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BRACKET BREAKDOWN: March 12th

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 (2)
Saint Louis (AQ), VCU
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)
Idaho (AQ)
Big South (1)
High Point (AQ)
Big Ten (9)
Michigan (AQ), Illinois, Nebraska, Purdue, Michigan State, Iowa, Wisconsin, UCLA, Ohio State
Big West (1)
UC Irvine (AQ)
CAA (1)
Hofstra (AQ)
Conference-USA (1)
Sam Houston (AQ)
Horizon League (1)
Wright State (AQ)
Ivy League (1)
Yale (AQ)
MAAC (1)
Siena (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)
McNeese (AQ)
SWAC (1)
Alabama A&M (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

New Mexico, Indiana, Stanford, San Diego State

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

  • Another historical thing that St. John’s is chasing this week? The Red Storm have never won the Big East Tournament in back-to-back seasons. Rick Pitino’s squad will face Providence this afternoon at Madison Square Garden.
  • AJ Dybantsa is averaging 33.5 points and 8.0 rebounds in BYU’s first two Big 12 Tournament games. The Cougars will face Houston later today in Kansas City.
  • Indiana has only played in 12 of the last 25 NCAA Tournaments since Bob Knight and the school parted ways in 2000. The Hoosiers are now also likely to be left out of the bracket following Wednesday night’s loss against Northwestern.
  • Eight out of the 15 teams that have already clinched automatic berths to the NCAA Tournaments did not win their respective regular season titles.
  • You know what NO ONE is saying if they’re objectively watching college basketball each and every night? “Let’s expand the NCAA Tournament.”

Leftovers