Updated Bracketology for 2026 March Madness After Kansas' Loss, Duke, UNC's Wins

No. 9 Kansas fell 74-56 at No. 5 Iowa State on Saturday, while No. 4 Duke defeated No. 20 Clemson (67-54) and No. 11 UNC handled business vs. Pitt (79-65) at home.

Here's a look at some updated bracket projections for those three teams after those results.

Entering Saturday, Bracket Matrix (a site that aggregates a wealth of bracket projections) had Kansas straddling the No. 2/No. 3 seed line. That certainly made sense considering that KU had just pulled off a major upset over No. 1 Arizona 82-78 last Monday (without star shooting guard Darryn Petersen no less).

A road win over Iowa State would have certainly put KU in the No. 2 seed discussion. However, the loss keeps Kansas as a No. 3 seed for now.

Duke entered Saturday firmly on the No. 1 seed line, per Bracket Matrix. More specifically, the Blue Devils were ranked third among No. 1 seeds behind Michigan and Arizona. They'll stay there, of course, after a strong win over the Tigers.

UNC defeated Duke last Saturday but then slipped up against Miami on the road. Most prognosticators had UNC on the No. 5 seed line entering Saturday, but the Tar Heels enjoyed a nice rebound at home against Pitt.

That was expected, though, especially with Pitt ranked No. 123 in the latest NET ranking. Therefore, the win probably only keeps UNC around that No. 5 seed line.

As far as the last four in and first four out go, ESPN's Joe Lunardi had UCLA, USC, Missouri and San Diego State in and Virginia Tech, TCU, Ohio State and New Mexico out in his projection entering Saturday.

Regarding the Saturday afternoon results, UCLA had a chance to make a statement at No. 2 Michigan on Saturday but fell 86-56. Virginia Tech fell further out of the tournament picture with a 92-69 home loss to Florida State (No. 95 in the NET).

TCU had a massive 95-92 overtime road win over Oklahoma State in a battle of two bubble teams, and that certainly keeps the Horned Frogs in strong consideration for an at-large bid. It's a tough loss for the Cowboys, who were in the "next four out" section of Lunardi's bubble.

ESPN's Joe Lunardi dropped a quick bracket update at 6:20 p.m. ET on Saturday. He updated the top four seed lines as well as the bubble. Duke remained at No. 1, and Kansas is at No. 3. UNC did not move into the top four.

UCLA remained in despite the loss, and TCU moved from "first four out" to "first four in."

Selection Sunday will take place on March 15 this season.