Predicting upsets in March Madness 2026

Last year may have been the chalkiest NCAA March Madness Tournament on record. No teams seeded 1-4 lost in the first round. Only two 5-seeds and one 6-seed bit the dust in the round of 64. It was a tournament that was distinctly devoid of upsets and Cinderellas. This year, I think the bracket will play out much differently. There are enough characteristics among the underdogs (and the overdogs) that make me think there’s a potential for a bunch of upsets. Here are my favorites.

MORE: Predicting the winner of March Madness 2026

Advertisement

13 Hofstra over 4 Alabama

Dec 13, 2025; Syracuse, New York, USA; Hofstra Pride guard Preston Edmead (1) dribbles against the Syracuse Orange in the first half at the JMA Wireless Dome. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

There’s a little bit of uncertainty surrounding the Crimson Tide at the moment, as starting guard Aden Holloway is going to be away from the team indefinitely. This is going to put a lot on the plate of Labaron Philon against Hofstra’s drop coverage defense, and Hofstra has a pair of killer guards in their own right with Cruz Davis and Preston Edmead.

13 Troy over 4 Nebraska

I’ve been on the record for saying that Nebraska is ripe to be upset – they are overly reliant on the 3-point shot offensively, not an overly big or elite rebounding team, and are coming in with mediocre form. On the other side, Troy has one of the nation’s most unique players in point forward Victor Valdes, and they’ve actually beaten two top-65 opponents in San Diego State and Akron.

Advertisement

12 Akron over 5 Texas Tech

This is all about the injury to JT Toppin – without him, Texas Tech lacks size and interior scoring, which would make them really hard to be upset by a lesser opponent if he were active. As it stands, they are overly reliant on the perimeter shotmaking from Christian Anderson and Donovan Atwell, and that’s a dangerous place to be, as one cold shooting night could spell doom – especially against as offensively…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/predicting-upsets-march-madness-2026-175623151.html

Author :

Publish date : 2026-03-17 17:56:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.