• NCAA Interactive Bracket | PDF Bracket
The SIUE men's basketball team will be a No. 16 seed and play No. 1 seed Houston in the First Round of the 2025 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship.
The game will be played Thursday in Wichita, Kansas. Tip-time is set for 1 p.m. CT and the game will air on TBS. The winner will advance to play the winner of Gonzaga/Georgia.
SIUE (22-11, 13-7 OVC) is making its first Division I NCAA Tournament appearance since becoming a full Division I member in 2012-13.
The Cougars set a program record with 13 OVC victories this season, securing its first-ever winning season in OVC play. The team's 22 overall were are the most for the team at the Division I history and the squad earned the No. 2 seed in the OVC Tournament, its highest-ever. SIUE defeated Tennessee State and No. 1 seed Southeast Missouri to win the OVC Tournament Championship.
SIUE graduate guard Ray'Sean Taylor, the OVC Player of the Year, become the program's all-time leading scorer (1,952) during the OVC Title game; he was named MVP of the Tournament after scoring 24 points in the semifinal and 20 points in the title game.
Houston (30-4) won the Big 12 regular season and tournament championships. They enter the NCAA Tournament having won 13 games in a row. The Cougars advanced to the Final Four in 2021 and have reached at least the Sweet 16 each of the past five tournaments. Over that time period Houston has compiled a 13-5 record in the event.
OVC teams are 27-75 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, including picking up three victories in the past five tournaments.