NCAA Tournament bracket reveal on Selection Sunday.A seven-game losing streak in January and February derailed the Knights’ hopes for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Selection Sunday has arrived. In Orlando, it will play out without any fanfare.

The UCF Knights will not hear their name called when the 68-team NCAA Tournament bracket is unveiled on CBS at 6 p.m. 

After losing to Kansas 98-94 in overtime Wednesday and falling out of the Big 12 Tournament, they sit in a kind of purgatory. With a 17-16 record, their season could be over.

Or they could still end up in a postseason event of some sort.

Last year, UCF participated in the National Invitation Tournament. That could be a possibility again. There is also a new 16-team showcase starting this year — the College Basketball Crown — that guarantees two spots for Big 12 squads.

The list of participants in those tournaments will be released after the March Madness field.

A seven-game losing streak during the middle of conference season killed the Knights’ chances of dancing.

In mid-January, they were a trendy pick to make the bracket. They had collected Quad 1 victories over Texas A&M and Texas Tech. They sped through their non-conference slate at 10-2.

After crushing TCU on Jan. 25, UCF held a 4-4 record in the Big 12 and 14-6 mark overall. 

Then, it all crumbled.

Consecutive losses to Kansas, BYU, Cincinnati, Baylor, Iowa State, Colorado and Oklahoma State followed. The Knights didn’t claim their next win until Feb. 23 against Utah. Counting that contest, they finished the regular season 3-2 over their last five games, but the damage was done.

Their final Big 12 record: 7-13. They were the 14th seed in the conference tourney.

UCF gave up more than 90 points four times during the…

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Publish date : 2025-03-16 09:11:00

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