2025 March Madness: CBS's Clark Kellogg reveals favorite double-digit seeds in NCAA Tournament

Trying to figure out which double-digit seeds can go the farthest in the NCAA Tournament is always a gamble for diehard college basketball fans, especially when filling out their annual brackets.

Well, for CBS broadcaster and former NBA player Clark Kellogg, doing just that is a yearly passion project, regularly monitoring mid-major programs likely to draw those double-digit seeds throughout the regular season. And before the first round of NCAA Tournament games tip off Thursday and Friday, Kellogg identified four double-digit seeds — 11-seeded Drake, 12 seeds Liberty and Cal-San Diego and 13-seeded Yale — he believes have what it takes to make a true March Madness run.

Kellogg is especially high on the Yale Bulldogs (22-7), which opens NCAA Tournament play Thursday night (7:25 pm ET, TBS) against No. 4-seed Texas A&M (22-10) in the South Region.

“I really enjoy watching teams that are going to fall into double-digit seed lines, I watch them all season long for this time of year,” Kellogg told On3 in an exclusive interview Tuesday as part of a new March Madness promotion with Wendy’s. “The Yale Bulldogs at 13 won a game last year and they are maybe better this season, particularly with John Poulakidas, one of the great shooters in college basketball. I think he’s the best tough-shot maker in college basketball in my opinion, and I watch pretty much everybody.”

Kellogg and fellow CBS Sports broadcaster Ian Eagle spoke with On3 as part of a promotional partnership with Wendy’s, the home of the official hamburger of March Madness. CBS’s veteran broadcasting pair is featured in Wendy’s latest “Nothing Beats Fresh” promotional commercial highlighting the fast food restaurant’s famous “fresh, never frozen” beef patties.

Like many other March Madness prognosticators this March, Kellogg is also a massive fan of the defensive-minded UC-San Diego (30-4), which has been a hot 12-versus-5 upset pick against Big Ten Tournament champion Michigan (25-9) on Thursday night (10 pm ET, TBS) also out of the South Region.

“I love the UC-San Diego Tritons as well, that matchup with Michigan is one that really intrigues me because they turn teams over at a high clip,” Kellogg added. “They may be the best team, I know they’re Top 5 in turnover margin and might be No. 1 in turnover differential in the country. I know they lead in the nation in steals. So that matchup, because Michigan is prone to turning it over, intrigues me.”

Should both UC-San Diego and Yale win their first-round games Thursday night, they’d face each other Saturday in the Round of 32 with the potential to be the rare double-digit seed to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.

Kellogg also likes Drake‘s (30-3) chances as an 11th seed against sixth-seeded No. 23 Missouri (22-11) on Thursday night (7:35 pm ET, truTV), and believes 12th-seeded Liberty has a shot to open eyes Friday night (10:10 pm ET, truTV) against fifth-seeded and 25th-ranked Oregon (24-9).

“I love the Drake Bulldogs. Their style is deliberate, they’re good late shot clock, they’re better and more physical defensively than they look, and being able to slow down and frustrate a team that wants to play fast like Missouri fits right into their (hand),” Kellogg continued. “One other double-digit seed that I really, really like but I think they have a tough matchup is the Liberty Flames against Oregon. They’re highly efficient, one of the best defensive teams in the country in terms of points allowed.”

Calling the early-round CBS games from Raleigh, Ian Eagle won’t have many opportunities to cover double-digit upsets — unless, of course, top seeds Duke or Florida become just the second-ever No. 1 seed to lose their first-round matchups against a 16 — but the longtime broadcaster admits he’s no longer surprised by a 12-5 upset.

“What I’ve noticed through the years, the lines are blurring more than ever before. And the difference between a 5-12 is not like it used to be,” Eagle said. “The term ‘shock’ which is one I’ve used during the NCAA Tournament, I don’t even think it’s in my vocabulary any more, other than a 16-1, or a 15-2, I don’t think that word is associated with March Madness as much as it used to.”