NCAA Bracket 2026, Expert Bracketology and Predictions for Men's Tourney
The top portion of the 2026 NCAA men's basketball tournament bracket seems set with six days to go until Selection Sunday.
The Florida Gators overtook the UConn Huskies in most brackets after UConn was upset by the Marquette Golden Eagles.
The Duke Blue Devils, Arizona Wildcats and Michigan Wolverines are locked into No. 1 seeds at the moment. The real competition between those three teams during Championship Week will be the for the No. 1 overall seed.
Life at the bubble, which is always perilous this time of year, is stressful for a handful of teams, especially after little to no movement was made by bubble teams over the weekend.
No. 1 Seeds
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Florida's ascendancy to the No. 1 seed line has been a few weeks in the making.
The reigning national champion is one of the four No. 1 seeds in the bracket projections from ESPN's Joe Lunardi and CBS Sports.
UConn's average February, in which it lost the Big East regular-season title to St. John's, cost it a No. 1 seed going into Championship Week.
The Huskies likely have to win the Big East tournament and get some help from the SEC to move back to the top seed line.
Duke, Michigan and Arizona have all felt like locks for No. 1 seeds for over a month now.
No change is expected for those three and their seeds, even if they struggle at their respective conference tournaments.
Winning a conference tournament for any of the three could play a role in determining the No. 1 overall seed, though, which CBS Sports currently gives to Duke.
Bubble Teams
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CBS Sports' Matt Norlander pointed out on Saturday that 13 teams in the bubble conversation lost on Friday and Saturday.
The bubble is as soft as ever, so that means one or two results during Championship Week could sway the entire bracket picture.
Lunardi currently has Auburn as his "Last Team In" with Indiana, Virginia Tech, Stanford and New Mexico on the "First Four Out" line.
CBS Sports has Auburn on the "First Four Out" line with Oklahoma, California and New Mexico. Stanford is the "Last Team In" in that projection.
Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller has 10 teams in his bubble conversation, including the ACC quartet of NC State, Stanford, SMU and Virginia Tech.
SMU, Stanford and Virginia Tech all have to two games before they reach the quarterfinal stage of the ACC tournament, where quality wins are available to affect the bubble.
The goal for most bubble teams this week will be to avoid the bad losses in the early days of their respective conference tournaments.
Of course, quality wins will help any team's case, but they have to reach that point first to have a chance of earning a shocking result.
Then there's always the concern about bid stealers, but those potential threats won't emerge until later in Championship Week.
