March Madness 2026: NCAA tournament watch times, bracket news, first-round schedule, how to watch as Duke, Arizona, Michigan, Florida secure No. 1 seeds

The betting odds favor Michigan to win the nationwide title, adopted carefully by Duke and Arizona.

Here’s a full look at the top tournament favorites

2026 males’s NCAA tournament favorites

Oklahoma? Auburn? Indiana?

Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Eisenberg breaks down the groups that got here up painfully in need of making the NCAA tournament discipline and why.

Full story on tourney snubs

Here’s how all 68 groups broke down, in accordance to the NCAA tournament committee:

Multi-bid conferences

SEC: 10
Big Ten: 9
ACC 8
Big 12: 8
Big East: 3
WCC: 3
Atlantic 10: 2
MAC: 2

Here’s how the bubble groups shook out within the bracket:

Last 4 in

NC State
Texas
SMU
Miami (Ohio)

First 4 out

Oklahoma
Auburn
San Diego State
Indiana

The South area options a few geographic disadvantages for higher-seeded groups.

The area host is Houston, which means the No. 2 Cougars may meet No. 1 Florida within the Elite Eight only a few miles from campus. That can be a raucous setting towards Florida.

No. 3 Illinois, in the meantime, faces the prospect of taking part in No. 6 North Carolina in Greenville, South Carolina, within the second spherical. That can be a really, very pro-North Carolina crowd, except there have been sufficient Duke followers there to root towards the Tar Heels.

No. 1 Florida vs. No. 16 Prarie View A&M/Lehigh
No. 8 Clemson vs. No. 9 Iowa
No. 5 Vanderbilt vs. No. 12 McNeese
No. 4 Nebraska vs. No. 13 Troy
No. 6 North Carolina vs. No. 11 VCU
No. 3 Illinois vs. No. 14 Penn
No. 7 Saint Mary’s vs. No. 10 Texas A&M
No. 2 Houston vs. No. 15 Idaho

You could make a case for any variety of groups behind Michigan to get to the Elite Eight — and possibly even the Final Four — within the Midwest area.

St. Louis goes to be an extremely widespread place within the first spherical given Iowa State and Kentucky additionally taking part in there. That’s going to be the most costly ticket amongst any of the eight subregional websites.

No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 16 UMBC/Howard
No. 8 Georgia vs. No. 9 Saint Louis
No. 5 Texas Tech vs. No. 12 Akron
No. 4 Alabama vs. No. 13 Hofstra
No. 6 Tennessee vs. No. 11 SMU/Miami (Ohio)
No. 3 Virginia vs. No. 14 Wright State
No. 7 Kentucky vs. No. 10 Santa Clara
No. 2 Iowa State vs. No. 15 Tennessee State

The Boilermakers’ Big Ten tournament run clearly impressed the committee … and Purdue may find yourself taking part in a de facto street sport within the second spherical.

No. 10 Missouri was a bubble crew getting into the tournament. Not solely are the Tigers avoiding having to go to Dayton, they’ll be taking part in No. 7 Miami in St. Louis. That’s a head-scratching location resolution by the committee.

No. 1 Arizona vs. No. 16 LIU
No. 8 Villanova vs. No. 9 Utah State
No. 5 Wisconsin vs. No. 12 High Point
No. 4 Arkansas vs. No. 13 Hawaii
No. 6 BYU vs. No. 11 Texas/NC State
No. 3 Gonzaga vs. No. 14 Kennesaw State
No. 7 Miami (Florida) vs. No. 10 Missouri
No. 2 Purdue vs. No. 15 Queens

The Red Storm may have simply been a No. 4 after beating UConn on Saturday evening. UConn, in the meantime, can also be in that area. And despite the fact that Duke would be the prohibitive favourite to win the area and make the Final Four, don’t completely rule out one other UConn-St. John’s sport within the Elite Eight.

No. 1 Duke vs. No. 16 Siena
No. 8 Ohio State vs. No. 9 TCU
No. 5 St. John’s vs. No. 12 Northern Iowa
No. 4 Kansas vs. No. 13 Cal Baptist
No. 6 Louisville vs. No. 11 South Florida
No. 3 Michigan State vs. No. 14 North Dakota State
No. 7 UCLA vs. No. 10 UCF
No. 2 UConn vs. No. 15 Furman

No shock right here, however the Blue Devils are the highest seed within the NCAA tournament.

We are moments away from the choice present now!

Who will secure the final No. 1 seed? 

The large query after Florida’s SEC semifinal flop against Vanderbilt on Saturday afternoon was whether or not the Gators had value themselves the ultimate No. 1 seed.

Did they open the door for UConn or Houston to leapfrog them and be a part of Duke, Michigan and Arizona on the NCAA tournament’s high seed line?

Only just a few hours later, Florida may breathe a bit of simpler. Neither UConn nor Houston was in a position to seize its alternative, and St. John’s avenged a recent blowout loss to the Huskies in the Big East title game on the identical time as foul-plagued Arizona outlasted the Cougars to halt their impressive Big 12 tournament run.

What which means is Florida must be mailing thank-you playing cards to the Johnnies and Wildcats. The Gators seem to have maintained a slender edge over each UConn and Houston regardless of exiting the SEC tournament with only a single win.

South Florida may have discovered itself on the mistaken aspect of the bubble had it misplaced the American title sport, however the Bulls are in and can in all probability be a No. 10 or No. 11 seed as the American champion.

Wichita State’s solely actual hope to make the tournament was to beat the Bulls on Sunday.

VCU’s win over Dayton within the A-10 title sport additionally made groups on the bubble breathe simpler. The Flyers would have been an authorized bid stealer with a win, and VCU would have been firmly within the combine for one of many ultimate at-large spots.

Every March, there are just a few NCAA tournament groups which might be obviously extra harmful than their seed suggests.

It is likely to be a juggernaut No. 1 seed that’s the overwhelming favourite to win all of it. Or a mid-tier crew that struggled early however is peaking getting into March. Or a tournament-proven-but-criminally-underseeded mid-major with a historical past of creating life depressing for extremely touted groups from an influence convention.

The goal of this now-annual column is to establish these potential opponents that NCAA tournament groups ought to need to keep away from in any respect prices. Two years in the past, we took some big swings that did not actually pan out. Last 12 months, we correctly called out BYU as a scorching-hot No. 6 seed and Gonzaga and UConn as terrifying No. 8 seeds. The Cougars upset Wisconsin to advance to the Sweet 16, whereas the Zags and Huskies gave Houston and Florida possibly their greatest scares earlier than the Final Four.

We’ll hope for more hits than misses this year.

The Bulls are dancing after profitable the American convention title sport over Wichita State on Sunday.

That wraps up all the automatic bids for the tournament.