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BRACKET BREAKDOWN: January 30th

This is ONLY January.

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)
Vermont (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 (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 (11)
Michigan (AQ), Nebraska, Purdue, Michigan State, Illinois, Ohio State, Iowa, USC, Wisconsin, UCLA, Indiana
Big West (1)
UC Irvine (AQ)
CAA (1)
UNC Wilmington (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)
Maryland Eastern Shore (AQ)
Missouri Valley (1)
Belmont (AQ)
Mountain West (2)
San Diego State (AQ), Utah State
NEC (1)
LIU (AQ)
OVC (1)
UT Martin (AQ)
Patriot League (1)
Navy (AQ)
SEC (11)
Texas A&M (AQ), Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Kentucky, Auburn, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Missouri, Texas
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 (2)
Gonzaga (AQ), Saint Mary’s
WAC (1)
UT Arlington (AQ)

First Four Out

Virginia Tech, New Mexico, Seton Hall, Santa Clara

Top 16 Seeds

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

Five Things To Know

  • All four of Arizona’s trips to the Final Four — 1988, 1994, 1997, and 2001 — have all come under Lute Olson.
  • Duke and UConn are in an arms race for the top seed in the East Region on Selection Sunday, but the Blue Devils have more opportunities to improve their standing in the ACC than the Huskies do in the Big East. Duke will also play a non-conference game against Michigan in February in Washington D.C.
  • St. John’s is on the verge of back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time since 1999 and 2000.
  • Ohio State hasn’t reached the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament since 2013.
  • New Mexico is the second team out in the bracket projection above, but has three regular season games remaining against both San Diego State and Utah State.

Leftovers