The 2026 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament was an event involving 68 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the NCAA Division I men's college basketball national champion for the 2025–26 season. The 87th edition of the tournament began on March 17 and concluded with the championship game on April 6, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The Michigan Wolverines won their second title, and the first under Dusty May. It was Michigan’s first national championship since 1989, ending a streak of four straight title game defeats (two of which were vacated by the NCAA) for the Wolverines.
Atlantic Sun champion Queens and Western Athletic Conference (WAC) champion California Baptist made their tournament debuts. Queens qualified in its first year of eligibility, becoming only the fifth school since 1972 to achieve the feat.
Ohio Valley champion Tennessee State made its third-ever appearance, its first since 1994, while Big Sky champion Idaho made its first appearance since 1990. Coastal Athletic champion Hofstra made its first appearance since 2001. Mid-American Conference (MAC) champion Akron and Southland champion McNeese each made their third consecutive tournament appearance.
For the first time since 2022 there was a Philadelphia Big 5 school in the tournament, with both Villanova and Penn qualifying. Teams from 33 U.S. states and the District of Columbia participated.
For the second consecutive season, all top four seeds advanced to the second round. This was the first time since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985 that this had happened in consecutive seasons. The biggest upset in the first round was No. 5 seed Wisconsin losing to No. 12 seed High Point. Nebraska, High Point, Howard, and Prairie View A&M each earned their first ever tournament wins, although Howard and Prairie View A&M accomplished this in the First Four. Nebraska had previously been the only power conference team to have never won an NCAA tournament game. The average margin of victory in the first round was 17.4 points, the highest since the tournament expanded in 1985. This, coupled with higher seeds' tendency to win during the 2025 tournament, has led to a belief that mid-major programs are unable to compete with major conference programs in the NIL and transfer portal era. However, No. 1 overall seed Duke did get a challenge from No. 16 seed Siena, trailing by 13 points before recovering to win the game by six points. Additionally, for the 18th straight year, a double digit seed made the Sweet 16, although for the third consecutive year no 12-seed or lower team made the Sweet 16, and for the fourth consecutive year only one double digit seed made the Sweet 16. For the second straight season, no mid-major teams made the Sweet 16.
The Final Four comprised No. 1 seed Michigan, No. 1 seed Arizona, No. 2 seed Connecticut, and No. 3 seed Illinois. While Illinois was the lowest numbered seed to make the Final Four in two years, the Final Four was noted for not having a real Cinderella story.
This was the final tournament played under the 68-team format, as the NCAA voted to expand the tournament to 76 teams for the 2027 edition.
Tournament procedure
A total of 68 teams entered the 2026 tournament. Thirty-one automatic bids were awarded to each program that won its conference's tournament. The remaining 37 teams received at-large bids, with selections extended by the NCAA selection committee on Selection Sunday (March 15). The selection committee also seeded the entire field from 1 to 68.
Eight teams (the four-lowest seeded automatic qualifiers and the four lowest-seeded at large-teams) played in the First Four. The winners of these games advanced to the main tournament bracket.
+First four outNETSchoolConferenceRecord48OklahomaSEC19–1538Auburn17–1647San Diego StateMountain West22–1141IndianaBig Ten18–14
Schedule and venues
The following sites were selected to host each round of the 2026 tournament:
First Four March 17 and 18 University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio (Host: University of Dayton)
First and second rounds (Subregionals) March 19 and 21 KeyBank Center, Buffalo, New York (Hosts: Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, Canisius University, & Niagara University) Bon Secours Wellness Arena, Greenville, South Carolina (Hosts: Furman University & Southern Conference) Paycom Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (Host: Big 12 Conference) Moda Center, Portland, Oregon (Host: Oregon State University) March 20 and 22 Benchmark International Arena, Tampa, Florida (Host: University of South Florida) Xfinity Mobile Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Host: Saint Joseph's University) Viejas Arena San Diego, California (Host: San Diego State University) Enterprise Center St. Louis, Missouri (Host: Missouri Valley Conference)
Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight) March 26 and 28 South Regional Toyota Center, Houston, Texas (Host: Rice University) West Regional SAP Center, San Jose, California (Host: San Jose State University) March 27 and 29 Midwest Regional United Center, Chicago, Illinois (Host: Big Ten Conference) East Regional Capital One Arena, Washington, D.C. (Host: Georgetown University)
National semifinals and championship game (Final Four) April 4 and 6 Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, Indiana (Hosts: Horizon League and Indiana University Indianapolis)
Indianapolis will host the Final Four for the ninth time, having previously hosted in 2021.
Qualification and selection of teams
Automatic qualifiers Teams who won their conference championships (31) automatically qualify. +Automatic qualifiers in the 2026 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournamentConferenceTeamAppearanceLast bidAmerica EastUMBC 3rd2018AmericanSouth Florida4th2012Atlantic 10VCU21st2025ACCDuke 48th2025Atlantic SunQueens1stNeverBig 12Arizona40th2025Big EastSt. John's32nd2025Big SkyIdaho 5th1990Big SouthHigh Point2nd2025Big TenPurdue37th2025Big WestHawai’i6th2016CAAHofstra5th2001CUSAKennesaw State 2nd2023HorizonWright State5th2022Ivy LeaguePenn25th2018MAACSiena7th2010MACAkron8th2025MEACHoward 5th2024Missouri ValleyNorthern Iowa9th2016Mountain WestUtah State 26th2025NEC LIU8th2018Ohio ValleyTennessee State3rd 1994PatriotLehigh 6th2012SECArkansas37th2025SouthernFurman8th2023SouthlandMcNeese5th2025SWACPrairie View A&M3rd2019Summit LeagueNorth Dakota State5th2019Sun BeltTroy4th2025WACCalifornia Baptist1stNeverWCCGonzaga28th2025
Seeds
The tournament seeds and regions were determined through the NCAA basketball tournament selection process and were published by the selection committee after the brackets were released in March.
+East Regional – Capital One Arena, Washington, D.C.SeedSchoolConferenceRecordOverall seedBerth typeLast bid1DukeACC32–21Automatic20252 UConnBig East29–56At Large20253 Michigan StateBig Ten25–79At Large20254 KansasBig 1223–1015At Large20255 St. John'sBig East28–618Automatic20256 LouisvilleACC23–1023At Large20257 UCLABig Ten23–1128At Large20258 Ohio StateBig Ten21–1231At Large20229 TCUBig 1222–1134At Large202410 UCFBig 1221–1138At Large201911 South FloridaAmerican25–846Automatic201212 Northern IowaMissouri Valley23–1249Automatic201613 California BaptistWAC25–851AutomaticNever14 North Dakota StateSummit27–755Automatic201915 FurmanSouthern22–1261Automatic202316 SienaMAAC23–1163Automatic2010+West Regional – SAP Center, San Jose, CASeedSchoolConferenceRecordOverall seedBerth typeLast bid1ArizonaBig 1232–22Automatic20252PurdueBig Ten27–88Automatic20253GonzagaWCC30–311Automatic20254ArkansasSEC26–816Automatic20255WisconsinBig Ten24–1020At Large20256BYUBig 1223–1124At Large20257Miami (FL)ACC25–827At Large20238VillanovaBig East24–830At Large20229Utah StateMountain West28–633Automatic202510MissouriSEC20–1239At Large202511*TexasSEC18–1442At Large2025NC StateACC20–1341At Large202412High PointBig South30–450Automatic202513HawaiiBig West24–854Automatic201614Kennesaw StateCUSA21–1358Automatic202315QueensASUN21–1362AutomaticNever16LIUNEC24–1064Automatic2018+South Regional – Toyota Center, Houston, TXSeedSchoolConferenceRecordOverall seedBerth typeLast bid1FloridaSEC26–74At Large20252 HoustonBig 1228–65At Large20253 IllinoisBig Ten24–810At Large20254 NebraskaBig Ten26–613At Large20245 VanderbiltSEC26–817At Large20256 North CarolinaACC24–822At Large20257 Saint Mary'sWCC27–526At Large20258 ClemsonACC24–1029At Large20259 IowaBig Ten21–1236At Large202310 Texas A&MSEC21–1140At Large202511 VCUAtlantic 1027–745Automatic202512 McNeeseSouthland28–547Automatic202513 TroySun Belt22–1153Automatic202514 PennIvy18–1156Automatic201815 IdahoBig Sky21–1460Automatic199016* Prairie View A&MSWAC18–1768Automatic2019 LehighPatriot18–1667Automatic2012+Midwest Regional – United Center, Chicago, ILSeedSchoolConferenceRecordOverall seedBerth typeLast bid1MichiganBig Ten31–33At Large20252Iowa StateBig 1227–77At Large20253VirginiaACC29–512At Large20244AlabamaSEC23–914At Large20255Texas TechBig 1222–1019At Large20256 TennesseeSEC22–1121At Large20257KentuckySEC21–1325At Large20258 GeorgiaSEC22–1032At Large20259 Saint LouisAtlantic 1028–535At Large201910 Santa ClaraWCC26–837At Large199611* Miami (OH)MAC31–144At Large2007 SMUACC20–1343At Large201712 AkronMAC29–548Automatic202513 HofstraCAA24–1052Automatic200114 Wright StateHorizon23–1157Automatic202215 Tennessee StateOhio Valley23–959Automatic199416* UMBCAmerica East24–866Automatic2018 HowardMEAC23–1065Automatic2024 *See First Four Source:
Tournament bracket All times are listed in Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4). Games on CBS are also on Paramount+, while games on TBS, TNT, and truTV are also on HBO Max.
Game summaries
First Four – Dayton, Ohio
The First Four games involve eight teams: the four lowest-seeded automatic qualifiers and the four lowest-seeded at-large teams.
East regional – Washington, D.C.
East regional final
East regional all-tournament team
Tarris Reed (MOP) - UConn Cameron Boozer, Duke Cayden Boozer, Duke Zuby Ejiofor, St. John's Isaiah Evans, Duke
South regional – Houston, Texas
South regional final
South regional all-tournament team
Keaton Wagler (MOP) - Illinois David Mirković, Illinois Andrej Stojaković, Illinois Bennett Stirtz, Iowa Pryce Sandfort, Nebraska
West regional – San Jose, California
West regional final
West regional all-tournament team
Koa Peat (MOP) - Arizona Jaden Bradley, Arizona Trey Kaufman-Renn, Purdue Tramon Mark, Texas Braden Smith, Purdue
Midwest regional – Chicago, Illinois
Midwest regional final
Midwest regional all-tournament team
Yaxel Lendeborg (MOP) - Michigan Elliot Cadeau, Michigan Roddy Gayle Jr., Michigan Ja'Kobi Gillespie, Tennessee Labaron Philon Jr., Alabama
Final Four – Indianapolis, Indiana During the Final Four round, regardless of the seeds of the participating teams, the champion of the overall top seed's region (No. 2 UConn, East Region) plays against the champion of the fourth overall top seed's region (No. 3 Illinois Fighting Illini, South Region), and the champion of the second overall top seed's region (No. 1 Arizona Wildcats, West Region) plays against the champion of the third-ranked top seed's region (No. 1 Michigan Wolverines, Midwest Region).
Final Four (National semifinals)
National championship (Final)
Final Four all–tournament team
Elliot Cadeau – (MOP) Michigan Morez Johnson Jr. – Michigan Alex Karaban – UConn Aday Mara – Michigan Tarris Reed – UConn
Record by conference