College Hoops Today

Serving College Basketball 365 Days a Year

BRACKET BREAKDOWN: March 10th

This is March.

Between now and Selection Sunday, every day 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”.

Teams that have already clinched an automatic berth will be listed in BOLD.

The Current Field

America East (1)
UMBC (AQ)
American Conference (1)
South Florida (AQ)
ASUN (1)
Queens (AQ)
Atlantic 10 (1)
Saint Louis (AQ)
ACC (8)
Duke (AQ), Louisville, North Carolina, Clemson, SMU, Virginia, Miami, NC State
Big 12 (8)
Arizona (AQ), BYU, Texas Tech, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, UCF, TCU
Big East (3)
St. John’s (AQ), UConn, Villanova
Big Sky (1)
Portland State (AQ)
Big South (1)
High Point (AQ)
Big Ten (10)
Michigan (AQ), Illinois, Nebraska, Purdue, Michigan State, Iowa, Wisconsin, UCLA, Indiana, Ohio State
Big West (1)
UC Irvine (AQ)
CAA (1)
Hofstra (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)
Howard (AQ)
Missouri Valley (1)
Northern Iowa (AQ)
Mountain West (1)
Utah State (1)
NEC (1)
LIU (AQ)
OVC (1)
Tennessee State (AQ)
Patriot League (1)
Lehigh (AQ)
SEC (11)
Florida (AQ), Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Kentucky, Auburn, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, Texas A&M, Texas, Missouri
Southern (1)
Furman (AQ)
Southland (1)
Stephen F. Austin (AQ)
SWAC (1)
Bethune Cookman (AQ)
Summit (1)
North Dakota State (AQ)
Sun Belt (1)
Troy (AQ)
WCC (3)
Gonzaga (AQ), Santa Clara, Saint Mary’s
WAC (1)
Utah Valley (AQ)

First Four Out

VCU, Stanford, Virginia Tech, New Mexico

Top 16 Seeds

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

Five Things To Know

  • The four number one seeds in the bracket projection above — Duke, Michigan, Arizona, and Florida — are the only teams in college basketball to have 11 or more Quad 1 wins.
  • Houston can jump UConn and be the top two seed in the NCAA Tournament if it wins the Big 12 Tournament this week in Kansas City. Why is that so important? If that happens, the Cougars will be in the South Region, which means Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games at the Toyota Center in Downtown Houston during the second weekend of March Madness.
  • Santa Clara’s win over Saint Mary’s on Monday night means that the WCC likely have as many NCAA Tournament teams in 2026 — three — as the Big East.
  • Five No. 1 seeds — Central Arkansas (ASUN), UNCW (CAA), Belmont (MVC), Navy (Patriot), and East Tennessee State (SOCON) — have already been eliminated from their respective conference tournaments.
  • Click HERE to view College Hoops Today’s list of five bid stealers to watch during Championship Week.

Leftovers