The Biggest Dance Week 1 Recap

The 2025 edition of the Biggest Dance is off to a hot start, and already, it’s clear that this year’s tournament will be filled with surprises, upsets and unforgettable moments to remind us why the Biggest Dance is perhaps the greatest sporting event ever conceived. As the Dancing commenced, all eyes were on the defending champions, the UConn Huskies, as they sought to make history as only the second program ever to three-peat. While the Huskies were off to a strong start, toppling #9 seed Oklahoma, seasoned vet Dan Hurley lost his footing and the Huskies were gobbled up by the Florida Gators in a nail-biting game ending 77-75. Florida’s victory is just one example of the Southeastern Conference’s dominance this year, as the SEC has set an NCAA record with 14 teams earning a bid in this year’s tournament. In fact, 7 SEC teams still remain in the Sweet 16.

Top seeds rarely wreck brackets, but they certainly left a few hopefuls wishing for a redo after #1 seeds: Auburn, Duke, Florida and Houston all flexed their dominance with commanding 20+ point victories in the first round. Eight unlucky dancers bet on a #1 seed falling in the first round—an admirable underdog spirit, but I couldn’t just let them get away that easy! So, here’s a roll call of the brackets that took a hit (feel free to roast or console accordingly on the BDBlog available at https://www.thebiggestdance.com/): LISH #2, LISH #3, erensenb, eschneck, armchairgyn, DinnerX2, Glittering Madness, Matt Valin, and Solid Gold Brotato. Yes, you read that correctly – “LISH” was so confident that the Alabama State Hornets would upset #1 seed Auburn that they needed TWO brackets predicting the loss!

At the top of the standings, Small Language Model leads the pack with 89 points, followed closely by Schieber and killercarrot with 87 and 83 points, respectively. Already pulling away, Small Language Model has correctly called Arkansas over St. John’s and BYU taking down Wisconsin, among other upsets, racking up 38 underdog points in the process. Small Language Model is showing off some serious prediction skills – we could be witnessing the birth of the next Deepseek, folks!

The most notable upset occurred when #2 seed St. John’s Red Storm fell to the #10 seeded Arkansas Razaorbacks in the second round – maybe having a real mascot gives you an edge? The upset left 36 dancers without a Tango partner (i.e. without a champion remaining in the pool). By the end of round two, 56 dancers watched their championship picks waltz out of contention, leaving 494 hopefuls still in the hunt for the coveted Biggest Dance Champion title—and, of course, the cash prize. We’re excited for the madness to continue as we gear up for the sweet 16 and elite 8 games later this week; the Dance floor is thinning—who’s got the moves to go all the way?

Best,

The Commissioner