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BRACKET BREAKDOWN: February 20th

This is ONLY February.

Between now and Selection Sunday, each Friday during the regular season I’ll give a “BRACKET BREAKDOWN” with my 68 projected teams for the 2026 NCAA Tournament along with my Top 16 seeds as well as emerging trends.

The team who’s currently in first place in their respective league will be listed as that league’s “automatic qualifier”.

The Current Field

America East (1)
UMBC (AQ)
American Conference (1)
South Florida (AQ)
ASUN (1)
Austin Peay (AQ)
Atlantic 10 (1)
Saint Louis (AQ)
ACC (8)
Duke (AQ), Louisville, North Carolina, Clemson, SMU, Virginia, Miami, NC State
Big 12 (8)
Arizona (AQ), BYU, Texas Tech, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, UCF, TCU
Big East (3)
St. John’s (AQ), UConn, Villanova
Big Sky (1)
Portland State (AQ)
Big South (1)
High Point (AQ)
Big Ten (10)
Michigan (AQ), Illinois, Nebraska, Purdue, Michigan State, Iowa, USC, Wisconsin, UCLA, Indiana
Big West (1)
UC Irvine (AQ)
CAA (1)
UNCW (AQ)
Conference-USA (1)
Liberty (AQ)
Horizon League (1)
Wright State (AQ)
Ivy League (1)
Yale (AQ)
MAAC (1)
Merrimack (AQ)
MAC (1)
Miami (OH) (AQ)
MEAC (1)
Howard (AQ)
Missouri Valley (1)
Belmont (AQ)
Mountain West (1)
Utah State (1)
NEC (1)
LIU (AQ)
OVC (1)
SEMO (AQ)
Patriot League (1)
Navy (AQ)
SEC (11)
Florida (AQ), Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Kentucky, Auburn, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, Texas A&M, Texas, Missouri
Southern (1)
East Tennessee State (AQ)
Southland (1)
Stephen F. Austin (AQ)
SWAC (1)
Bethune Cookman (AQ)
Summit (1)
North Dakota State (AQ)
Sun Belt (1)
Troy (AQ)
WCC (3)
Gonzaga (AQ), Santa Clara, Saint Mary’s
WAC (1)
Cal Baptist (AQ)

First Four Out

Ohio State, San Diego State, New Mexico, VCU

Top 16 Seeds

1: Arizona (No. 1 overall seed), Michigan, Duke, Houston
2: Iowa State, UConn, Illinois, Purdue
3: Florida, Kansas, Nebraska, Gonzaga
4: Michigan State, Alabama, Virginia, Arkansas

Five Things To Know

  • The winner of Saturday’s game between Duke and Michigan in Washington D.C. will be in the pole position to be the top overall seed in the 2026 NCAA Tournament.
  • Could UConn’s loss to Creighton on Wednesday night be a blessing in disguise? Maybe. If the Huskies are a two seed in the East Region instead of the top seed in the South Region they’ll then play during the first two weekends of the NCAA Tournament in both Philadelphia and Washington D.C. instead of going outside of their geographic region.
  • Can Miami (OH) earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament if it doesn’t win the MAC Tournament in Cleveland? It will be the million dollar question during Championship Week. The Redhawks are currently 26-0.
  • Santa Clara likely needs to win its remaining three regular season games —- which includes a trip to Saint Mary’s — to be in good shape for an at-large bid prior to the WCC Tournament. The Broncos are currently 22-6.
  • The annual March Madness Bracket Preview Show will be on Saturday at 12:30 PM ET on CBS.

Leftovers