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 (9)
Duke (AQ), Louisville, North Carolina, Clemson, SMU, Virginia, Miami, NC State, Cal
Big 12 (8)
Arizona (AQ), BYU, Texas Tech, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, UCF, TCU
Big East (3)
UConn (AQ), St. John’s, Villanova
Big Sky (1)
Portland State (AQ)
Big South (1)
High Point (AQ)
Big Ten (9)
Michigan (AQ), Illinois, Nebraska, Purdue, Michigan State, Iowa, 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)
Yale (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)
Morehead State (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)
Marshall (AQ)
WCC (3)
Gonzaga (AQ), Santa Clara, Saint Mary’s
WAC (1)
Utah Valley (AQ)
First Four Out
San Diego State, New Mexico, Ohio State, USC
Top 16 Seeds
1: Arizona (No. 1 overall seed), Michigan, Duke, UConn
2: Iowa State, Illinois, Purdue, Florida
3: Houston, Kansas, Nebraska, Gonzaga
4: Michigan State, Alabama, Virginia, Arkansas
Five Things To Know
- Florida earned its ninth Quad 1 win on Wednesday night at Texas. Only Duke, Michigan, and Arizona have more. Two of the Gators’ three remaining regular season games — Arkansas and at Kentucky — are in Quad 1 plus the SEC Tournament. Todd Golden’s squad is now a two seed in the bracket projection above.
- Gonzaga has been to each of the last 25 NCAA Tournaments under Mark Few. In 12 of those seasons, the Bulldogs were one of the top 16 seeds in the bracket.
- Ohio State hasn’t won an NCAA Tournament game since March 18, 2022.
- Only 19 of the 31 teams who won regular season titles last season earned an automatic qualifier by winning their respective conference tournaments.
- Grand Canyon and Nevada are both potential bid stealers to watch during the Mountain West Tournament in Las Vegas.
