March Madness bracket predictions: Expert picks, upsets, winners, odds and more for 2026 NCAA Tournament

March Madness bracket predictions: Expert picks, upsets, winners, odds and more for 2026 NCAA Tournament originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The 2026 NCAA Tournament is finally upon us. The first round of March Madness matchups will begin Thursday, which means you have mere hours to submit a bracket to that person in the office who organizes the pool every year and sends a dozen e-mails about it in the process.

We at The Sporting News have put together plenty of content to help prepare you to make relatively educated decisions when filling out your bracket — and to enjoy the tournament in general.

Here’s a roundup of our March Madness bracket predictions, regional previews, upset picks, tournament odds and more to help guide you through the NCAA Tournament.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Expert bracket predictions

Printable 2026 March Madness bracket

You can get a printable NCAA Tournament bracket here to fill out before and during tournament play. The Sporting News will continue to update the bracket as games are played.

Printable March Madness bracket 2026 (first four)

Download Sporting News’ printable NCAA Tournament bracket (PDF) by clicking here.

MARCH MADNESS HQ:Live NCAA bracket | TV schedule | Women’s bracket

Who will win the NCAA Tournament in 2026?

Duke opened with the best odds to win March Madness in 2026 at +300, according to the DraftKings sportsbook. That makes sense, as the No. 1 overall seed is widely considered the consensus favorite, led by SN Player of the Year Cameron Boozer.

But one bit of caution when picking Duke: starting point guard Caleb Foster is out indefinitely with an injury and the East Region includes a who’s who list of blue blood championship coaches waiting to knock off the Blue Devils — Rick Pitino, Bill Self, Tom Izzo, Mick Cronin and Dan Hurley are all in the same “region of death.”

No. 3 overall seed Michigan (+360) has the second-best odds ahead of No. 2 Arizona (+390) and defending champion No. 4 Florida (+750), which has the longest odds among the No. 1 seeds. The next tier of Houston, Iowa State, Illinois and UConn are slightly sneakier bets to win it all but still have the high-end talent to erase the chalk.

A team seeded 3 or lower has won the NCAA Tournament only six times since 1990, but it’s always possible — despite last year’s chalky Final Four. The lowest seed to win the NCAA Tournament was No. 8 Villanova in 1985.

March Madness odds 2026

Team

Odds

Duke

+300

Michigan

+360

Arizona

+390

Florida

+750

Houston

+1000

Iowa State

+1500

Illinois

+1900

UConn

+2500

Purdue

+2500

Michigan State

+4000

You can check out the opening odds for the entire field of 68 here.

March Madness bracket predictions 2026

It wouldn’t be enough to have just one expert tell you who they think will win it all, so we got several writers (and a robot!) to submit their NCAA Tournament predictions to help you deflect blame when your bracket busts in the first round. Here are our experts’ picks to reach the 2026 Final Four with links to their full bracket analysis.

Mike DeCourcy: St. John’s, Arizona, Iowa State, Houston

Bill Bender: Duke, Arizona, Michigan, Illinois

Vinnie Iyer: Duke, Arizona, Iowa State, Houston

Gemini (A.I.): Duke, Arizona, Iowa State, Florida

More expert brackets: Check out Jay Bilas, Dick Vitale, Joe Lunardi and more bracketologist breakdowns in our bracket roundup.

MORE: 5 proven strategies to help win your March Madness pool

The Sporting News’ experts are also breaking down individual game matchups to help make sense of the biggest toss-ups across your bracket:

EAST

WEST

MIDWEST

SOUTH

March Madness upset predictions

Upsets in the NCAA Tournament are never easy to predict. If they were, it wouldn’t be called March Madness. However, there are always at least a few under-seeded teams every year that pull off an upset or two in the first weekend and go on a Cinderella run. It’s just a matter of uncovering them.

The Sporting News’ Bill Bender broke down his sleeper teams most likely to pull off an upset in 2026:

No. 11 VCU (27-7)

Phil Martelli Jr. led the Rams to the Atlantic 10 tournament championship. The Rams slipped into the tournament — and they have only lost a game since Jan. 14. VCU played a non-conference schedule that included close losses to NC State and New Mexico, and they beat Virginia Tech. VCU has seven players who score at least seven points per game, led by Terrence Hill Jr. (14.4 ppg.). VCU has a tough matchup against No. 6 North Carolina, who remains a high-level team even without Caleb Wilson. If VCU can win that one, however, then it could get interesting. -Bill Bender

No. 10 Santa Clara (26-8)

The Broncos haven’t been in the NCAA tournament since the Steve Nash heyday of the 1990s. Those teams had two first-round upsets in three appearances. This year’s Santa Clara team — led by veteran coach Herb Sendek — ranks sixth in the nation in field-goal attempts and 14th in 3-point attempts. They played tough against Gonzaga in those three losses, and guard Christian Hammond (15.8 ppg.) shoots 40% from 3-point range. This would require knocking out No. 7 Kentucky in the first round before a potential matchup against No. 2 Iowa State — but this is an attractive double-digit seed worth watching. -Bill Bender

Read the rest of Sporting News’ sleeper picks here.

HISTORY OF UPSETS BY SEED:16 vs. 1 | 15 vs. 2 | 14 vs. 3 | 13 vs. 4 | 12 vs. 5

NCAA bracket region guides

If simple picks aren’t your cup of tea, SN’s Mike DeCourcy has gone ahead and broken down all four of the bracket’s regions for some in-depth analysis of the best storylines, most likely upsets and more. We’ve also got stats and sleepers that could decide each region.

East Region: No. 1 overall seed Duke faces a gauntlet on its road to the Final Four. This year’s “region of death” features Rick Pitino, Bill Self, Tom Izzo, Mick Cronin and Dan Hurley. Combined, these blue blood coaches have seven national championships between them in the East.

West Region: The Big 12 was college basketball’s best conference in 2025-26, so its champion, No. 1 seed Arizona, is plenty battle tested. This region also includes Big Ten champ Purdue, SEC champ Arkansas and a 6-seeded BYU led by AJ Dybantsa. Nine of the nation’s top 30 scoring offenses are located in the West.

Midwest Region: Like Duke, No. 1 seed Michigan must overcome injury concerns with stars Yaxel Lendeborg and L.J. Cason on the mend. Iowa State, Virginia and Alabama are sizable potential Final Four road blocks for the Wolverines, especially short handed. No. 10 Santa Clara and No. 12 Akron will be popular upset picks.

South Region: Defending champion Florida helms this region, but it’s considered the most wide-open of all. That’s because No. 2 Houston will be playing de facto home games, putting Kelvin Sampson’s Cougars on a collision course for a 2025 national title rematch with the Gators. Don’t discount No. 3 Illinois, No. 7 Saint Mary’s or popular upset pick No. 11 VCU.

NCAA Tournament bracket and betting tips

Play the odds: Know each seed’s history when picking your Final Four and championship teams.

Upset alerts: These sleepers and Cinderella candidates are most likely to bust your bracket in Round 1, according to Vegas.

No. 1 seeds at risk: Is Duke, Arizona, Michigan or Florida the most likely to suffer an early upset?

Average March Madness final point total hack: Use history as your guide to project that pesky bracket tiebreaker score.

Best, funniest names for your bracket: Having trouble coming up with a clever, punny name for your bracket? Let us help.

Perfect March Madness bracket odds: Here’s why it’s nearly impossible to pick all 63 games correctly.

Best March Madness bracket of all time: What is the longest an NCAA Tournament bracket has stayed perfect?

More March Madness news from Sporting News

Ranking the 2026 March Madness field 1-68: Move over, committee. These are the real rankings of the best and worst teams in the field of 68, from Arizona to Lehigh.

Sporting News’ 2025-26 college basketball All-Americans: SN’s Mike DeCourcy names the 15 best players from the 2025-26 college basketball season.

Sporting News Player of the Year: Cameron Boozer stepped out of his dad’s shadow at Duke and immediately showed why he’s college basketball’s best freshman in a season stocked with first-year talent.

Sporting News Coach of the Year: Tommy Lloyd is 5-for-5 making the NCAA Tournament since taking over at Arizona, following a career as Mark Few’s right-hand man at Gonzaga. Now he joins Few as one of the great coaches to win The Sporting News Coach of the Year award after winning a Big 12 that’s loaded with NCAA title contenders this year.

37 best teams that didn’t win the NCAA Tournament: Sporting News picks teams from the past three decades that didn’t deliver a title. Which was the best?

Ranking the top 80 upsets in March Madness history: The NCAA Tournament has given us plenty of bracket-busting games over the years. They’ve never gotten old, and never will.

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