There was change at the top of this week's USA TODAY Sports Bracketology with Alabama rising to a No. 1 seed at the expense of SEC rival Tennessee.

Over at USA TODAY Sports, Alabama moved up to a No. 1 seed, replacing the Tennessee Volunteers in the latest projections from the three-man panel of Eddie Timanus, Erick Smith and Paul Myerberg. The trio see Nate Oats’ team facing projected MAAC champion Marist in a first-round game.

UConn and Kansas opened the 2024-25 season as the teams with the best odds of winning the 2025 NCAA Tournament. Those two programs were followed by Duke, Alabama, Houston to round out the top five. UConn currently has the 17th-shortest odds (45-1) to win the tournament,

LSU faces Alabama. Our college basketball odds series has our LSU Alabama prediction, odds and pick for Saturday.

Ole Miss, Missouri, Oklahoma, Vanderbilt and Texas also made USA TODAY Sports’ first projected field of 68, giving the SEC a total of 11 NCAA Tournament teams. Texas is the lowest-ranked seed and would be play in the First Four in Dayton, Ohio, in these projections.

Duke, Auburn, and Alabama lead championship odds with strong potential. Despite setbacks, missing the Final Four could disappoint given their depth and talent.