March Madness bracket predictions 3.0: Projecting the Field of 68 for 2026 NCAA Tournament

March Madness bracket predictions 3.0: Projecting the Field of 68 for 2026 NCAA Tournament originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

How cool is college basketball right now?

This weekend, there are two matchups featuring the four teams we have projected as No. 1 seeds in our third men’s bracketology for the 2025-26 Men’s Basketball Tournament.

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It’s a mini Final Four weekend of sorts.

Arizona (23-2) travels to Houston (23-2) at 3 p.m. on ABC in a blockbuster Big 12 showdown. Both teams project as No. 1 seeds for now – but considering the Big 12 grind it will be tough to get there. It’s only the sixth meeting between the schools.

That is the appetizer for Michigan (24-1) vs. Duke (23-2) in the Edward Jones Capital Showcase in Washington D.C. at 6:30 p.m. The schools haven’t met since 2013. Will this be a national championship game preview – like it was in 1991-92?

USC, TCU, San Diego State and Santa Clara are our last four teams in. Missouri, Ohio State, New Mexico and Seton Hall are our first four teams out.

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This year’s Final Four is April 4-6 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Moved In: Appalachian State, Hawai’i, High Point, South Florida, TCU, Utah Tech

Moved out: Cal, Troy, Tulsa, UC-Irvine, Utah Valley, Winthrop

Who is in our latest Field of 68? A closer look:

* – Projected automatic bid
** – Last four in

NCAA tournament Field of 68 projections

No. 1 Seeds

*Michigan (24-1, 14-1 Big Ten)

Resume: KenPom 1, Net 1. The Wolverines average 90.6 points per game and are 9-0 in Quad 1 ahead of a blockbuster week with matchups against Purdue and Duke.

*Duke (23-2, 12-1 ACC)

Resume: KenPom: 2, Net: 2. Cameron Boozer (22.8 ppg.) ranks fourth in the nation in scoring – and the Blue Devils beat Clemson 67-54 on Saturday. Duke-Michigan is the marquee matchup of the week.

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*Arizona (23-2, 10-2 Big 12)

Resume: KenPom 3, Net 3. The…

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Publish date : 2026-02-17 01:58:00

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