March Madness Bracket 2026
Get our free March Madness bracket predictions for the 2026 NCAA tournament. Win your work pool with our March Madness expert predictions. Our expert March Madness handicappers have compiled their thoughts, predictions, sleepers, and favorites to piece together their 2026 March Madness Bracket.
Once the 64-team March Madness Bracket is set, be sure to check out the field and each teams’ possible route to the National Championship Game. We will update the Bracket after each round of games so you can see how your bracket predictions are faring as the action plays out. Until the next Selection Sunday on March 15, 2026, you can see how the 2025 tournament played out in the bracket below.
How Does A March Madness Bracket Work?
March Madness is a phenomenon like no other, and the bracket has a lot to do with that. So what is a bracket, and how does it work?
The bracket will be set following the First Four matches, which are scheduled to take place on Tuesday and Wednesday 17th-18th March. This will lock in the final 4 teams to make the 64-team March Madness Bracket. Filling in a March Madness Bracket is something millions of people do each year, even those who don’t follow college basketball take part to try and defy the odds of a perfect bracket.
Being a single-elimination tournament, filling in your bracket is simple. Select who you think will win the first-round games, which then sets the Second Round matchups, the Elite Eight, and so on until you have your pick for National Champion. Filling in your bracket is simple, getting it right is far from it. With odds estimated of up to 9.2 Quintillion to one for a perfect bracket, you’ll need all the help you can to win your tournament. Check out our handy guide for March Madness Betting including common pitfalls, advice, and trends, throughout the entirety of the NCAA tournament.
2026 March Madness Bracket Predictions
Our team of expert March Madness and NCAA handicappers will be on hand leading up to and throughout the entire NCAA Men’s tournament. We’ll be breaking down our best March Madness Bracket predictions at each stage of the tournament to assist you with your 2026 March Madness bracket. Leaning on a wealth of Bracketology experience, the Pickswise expert analyze key statistics, trends, and data ahead of making our March Madness Bracket Predictions.
March Madness Bracket Picks
Making your NCAA Bracket picks is tricky, with odds of 9.2 quintillion to one for picking a perfect bracket it’s no surprise it’s never been achieved. That doesn’t mean you can’t win your competition, be it paid or for a bracket competition at work, Pickswise is here to help with all of your March Madness Bracket Picks. Our college basketball experts are experienced in all things March Madness Bracketology. Not only do we have our expert March Madness Picks for every game, but we also break down the biggest pitfalls, trends, and stats to consider before filling out a bracket of your own.
How did last year’s March Madness bracket play out
The 2025 NCAA men’s basketball tournament concluded with the Florida Gators claiming their third national championship, narrowly defeating the Houston Cougars 65–63 in the title game at the Alamodome in San Antonio. This year’s tournament was notable for its lack of early-round upsets, as all four No. 1 seeds—Florida, Houston, Duke, and Auburn—advanced to the Final Four, a rare occurrence only previously matched in 2008.
Florida, coming off an SEC tournament win and a 35–4 record, rallied from a 12-point deficit in the championship game. Houston, the Big 12 regular season and tournament champions, also entered with a 35–4 record and were seeking their first national title. The 2025 tournament set records for both SEC teams qualifying (14 of 16) and for the dominance of Power Four conferences in the Sweet 16. No team seeded lower than 12 advanced past the first round, and the higher-seeded team won every Sweet 16 and Elite Eight game, making this tournament one of the more upset-deprived in recent history.
What Teams Are In This Year's March Madness Bracket
The teams and the regions will be announced on Selection Sunday which is scheduled to take place on March 15th, 2026. By this point, we’ll already know the conference winners, but the remaining teams will be selected by the Selection Committee, who will also rank the teams 1-68 and set the First Four matchups.
Check back here following Selection Sunday for the updated 2026 March Madness Bracket and which teams are in this year’s tournament as well as our experts’ March Madness Best Bets.
When is March Madness’ Selection Sunday in 2026
Selection Sunday for the NCAA men’s basketball championship, also known as the start of March Madness is scheduled to take place on March 15 at 6 p.m ET.
College Basketball fans around the country will tune in to see if their team has won an at-large bid for the tournament and to see which seed they’ve been given, which sets the bracket and determines their route through to the National Championship game.
How Are The March Madness Teams Selected?
The field of 68 is determined on Selection Sunday, which takes place on March 17 this year. An NCAA selection committee is in charge of rounding out the entire field and deciding which seed each team will have.
Thirty-two teams receive automatic bids into the tournament because they won their conference’s postseason. Regardless of record or anything that took place in the regular season, conference tournament champs get invited to the Big Dance.
The selection committee then decides the final 36 teams that receive an at-large bid. Every teams’ regular-season resume is put under scrutiny to determine the best and most deserving teams to play in March Madness.
Instead of only involving 16th-seeded teams, the four play-ins will have at least two games between Nos. 11, 12, 13, or 14 seeds. These opening games are now known as the First Four and will decide the last teams to complete the bracket. The 2024 First Four will take place on March 19 and 20.