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.
East Region breakdown
Midwest Region breakdown
West Region breakdown
South Region bracket
No. 1 Florida vs. No. 16 Prairie View A&M/Lehigh
No. 8 Clemson vs. No. 9 Iowa
No. 5 Vanderbilt vs. No. 12 McNeese
No. 4 Nebraska vs. No. 13 Troy
No. 6 North Carolina vs. No. 11 VCU
No. 3 Illinois vs. No. 14 Penn
No. 7 Saint Mary’s vs. No. 10 Texas A&M
No. 2 Houston vs. No. 15 Idaho
Meet the No. 1 seed: Florida
Florida is unequivocally the weakest 1-seed. That doesn’t mean the Gators don’t deserve this spot; it just speaks to how good Duke, Arizona and Michigan were all season.
They hit a bit of a lull in December but found their stride from late January onward, winning 12 straight games until Vanderbilt dumped them out of the SEC Tournament. That game displayed some of the Gators’ spacing issues, but they are still the fourth-ranked team per KenPom with a top-10 offense and defense. The national champions are not to be slept on in this tournament.
Top challenger: No. 2 Houston
Houston had a true claim to the 1-seed spot that went to Florida; that’s why the Cougars are placed here as the fifth overall seed. The Cougars are the top challenger because they are just as good as Florida — even KenPom has them separated by just 0.36 points in his Net Rating.
The Cougars play their typical excellent defense, anchored by veterans in Milos Uzan, Emanuel Sharpe and JoJo Tugler. This year, they also feature two exciting freshmen: guard Kingston Flemmings, a potential top-five pick who leads the team in scoring, and Chris Cenac, a do-everything big man who gets better every single game.
Potential Cinderella: No. 11 VCU
VCU is a familiar Cinderella pick, but this is not based solely on reputation. For one thing, the Rams get a first-round matchup against a North Carolina team that will be without its best player for the rest of the season in Caleb Wilson. It just takes one win to build that belief.
The Rams also happen to be one of the hottest teams in America right now
Storyline to watch: Can Nebraska get its first NCAA Tournament win? How about more?
The Cornhuskers were always a football school, but this year, the men’s basketball team won its first 20 games. They tailed off a little from there, but they remain a major threat in this tournament behind a defense that ranks seventh in the country per KenPom.
Nebraska is in a great spot to get its first NCAA Tournament win in program history, but the sights have to be set higher than that. This is a team that deserves to be a top-four seed and is capable of beating any team in this region. Wouldn’t it be something for a team to get its first tournament win and first Final Four in the same season?
Best Round 1 matchup: No. 3 Illinois vs. No. 14 Penn
On one side here you have Illinois, the nation’s second-ranked offense per KenPom. The Illini have strong offensive players all over the roster — especially stud freshman guard Keaton Wagler, who bombs threes like no one’s business.
On the other side you have Penn, and we all know how fun an Ivy League underdog can be. There’s one guy who definitely won’t feel inferior to Illinois’ talent, and that’s junior forward TJ Power. Power played at both Duke and Virginia the last two years and led the Quakers to an upset over Yale in the Ivy League Tournament with 44 points on 26 shots, including 7-of-14 from three. He’s going to go after Illinois, and the Illini better be ready.
