March Madness 2026: march madness 2026 — Michigan, Duke, Arizona top early bracket seeding preview
The NCAA selection committee’s three-weeks-out preview for march madness 2026 places Michigan as the No. 1 overall seed, with Duke, Arizona and Iowa State rounding out the top line. The committee unveiled its current top 16 men’s seeds on Saturday, three weeks and a day before the official bracket is announced on Selection Sunday.
March Madness 2026 seeding reveal
Iowa State edged out UConn for the final No. 1 seed in the selection committee’s three-weeks-out preview. The top line, in order, lists Michigan, Duke, Arizona and Iowa State. That placement — particularly Iowa State’s placement over Houston and Connecticut — was described as a surprise and “a lot more debate, ” committee chair and Sun Belt commissioner Keith Gill said on the CBS broadcast.
Top 16 seeds in order
The committee put UConn as the top No. 2 seed, joined by Houston, Illinois and Purdue, in that order. The No. 3 seeds, in order, are Florida, Kansas, Nebraska and Gonzaga. The No. 4 seeds, in order, are Texas Tech, Michigan State, Vanderbilt and Virginia. Gill said Alabama and Arkansas were the next closest teams to the top 16.
Regional lineups and matchups
Broken down by region, Michigan is in the Midwest Region and is joined by Houston, Florida and Virginia. Duke anchors the East, joined by Illinois, Kansas and Vanderbilt. Arizona heads the West, joined by Purdue, Gonzaga and Michigan State. Iowa State leads the South, joined by UConn, Nebraska and Texas Tech. Those regional groupings create projected paths that line Iowa State and Texas Tech up to play in the Sweet 16 in this bracket.
Injuries, balance and scheduling
The news this week of Texas Tech star JT Toppin’s season-ending knee injury was cited by Gill as a factor that dropped the Red Raiders one line. Gill also said UConn had been on the top line as of Wednesday, but the Huskies’ home loss to Creighton that night dropped them to the second line. Gill noted that Michigan and Michigan State were together in the Midwest initially, which would have created a potential third meeting in the Sweet 16 in Chicago. To balance total seeding values — the sum totals of the top four seeds in each region cannot differ by more than six from any other region — Michigan State was sent to the West and Virginia to the Midwest.
Mock brackets and media differences
The committee’s bracket differed from a mock media selection conducted this week in Indianapolis, which included The Athletic’s C. J. Moore among participants. The media mock had Houston as the fourth No. 1 seed, Alabama and Arkansas both as No. 4 seeds, and had Texas Tech and Vanderbilt out of the top 16. The 10th annual February unveil was described as an almost perfect preview of a marquee day of hoops — Houston on the top line would have set up all four projected No. 1 seeds facing each other later Saturday. The top two seeds Michigan and Duke were set to meet in Washington, with Arizona playing at Houston.
Photograph credit in the selection preview read David Purdy / Getty Images. A sidebar line in the preview asked readers to “Find the hidden link between sports terms. ”
Contributor note and site message
Joe Rexrode is identified in the preview as a senior writer for The Athletic covering college football; he previously worked at The Tennessean, Detroit Free Press and Lansing State Journal, and he covered the Pyeongchang, Rio and London Olympics for. The preview also included the directive to follow Joe on Twitter @joerexrode.
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Keith Gill’s characterization of the final No. 1 selection as having “a lot more debate, ” the placement shifts tied to JT Toppin’s season-ending knee injury, the explicit regional lineups and the committee’s timing — Saturday, three weeks and a day before Selection Sunday — are all part of the full three-weeks-out top-16 men’s seeding preview.
march madness 2026 remains at least three weeks away from an official bracket, and the selection committee’s current top 16 seeds set the early paths teams would follow if the tournament started today.
