Bracketology is both the art and the science of looking at the resumes of 70+ teams and deciding which teams should be “in” and “out” of the NCAA Tournament field, not based on what I think, but based on the historical trends of the NCAA Selection Committee. Predicting what the Committee will do is often a difficult venture but that’s the fun and the challenge. I’ll be updating my bracket projection at least twice a week from here until Selection Sunday.
Here is my latest bracket projection of the 2025-2026 College Basketball Season. Once again, I will be taking part in The Bracket Matrix‘s annual bracket competition where I am ranked ahead of ESPN’s Joe Lunardi.
Projected Seed List
Bracket Date: 3/15 – Final
The highest remaining seeds in conference tournaments are projected as auto-bids and are listed in bold. Teams that have won their conference tournaments and secured an automatic are bold red. The last 4 in teams that play in the “First Four” play-in games are listed in italics.
1 seeds: Duke, Michigan, Arizona, Florida
2 seeds: Houston, UConn, Iowa St, Purdue
3 seeds: Michigan St, Illinois, Nebraska, Gonzaga
4 seeds: Vanderbilt, Virginia, Kansas, Alabama
5 seeds: Texas Tech, Arkansas, Wisconsin, St. John’s
6 seeds: Tennessee, North Carolina, Louisville, BYU
7 seeds: St. Mary’s, Kentucky, Miami (FL), UCLA
8 seeds: Clemson Georgia, Utah St, Villanova
9 seeds: TCU, St. Louis, UCF, Ohio State
10 seeds: Iowa, Texas A&M, Santa Clara, NC State
11 seeds: Miami (OH), Missouri, SMU, Texas, VCU, USF
12 seeds: McNeese, Akron, Northern Iowa, High Point
13 seeds: Cal Baptist, Hofstra, Hawaii, North Dakota St
14 seeds: Troy, Penn, Wright St, Kennesaw St
15 seeds: Idaho, Furman, Tennessee St, Siena
16 seeds: Queens, UMBC, Long Island, Howard, Lehigh, Prairie View A&M
The Bubble
Last 4 Byes: Iowa, Texas A&M, Santa Clara, NC State
Last 4 IN: Miami (OH), Missouri, SMU, (VCU), San Diego St
First 4 OUT: Texas, Auburn, Oklahoma, Oklahoma St
Next 4 OUT: New Mexico, Indiana, (South Florida), Florida St, Virginia Tech
Bid Stealer Potential: Dayton
Good luck in the NIT: Stanford, Belmont, Cincinnati, Boise St, Arizona St, California, USC, WVU, Wake Forest, Baylor, Colorado, Tulsa, Grand Canyon, Colorado, Nevada, Baylor
