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BRACKET BREAKDOWN: February 13th

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)
NJIT (AQ)
American Conference (1)
South Florida (AQ)
ASUN (1)
Austin Peay (AQ)
Atlantic 10 (1)
Saint Louis (AQ)
ACC (9)
Duke (AQ), Louisville, North Carolina, Clemson, SMU, Virginia, Miami, NC State, Virginia Tech
Big 12 (7)
Arizona (AQ), BYU, Texas Tech, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, UCF
Big East (3)
UConn (AQ), St. John’s, Villanova
Big Sky (1)
Portland State (AQ)
Big South (1)
Winthrop (AQ)
Big Ten (10)
Michigan (AQ), Illinois, Nebraska, Purdue, Michigan State, Iowa, USC, Wisconsin, UCLA, Indiana
Big West (1)
Hawaii (AQ)
CAA (1)
UNCW (AQ)
Conference-USA (1)
Liberty (AQ)
Horizon League (1)
Wright State (AQ)
Ivy League (1)
Harvard (AQ)
MAAC (1)
Merrimack (AQ)
MAC (1)
Miami (OH) (AQ)
MEAC (1)
Morgan State (AQ)
Missouri Valley (1)
Belmont (AQ)
Mountain West (1)
Utah State (1)
NEC (1)
LIU (AQ)
OVC (1)
UT Martin (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)
Appalachian State (AQ)
WCC (3)
Santa Clara (AQ), Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s
WAC (1)
Cal Baptist (AQ)

First Four Out

TCU, Ohio State, San Diego State, New Mexico

Top 16 Seeds

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

Five Things To Know

  • Purdue’s next five games — at Iowa, Michigan, Indiana, Michigan State, and at Ohio State — are all Quad 1 opportunities.
  • UConn will only have two Quad 1 opportunities — St. John’s and at Villanova — prior to the Big East Tournament.
  • TCU owns wins over Florida, Wisconsin, and Iowa State, but has lost to New Orleans, Notre Dame, and Utah. Anarchy? Nope. Just college basketball.
  • Saint Mary’s will close the regular season with back-to-back home games against Santa Clara and Gonzaga.
  • Saint Louis hasn’t earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament since 2014.

Leftovers