2025 NCAA Tournament Survivor Pool Advice: Final Four Picks

NCAA Tournament Survivor Pools are fun, fast-paced contests, and we have picks and advice on how to navigate through the 2025 bracket.

(Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire)

Welcome to our 2025 NCAA tournament survivor pool column, where we will advise on strategies to employ in a survivor pool.

This article will support and frequently reference the NCAA Survivor Picks product data. We’ll update this article throughout the tournament, all the way to the final, since the tool doesn’t yet track your past picks or provide specific future pick path recommendations. We will put links to each round of commentary, with the newest strategic items at the top.

We’ll frequently refer to and break down the schedule grid—a key tool for those looking to balance their brackets and avoid running out of picks on a single day in the Elite Eight or one side of the bracket.

With the current scheduling format, teams that play on certain days during the first weekend might play on different days in the Regionals. That shift creates strategic advantages for those who plan accordingly.

Posting Schedule

Here’s the general plan. As the tournament progresses, we will update the list with links to the new sections as they are posted:

• Wednesday, March 19: First Round analysis
• Friday, March 21 by 6 pm ET: Second Round analysis for the Saturday games
• Saturday, March 22 by 5 pm ET: Sunday games added to the Second Round analysis
• Wednesday, March 26 by 1 pm ET: Sweet 16 analysis for all Regions on Thursday/Friday
• Saturday, March 29 by 10 am ET: Elite Eight analysis
• Thursday, April 3 by 10 am ET: Final Four analysis

2025 Final Four Pick Strategy

We have reached the Final Four, and your choices are far more limited if you are still alive. We will discuss some of what you should think about if you have an entry (or more) with options remaining.

The main thing is this: if you’ve followed our advice up to this point and still have two live teams to choose from, you’ve already won the hardest battle.

Now, each team combo comes with its level of risk and reward. Picking a popular favorite could mean a safer choice, but you’ll likely end up splitting the pot with more people. On the other hand, choosing an underdog brings more risk—but a win could lead to a much bigger share of the prize.

For Pools That Required an Elite Eight Pick on Each Day

If you played in a pool that required both a Saturday and Sunday pick in the Elite Eight pick, there is a real possibility that the pool will be decided at the Final Four games and not even get to the Title Game.