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Power Ranking the Elite Eight Teams in the 2026 Men's NCAA Tournament
The 2026 men's NCAA tournament started out with 68 teams dreaming of immortality, but the field is now down to just eight realistic hopefuls who are three wins away from the ultimate prize.
We know what their seeds were on Selection Sunday, but that feels so long ago at this point.
How do the remaining teams now stack up?
One important thing to note: Difficulty of the path to the national championship has no bearing on this list. Rather, this could be considered a ranking of how we would reseed the remaining eight teams based on a combination of regular-season success and how great they looked through the first three rounds.
We'll examine how teams have played thus far, their Most Outstanding Player candidates and what they need to do to win it all.
8. Iowa Hawkeyes
1 of 8
Previous Rankings: Pre-Tournament (28), Before 2nd Round (28), Before Sweet 16 (16)
What We've Learned: Pre-tournament momentum is overrated.
There were quite a few teams who really backed their way into the dance before suddenly turning things around. Texas lost five of its final six games. Illinois dropped five of nine. Purdue lost six of 13. Yet, all three rallied to win their first three tournament games.
Perhaps most surprising of the bunch, however, has been Iowa.
Not only did the Hawkeyes go 3-7 in their final 10 games leading up to Selection Sunday, but they suffered a pair of reprehensible losses along the way to Maryland and Penn State. No other team left in the field suffered a single loss to a team outside the KenPom top 90, but Iowa stubbed its toe against Nos. 117 and 139 in the span of less than three weeks.
No matter. The Hawkeyes still shocked the college basketball world with their second-round upset of Florida before pulling off a come-from-behind win over Nebraska in which the Cornhuskers almost immediately led by 10 and never trailed until the final two minutes.
Considering Iowa's main mission in any game seems to be grinding things to a halt as often as possible and making sure that its opponent never gets into any sort of offensive rhythm, it's fitting that this team would debunk any notions about end-of-season momentum mattering in March.
Most Outstanding Player Candidate: Bennett Stirtz.
Alvaro Folgueiras has become the cult hero with at least 14 points off the bench in each of Iowa's first three games. However, Stirtz is clearly still the pick here. He had a brutal shooting night against Florida, but he always impacts the game anyway, sitting at a combined total of 120 minutes played, 49 points, 11 assists, one turnover and zero fouls.
X-Factor: Field-goal defense.
Because the Hawkeyes play at a slow tempo and generate a good number of turnovers, most people don't realize how mediocre their defense is. They've played in 12 games in which an opponent shot at least 50 percent from the field, which is something that has yet to happen to Arizona even once.
Championship Blueprint: Frustrate the opposition with the tempo, win the turnover battle and ride Bennett Stirtz's steady hand.
7. Tennessee Volunteers
2 of 8
Previous Rankings: Pre-Tournament (17), Before 2nd Round (13), Before Sweet 16 (12)
What We've Learned: The Volunteers are much more than just a two-man show.
The stars of the show for Tennessee are undeniably Ja'Kobi Gillespie and Nate Ament. They were the top two scorers in both the second-round win over Virginia and the Sweet 16 victory over Iowa State.
But the supporting cast has been phenomenal during this third consecutive run to the Elite Eight, which gives the Volunteers at least some hope of surviving what could be a remaining path of Michigan, Arizona and Duke.
Bishop Boswell out of seemingly nowhere has 17 assists over the past two games. Felix Okpara racked up 19 points, 18 rebounds and seven blocks in that pair of contests. Jaylen Carey was huge against the Cyclones, finishing with 11 points, 10 rebounds and four assists for his first double-double since December.
Frankly, though, the entire nine-man rotation has played a key role, even if that role is just playing around 15 minutes without doing any real damage to the cause.
We've also learned that this defense is still legit. It wasn't quite a peak Rick Barnes unit this season, especially toward the end there in the losses to Vanderbilt. But they've held their first three foes to 63.3 points.
Most Outstanding Player Candidate: Ja'Kobi Gillespie.
To put it lightly, Gillespie didn't have his best night against Iowa State. He shot just 2-for-11 from three-point range and tied season-worst marks in both assists and turnovers with two and five, respectively. However, that was after he went for 50 points and 15 assists between Tennessee's first two wins. And for the Vols to survive the Michigan juggernaut on Sunday, he's probably going to need to play the game of his life.
X-Factor: Putting the ball in the hoop.
Tennessee is the best offensive rebounding team in the country, averaging better than 13 per game thus far in the tournament. But the Vols wouldn't need to be so good at offensive rebounding if they could just, you know, stop missing so many shots in the first place.
Championship Blueprint: Relentlessly own the glass, get the dynamic duo of Gillespie and Ament going early and often and pray that this is the year the Final Four curse is finally broken.
6. Connecticut Huskies
3 of 8
Previous Rankings: Pre-Tournament (9), Before 2nd Round (10), Before Sweet 16 (9)
What We've Learned: Alex Karaban isn't ready to be done playing college basketball.
A key piece of both the 2023 and 2024 UConn title teams, Alex Karaban is closing in on 150 games played and north of 120 wins in his career.
But he's making darn sure that ride continues for as long as possible.
AK11 had 22 points in the opener against Furman that was a little too close for comfort. He scored a game-high 27 points in the second-round victory over UCLA. And he was all over the stat sheet in Friday's win over Michigan State, finishing with 17 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two blocks.
Karaban hit a massive three-pointer to give UConn a four-point lead with 100 seconds remaining. And with 22 seconds left in a one-point game, who else would the Huskies rather have going to the line for a one-and-one situation? He calmly stepped up and drained them both, helping to keep the Spartans at bay.
He's already a legend in Storrs, but he's doing some seriously heavy lifting in the twilight of his college career, seeking that third ring.
Most Outstanding Player Candidate: Tarris Reed Jr.
Yeah, we just talked up Karaban a ton, but UConn's real hero through what it hopes is the first half of a title run has been the big man. Reed's 31-point, 27-rebound game against Furman was unreal. He followed it up with 10 and 13 with three blocks against UCLA. And though the rebounds weren't there against Michigan State, Reed still had 20 points and four assists, including going 4-for-4 from the charity stripe in the final minute. Not too shabby for a 59 percent shooter.
X-Factor: Giveaways
In both of Connecticut's losses to St. John's, sloppy ball-handling was a major factor. The Huskies committed a combined total of 32 turnovers, leading to 44 Johnnies points. They also coughed the ball up 16 times in that atrocious loss to Marquette at the end of the regular season. And while it wasn't enough for UCLA to keep things interesting, 16 turnovers could have been a major problem in that second-round affair.
Championship Blueprint: Ride Reed and Karaban, hope that Silas Demary Jr. eventually shows up, scream at the officials like there is no tomorrow and try not to fumble the game away.
5. Purdue Boilermakers
4 of 8
Previous Rankings: Pre-Tournament (8), Before 2nd Round (7), Before Sweet 16 (6)
What We've Learned: Braden Smith does still enjoy scoring.
While chasing down Bobby Hurley for the NCAA's all-time assists record, Braden Smith was almost reluctant to call his own number. In the Big Ten tournament alone, he shot 10-for-35 from the field, going for a combined total of 29 points and 46 assists in those four games.
Now that the assists record has been broken, though, Smith seems to have remembered that he's also within shouting distance of 2,000 career points and that Purdue is at its best when he, too, is trying to score, if only because of what it does for their floor spacing.
In Purdue's wins over Queens, Miami (FL) and Texas, Smith shot 19-for-43, amassing 54 points and 21 assists. And when push came to shove at the end of the Sweet 16 game against the Longhorns, Smith was determined to do it himself with three driving layup attempts and a pair of free throws in the Boilermakers' final five possessions.
He hasn't gone full hero ball or anything like that. Smith will still kick it to an open teammate without a second thought, and that ball movement along the perimeter will be paramount in the quest to upset Arizona on Saturday. But it's been nice to see him featuring his dual-threat abilities again.
Most Outstanding Player Candidate: Trey Kaufman-Renn.
You could also easily go with Smith or Fletcher Loyer here, the latter making four three-pointers in each of Purdue's first three wins. But TKR has been the rock in the paint, going for at least 19 points and eight rebounds in each tournament game, including that game-winning tip-in against Texas. MOP tends to just boil down to who starred in the championship game, but that moment won't be soon forgotten.
X-Factor: Which Purdue defense shows up?
Purdue has had some serious stinkers on the defensive end of the floor. And we're not talking about early season, ancient history. In losing four of their final six regular season games, the Boilermakers allowed 346 points on 259 possessions, or 1.34 points per possession. And even with Jordan Pope playing on a broken foot and Tramon Mark getting hurt early in the second half before battling through it, Texas managed 77 points in a 61-possession game on Thursday night.
Championship Blueprint: Own the rebounding battle, leverage the most efficient offense in the country and dig deep for some defense down the stretch.
4. Illinois Fighting Illini
5 of 8
Previous Rankings: Pre-Tournament (6), Before 2nd Round (6), Before Sweet 16 (5)
What We've Learned: Illinois can play defense.
Illinois had a 12-game winning streak in the middle of the regular season, featuring road wins over Purdue, Nebraska and Iowa. It was a stretch in which Keaton Wagler evolved into a surefire lottery pick, but also a run that established the Illini as a viable threat to win it all.
But after holding 11 of those 12 foes to 70 points or fewer, this Illinois defense regressed into "No way we can trust them in March" territory. The Illini went 4-5 down the stretch. And though four of the losses did go into overtime, they allowed at least 84 points in all five of those games played against teams who ultimately made the tournament.
Lo and behold, they've had one of the stingiest defenses in this tournament, holding both VCU and Houston to 55 points. The Illini have done a phenomenal job of contesting shots without fouling, blocking 12 shots between those two games while only allowing 10 free-throw attempts thus far in this tournament. The Rams and Cougars also shot a combined 34.6 percent from the field against them.
Considering Illinois already had one of the most prolific offenses in the country, suddenly locking in on defense when it matters the most has been quite the development.
Most Outstanding Player Candidate: Keaton Wagler.
Through three games, the superstar freshman has averaged 15.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists, shooting 9-for-18 (50.0%) from three-point land. Not quite the 46-point spectacular that he had at Purdue back in late January, but he is the straw that stirs this drink.
X-Factor: Three-point percentage.
Heading into the tournament, 50.7 percent of Illinois' field-goal attempts had come from three-point range, connecting on 34.7 percent of them. Thus far, however, they've scaled it back a bit to 45.4 percent of shots coming from downtown, but they've improved their potency to 39.8 percent. Either way, they kind of need their triples, sitting at 17-1 when shooting at least 35 percent.
Championship Blueprint: Keep defending at this new-found elite level while continuing to connect on what is certain to be a lot of three-point attempts.
3. Duke Blue Devils
6 of 8
Previous Rankings: Pre-Tournament (1), Before 2nd Round (4), Before Sweet 16 (3)
What We've Learned: They're healthy(-ish).
Both starting point guard Caleb Foster and starting center Patrick Ngongba missed the ACC tournament and Duke's NCAA tournament opener against Siena due to foot/ankle injuries. And though Duke was the No. 1 overall seed, its ceiling felt a good bit lower with that duo on the shelf.
Ngongba returned in the second round against TCU, playing an important 13 minutes off the bench for a depleted Blue Devils frontcourt.
And less than three weeks after a foot surgery with an initial timeline of "maybe he can play in the Final Four," Foster was not only back for Duke's Sweet 16 showdown with St. John's, but the veteran hero the Blue Devils desperately needed.
Down 10 midway through the second half, Foster either scored or assisted on nine consecutive points. He also delivered a pair of late dagger buckets, scoring all 11 of his points in the final 15 minutes.
We'll see how that foot responds overnight and how available he is for the Elite Eight game on Sunday. But getting him back may have been the jolt this team needed to win it all.
Most Outstanding Player Candidate: Cameron Boozer.
Boozer's consistency is getting to be just plain laughable at this point, always going for something in the vicinity of 22 points, 10 rebounds and four assists. He had two points at halftime against TCU and still ended up with 19, 11 and four. St. John's threw everything it had at Boozer all night long, but he finished with 22, 10 and three. Somehow, some way, he always gets there.
X-Factor: Handling full-court pressure.
Having Foster back certainly helps on this front, but TCU had Duke flustered en route to 17 turnovers before St. John's put the Blue Devils in a vice grip. They only had nine giveaways in that game, but that was the X-factor. Only one of those turnovers came in the final 16:55, and it wasn't even a live-ball turnover. Can anyone left in the field turn that pressure back up on them?
Championship Blueprint: Limited the self-inflicted wounds, lock in on defense and get someone in Boozer's supporting cast—be it Foster, Ngongba or Isaiah Evans—into a groove.
2. Michigan Wolverines
7 of 8
Previous Rankings: Pre-Tournament (3), Before 2nd Round (3), Before Sweet 16 (2)
What We've Learned: The offense is more than fine without LJ Cason.
Michigan lost its backup point guard to a torn ACL on March 1, and immediately lost its mojo. The Wolverines had averaged 89.0 points in their first 29 games, but they were limited to 72 or fewer in four of their final five games leading into the NCAA tournament.
Sure, all five of those games were against teams who presently rank top 25 on KenPom, but it was enough of a drop off to make one think twice about what had been a season-long plan to at least pencil Michigan into the Final Four almost regardless of its draw on Selection Sunday.
So much for that nonsense, eh?
Michigan went for 101 in the opener against Howard, 95 in the second round against Saint Louis and 90 in the Sweet 16 victory over Alabama. The Wolverines shot better than 45 percent from three-point range in all three of those wins by double digits. And if they continue shooting like that, best of luck to everyone else.
Most Outstanding Player Candidate: Yaxel Lendeborg.
Because of how loaded Michigan is, Lendeborg hasn't always needed to be the star, scoring nine points or fewer on nine occasions this season. When he does decide to take over a game, though, mercy. He went for 23 points (on 12 shots), 12 rebounds and seven assists in what was always sure to be a high-scoring affair against the Crimson Tide.
X-Factor: Roddy Gayle Jr.
Gayle was averaging 10.5 points per game through Michigan's first 13 contests, but he scored in double figures just once over the course of the next 21 games. He went for 14 against Howard and 16 against Alabama, though, playing a key role in the Wolverines adjusting to life after Cason and starting to look like that unstoppable freight train once more.
Championship Blueprint: Limit the damage from a turnover margin that is negative far too often, and just dominate with efficient speed from that three-man frontcourt that has been the backbone all season long.
1. Arizona Wildcats
8 of 8
Previous Rankings: Pre-Tournament (2), Before 2nd Round (1), Before Sweet 16 (1)
What We've Learned: No three-point problems here.
Over the course of the full season, Arizona has relied on three-pointers less than every other team that made the NCAA tournament. Factoring in the non-dancers, only Texas State and Tarleton State ended up with a lower 3PA/FGA ratio.
That stood out as the one possible fly in the ointment for this wagon of a 7.5-man rotation: If they need threes, can they get them?
Well, the Wildcats have actually decreased their already uncommonly low rate of three-point attempts from 16.3 per game to 12.7, but they've made 47.4 percent of those attempts.
In particular, Brayden Burries has been on fire, going 9-for-12 from distance en route to scoring 57 points on just 28 field-goal attempts.
It's never going to be Arizona's go-to weapon. However, if any team left in the field had a thought about busting out some sort of old school "all five defenders have at least one foot in the paint" type of defense to slow the Wildcats down, they've shown that their perimeter prowess must be respected.
Most Outstanding Player Candidate: Jaden Bradley.
Bradley still has not been named the KenPom Game MVP of a single game in this entire season. However, the senior point guard is the heart and soul of this Arizona team, and the player who can almost always be counted upon to step up with a big bucket any time the going gets tough. He certainly was one who kept Utah State at bay when that second-round game started to get dicey.
X-Factor: Turnover margin.
It's usually not a big problem. Even when it is, they've typically been able to make up for it by dominating in the paint and on the glass. However, the Wildcats did have a minus-10 turnover margin between their last two games against Utah State and Arkansas. And if there's one thing that can derail a wagon, it's one of those spurts where getting a little loose with the ball sparks a 13-2 sort of run in the blink of an eye.
Championship Blueprint: Keep relying on old faithful with a force that ranks second in the nation in each of made two-pointers (24.6), made free throws (19.7) and total rebounds (42.8) per game.
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