March Madness is in full effect with the full NCAA Tournament bracket released! NBC Sports is taking you region by region for all the best storylines, matchups and Cinderella picks in the 2026 field.
Midwest Region breakdown
West Region breakdown
South Region breakdown
East Region bracket
No. 1 Duke vs. No. 16 Siena
No. 8 Ohio State vs. No. 9 TCU
No. 5 St. John’s vs. No. 12 Northern Iowa
No. 4 Kansas vs. No. 13 Cal Baptist
No. 6 Louisville vs. No. 11 South Florida
No. 3 Michigan State vs. No. 14 North Dakota State
No. 7 UCLA vs. No. 10 UCF
No. 2 UConn vs. No. 15 Furman
Meet the No. 1 seed: Duke
The top overall seed, the Blue Devils will be a popular pick to win it all, as they always are. But although it won the ACC Tournament, Duke is vulnerable due to injuries to starters Caleb Foster and Patrick Ngongba. There is no timeline for a return for either Foster (fractured foot) or Ngongba (foot soreness), although there is more optimism for Ngongba to return soon.
Those developments will be crucial, because Duke didn’t look like the same team without Foster and Ngongba, even as it won the ACC Tournament. Cameron Boozer still leads an immensely talented roster, but not being at full strength can cause major problems in the NCAA Tournament.
Top challenger: No. 5 St. John’s
The Red Storm have a reason to feel disrespected. They have won their last six games, including three straight double-digit victories in the Big East Tournament.
St. John’s capped their time at Madison Square Garden with a dominant, 20-point win over UConn to win a second consecutive Big East Tournament title. Zuby Ejiofor is playing as well as any big in the country for a team that plays as hard as any, and Rick Pitino knows how to navigate March Madness.
Potential Cinderella: No. 10 UCF
The East has the strongest top four seeds of any region by overall seed total, so this is a tough region to pick a double-digit seed to go far. That being said, the Knights have a few things going for them.
UCF has a very strong offense that ranks 40th in KenPom’s offensive efficiency metric, and they saw a lot of great teams this season playing in the Big 12. They are led on offense by two senior guards in Themus Fulks and Riley Kugel, and it’s always great to have experience in the backcourt in March. In addition, UConn, Michigan State, Kansas and Louisville are all teams coming off either uninspiring conference tournament runs or a big loss in those tournaments.
Storyline to watch: A legendary coaching slate
This is an incredible region for coaching storylines, specifically because so much of the old guard is here. You have Pitino and Dan Hurley eyeing a potential fourth matchup of the season in the Elite Eight, Bill Self hoping for a third career title and Tom Izzo gunning for championship No. 2.
Add onto that Jon Scheyer leading Duke as a member of the new guard, and the sidelines will be almost as fun to watch as the action between the lines.
Best Round 1 matchup: No. 4 Kansas vs. No. 13 Cal Baptist
This isn’t to say that Cal Baptist should be expected to win this game, but the Lancers could provide a good test for Kansas, and specifically star freshman Darryn Peterson.
Peterson has drawn a lot of attention for his combination of all-world talent and inconsistent playing schedule due to nagging injuries this season. He has dropped from being the clear favorite to go No. 1 overall in a stacked NBA draft class. Cal Baptist brings KenPom’s 50th-ranked defense in the country and will surely key in on the Jayhawks’ star guard.
