March Madness 2026 Men's Tournament Schedule, Bracketology Predictions for Seeds

Check your calendars, folks. We've made it to madness season.

The 2025-26 men's college basketball season is racing toward the finish line, which means chaos is almost certainly just around the corner. In fact, we could see plenty of it even before the NCAA Tournament tips, as teams are still jostling for seeds and positions and clawing for the automatic invites attached to conference championships.

If you're a college hoops head, this is the most wonderful time of the year. And it shouldn't need any more build up, so let's dive right in.

NCAA Tournament Schedule

Selection Sunday: Sunday, March 15

First Four: March 17-18

First round: March 19-20

Second round: March 21-22

Sweet 16: March 26-27

Elite Eight: March 28-29

Final Four: April 4 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis

NCAA championship: April 6 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis

The Top Seeds

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At this time of year, it's dangerous to write anything in permanent ink. That said, bracketologists seem to believe the top four seeds are relatively set—and forever subject to change, of course.

Bracket picks posted on ESPN, CBS and Bracket Matrix all feature the same four schools in the No. 1 seeds: Duke, Michigan, Arizona and UConn. In fact, there's near consensus on the No. 2 seeds, too. Iowa State, Illinois and Purdue all reside there, and the only disagreement exists between Houston (ESPN and Bracket Matrix) and Florida (CBS).

With conference contests and tournaments still remaining, there's obviously time for this octet to change shape. Strong closes can push schools up the board, while a rough finish followed by an early exit in tournament play can send them the opposite direction.

That essentially gives just about every game left on the schedule huge stakes, but a certain collision seems bigger than most in this battle for a No. 1 seed. And that's the upcoming clash between No. 2 Arizona and No. 4 Iowa State on Monday, which could—should these clubs handle Kansas and Texas Tech, respectively, this weekend—basically serve as a head-to-head battle for a No. 1 seed.

Bubble Watch

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There might not be a ton of regular-season schedule left, but there's still enough to think the NCAA Tournament bubble is still a pretty big blob.

No projected double-digit seed should feel particularly safe about their position. Just like no one enduring a frustrating (but not disastrous) season should feel completely out of the race.

But if it helps attaching bubble status to specific schools already, then it's probably worth mentioning how both TCU and Santa Clara are listed among the last four in by both ESPN and CBS. Or how Ohio State draws the last-four-out designation at both places, too.

Again, though, there should be enough games on the docket to consider this control-your-destiny territory. These next couple of weeks will determine exactly how much a school ends up sweating on Selection Sunday.