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
Atlantic Sun (1)
Austin Peay (AQ)
America East (1)
Vermont (AQ)
American Conference (1)
Temple (AQ)
Atlantic 10 (1)
Saint Louis (AQ)
ACC (8)
Duke (AQ), Louisville, North Carolina, Clemson, SMU, Virginia, Miami, NC State
Big 12 (9)
Arizona (AQ), BYU, Texas Tech, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, Oklahoma State, TCU, UCF
Big East (4)
UConn (AQ), St. John’s, Villanova, Seton Hall
Big Sky (1)
Montana (AQ)
Big South (1)
High Point (AQ)
Big Ten (10)
Michigan (AQ), Purdue, Michigan State, Illinois, Ohio State, Nebraska, Iowa, USC, 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)
NC Central (AQ)
Missouri Valley (1)
Murray State (AQ)
Mountain West (1)
Utah State (AQ)
NEC (1)
LIU (AQ)
OVC (1)
SEMO (AQ)
Patriot League (1)
Navy (AQ)
SEC (10)
Vanderbilt (AQ), Florida, Arkansas, Kentucky, Auburn, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, LSU, Oklahoma
Southern (1)
East Tennessee State (AQ)
Southland (1)
Nicholls (AQ)
SWAC (1)
Grambling (AQ)
Summit (1)
North Dakota State (AQ)
Sun Belt (1)
Georgia Southern (AQ)
WCC (2)
Gonzaga (AQ), Saint Mary’s
WAC (1)
Utah Valley (AQ)
First Four Out
Baylor, Creighton, Missouri, Virginia Tech
Top 16 Seeds
1: Michigan (No. 1 overall seed), Arizona, UConn, Iowa State
2: Purdue, Duke, Gonzaga, Vanderbilt
3: Nebraska, BYU, Houston, Michigan State
4: North Carolina, Alabama, Illinois, Arkansas
Five Things To Know
- As of Thursday, five of the Top 12 teams in the NET — Michigan, Purdue, Michigan State, Nebraska, and Illinois — were from the Big Ten.
- Iowa State’s 15-0 start is the best in program history.
- BYU has never been a higher than a three seed in the NCAA Tournament.
- Jim Calhoun went to 18 NCAA Tournaments as UConn’s head coach. 11 of those appearances were as a one or two seed.
- Missouri went up 15 spots in the NET — from 82 to 67 — following Wednesday night’s win over Kentucky at Rupp Arena. Every game matters.
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
