This is ONLY December.
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 or was picked first in their respective conference’s preseason poll if they’re a mid-major will be listed as that league’s “automatic qualifier”.
The Current Field
Atlantic Sun (1)
Lipscomb (AQ)
America East (1)
Vermont (AQ)
American Athletic Conference (1)
Memphis (AQ)
Atlantic 10 (1)
VCU (AQ)
ACC (7)
Duke (AQ), Louisville, North Carolina, Clemson, SMU, Virginia, Miami
Big 12 (11)
Houston (AQ), BYU, Texas Tech, Arizona, Iowa State, Kansas, Baylor, Oklahoma State, Arizona State, TCU, UCF
Big East (3)
St. John’s (AQ), UConn, Seton Hall
Big Sky (1)
Portland State (AQ)
Big South (1)
Radford (AQ)
Big Ten (12)
Purdue (AQ), Michigan, Michigan State, Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Indiana, Nebraska, Iowa, USC, UCLA, Washington
Big West (1)
UC Santa Barbara (AQ)
CAA (1)
Towson (AQ)
Conference-USA (1)
Liberty (AQ)
Horizon League (1)
Milwaukee (AQ)
Ivy League (1)
Yale (AQ)
MAAC (1)
Quinnipiac (AQ)
MAC (1)
Kent State (AQ)
MEAC (1)
Norfolk State (AQ)
Missouri Valley (1)
Illinois State (AQ)
Mountain West (1)
Utah State (AQ)
NEC (1)
LIU (AQ)
OVC (1)
Little Rock (AQ)
Patriot League (1)
Colgate (AQ)
SEC (8)
Florida (AQ), Arkansas, Kentucky, Auburn, Alabama, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Georgia
Southern (1)
Chattanooga (AQ)
Southland (1)
Lamar (AQ)
SWAC (1)
Jackson State (AQ)
Summit (1)
St. Thomas (AQ)
Sun Belt (1)
James Madison (AQ)
WCC (2)
Gonzaga (AQ), Saint Mary’s
WAC (1)
Cal Baptist (AQ)
First Four Out
NC State, Butler, Colorado, Notre Dame
Top 16 Seeds
1: Michigan (No. 1 overall seed), Arizona, Duke, Iowa State
2: UConn, Purdue, Gonzaga, Michigan State
3: BYU, Alabama, Houston, Illinois
4: Louisville, North Carolina, Vanderbilt, Kansas
Five Things To Know
- Iowa State has never been a number one seed in the NCAA Tournament.
- UConn is 13-3 in the NCAA Tournament under Dan Hurley.
- The current rendition of the Big East has never had fewer than three teams advance to March Madness.
- Nebraska went up five spots in the NET after Wednesday night’s blowout win over Wisconsin. Every game matters!
- Vanderbilt has not won an outright SEC regular season title since the 1992-93 season.
Leftovers
- The Breakfast Buffet: Tobe Awaka, Nebraska’s defense, Texas/Kentucky
- INSIDE COLLEGE BASKETBALL NOW (1/20): Guest — Virginia’s Ryan Odom
- The Breakfast Buffet: Michigan returns home, Seton Hall/St. John’s, Kansas hits the road at Colorado
- INSIDE COLLEGE BASKETBALL NOW (1/19): Florida, Kentucky, The ACC, The Big East, JT Toppin, Darryn Peterson
- The Breakfast Buffet: Brad Brownell, Florida, St. John’s is thriving on the road
