Men’s Bracketology: 2026 NCAA Tournament
By Joe Lunardi Updated: 12/02/2025 at 9:00 a.m. ET
Welcome to the 2025-26 season! We’ll have updated Bracketology projections every Tuesday through the end of the calendar year, with twice-weekly updates beginning in early January.
Bracket Watch
Headline No. 1: The top of the Big Ten is really good, legitimizing the notion that this could be the season its national championship drought finally ends. Headline No. 2: Michigan is really, REALLY good, making the handful of us who picked the Wolverines to win it all feel positively splendid. They sit atop the season’s first NET rankings — and most others of note — after pulverizing potential NCAA tournament teams San Diego State, Auburn and Gonzaga by a combined 110 points at the Players Era Festival. It was arguably the greatest Feast Week performance we’ve ever seen, launching Michigan to the top of our first December bracket and positioning it to chase a 1-seed all season. For now, circle the third week of February: The Wolverines will face fellow top seeds Purdue and Duke back-to-back in a possible Final Four preview.
On the Bubble
68-Team Bracket
MIDWEST (CHICAGO)
Buffalo
Oklahoma City
Philadelphia
Oklahoma City
EAST (WASHINGTON D.C.)
Greenville
Tampa
St. Louis
Philadelphia
SOUTH (HOUSTON)
St. Louis
San Diego
Greenville
Portland
WEST (SAN JOSE)
San Diego
Tampa
Buffalo
Portland
Conference Breakdown
Photo illo by ESPN Illustration, additional photos courtesy of Getty Images, Associated Press, Imagn, USA TODAY Sports, Icon Sportswire, EPA/Shutterstock
