The 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament bracket is locked in. With the 68-team field set, now it’s time to make your bracket predictions before the games get started on Thursday.
Last year, 24.4 million brackets were filled out just on ESPN alone — a new record. That means picking all 63 tournament games, one-by-one.
That’s a lot to ask for most people who have absolutely zero college basketball knowledge. That’s why we're here — to give you our staff's bracket predictions.
Our college basketball experts at PrizePicks have locked in our NCAA Tournament bracket predictions. Use these bracket picks to help you build your own this year — get started by downloading the official NCAA Tournament bracket here.
Let’s get into the NCAA Tournament bracket predictions from four of our college basketball experts, including their full brackets with picks for every game and favorite upsets.
Fill out your 2026 NCAA Tournament Bracket here with our printable PDF bracket before the First Round action gets underway on Thursday, March 19
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2026 NCAA Tournament Bracket Predictions from College Basketball Experts
Across four of our expert tournament brackets, three have the Arizona Wildcats in the National Championship — and two have them winning it.
Our experts have also followed last year’s trend of keeping brackets very chalky — or choosing the favorites to win. Only one 10+ seed was picked to advance to the round of 16 across all brackets.
Additionally, only two teams that aren’t a No. 1 or No. 2 seed were picked to make it to the national semifinals — or round of four: Virginia in one, and Tennessee in another.
Need more Bracket help? Here's our bracket pool strategy, tips, and historical trends
The most commonly picked first-round upsets are No. 11-seed South Florida (over Louisville) and No. 9 seed-Utah State (over Villanova).
Here are our 2026 NCAA Tournament expert brackets, including picks for every tournament game and upset picks. Download your own copy of the printable NCAA tournament bracket here.
All NCAA Tournament bracket predictions are the opinions of writers who are not investment professionals. Picks are NOT based on PrizePicks Team Picks payout multipliers, and are NOT recommendations to trade.
Jordan Foote’s NCAA Tournament Bracket Picks
2026 National Champion Prediction
Arizona def. Houston
2026 National Semifinalists Picks
Duke, Houston, Arizona, Tennessee
First Round Upsets
USF, TAMU, Utah State, Saint Louis, Santa Clara
Second Round Upsets
St. John’s, Vanderbilt, Texas Tech, Tennessee
Even with a banged-up roster, it’s difficult to count Duke and star F Cameron Boozer out. The Blue Devils were a no-brainer to make my National Semifinals, as were the Arizona Wildcats.
Head coach Tommy Lloyd’s crew is top-five in both offensive and defensive rating, per KenPom, and just put on an impressive display in the Big 12 Tournament.
No. 6 seed Tennessee is as close to a Cinderella story as you’ll find in my particular bracket. With a top-15 defense and the best collection of offensive rebounders in the country, whoever plays the Vols could have their hands full.
Houston gets a chance to earn the last laugh vs. the ‘Cats here. The Cougars are a worthy contender, backed by Bart Torvik ranks of fifth and 12th for efficiency on defense and offense, respectively.
At the end of it all, two-loss Arizona ends up at the mountaintop as champions thanks to 2026 NBA Draft prospects G Brayden Burries, F Koa Peat, and C Motiejus Krivas.
Read more of Jordan’s college basketball predictions here.
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Riley Thomas’ NCAA Tournament Bracket Picks
2026 National Champion Prediction
Arizona def. Duke
2026 National Semifinalists Picks
Duke, Houston, Arizona, Virginia
First Round Upsets
USF, Texas A&M, Utah State, Missouri, Saint Louis, Santa Clara
Second Round Upsets
UCLA, Vanderbilt
Duke and Arizona stand out as the top teams in KenPom’s NET Rating while ranking in the top five of adjusted offensive and defensive efficiencies.
Alongside the Blue Devils and Wildcats in my national semifinals, the No. 2 Houston Cougars represent the South Region, and the No. 3 Virginia Cavaliers emerge from the Midwest Region.
Virginia impressed in the ACC Tournament and is led by head coach Ryan Odom, who engineered No. 16 UMBC’s odd-defying win vs. No. 1 Virginia in the 2018 NCAA Tournament.
Find NCAA Tournament predictions and picks for every game, every day
No. 1 Florida vs. No. 2 Houston would be an incredible regional final, as the two hold +33.79 and +33.43 KenPom NET Ratings. Ultimately, Houston G Kingston Flemings, G Milos Uzan, and G Emanuel Sharpe could provide an advantage in the backcourt.
When it’s all said and done, Arizona is a strong contender to cut down the nets, something it hasn’t done since 1997.
The Wildcats could be the deepest team in the tournament, led by Arizona G Jaden Bradley as a Bob Cousy Award finalist, C Motiejus Krivas as an All-Big 12 defender, and G Brayden Burries and F Koa Peat as outstanding freshmen.
Read more college basketball predictions by Riley here.
David Bearman’s NCAA Tournament Bracket Picks
2026 National Champion Prediction
Florida def. Arizona
2026 National Semifinalists Picks
Duke, Florida, Arizona, Iowa State
First Round Upsets
USF, Utah State, Texas/NC State
Second Round Upsets
St. John’s, Texas Tech
For the second year, the favorites are going to have the fun in the NCAA Tournament.
One year after all four No. 1 seeds made the national semifinals, the top-heavy bracket is going to strike again, but this time will feature three No. 1 seeds and a No. 2 seed.
Duke and Arizona have shown all season why they are worthy of advancing to the third weekend of the tournament. Duke has two losses by a combined five points to two ranked teams, and Arizona’s two losses are by eight total points to two ranked teams.
Besides the SEC semifinal speed bump, defending champion Florida has played as well as anyone over the last two months and has one of the top defenses in the country.
In the Midwest region, Iowa State quietly was the third-best team in the Big 12 behind two top-five teams, and it has the talent to knock off Michigan.
In Indianapolis, the defending champion Gators use their size in the front court to knock off Duke and Arizona and earn back-to-back titles.
Read more college basketball predictions by David here.
Chris Bengel’s NCAA Tournament Bracket Picks
2026 National Champion Prediction
Duke def. Michigan
2026 National Semifinalists Picks
Duke, Houston, Arizona, Michigan
First Round Upsets
McNeese, VCU, Utah State, Missouri, Saint Louis, Santa Clara
Second Round Upsets
St. John’s, McNeese
There’s no doubt that it’s a fairly wide-open field in the NCAA Tournament this time around. Despite the East Region being arguably the deepest in the bracket, Duke still gets the nod to win the national title in my book.
The injuries to Caleb Foster and Patrick Ngongba certainly aren’t ideal, but neither is expected to miss the duration of the NCAA Tournament. In fact, Ngongba, who averages 10.7 PPG and 6.0 RPG, is trending towards returning sooner rather than later.
Duke has been battle-tested all season long and passed with flying colors. According to Bart Torvik, the Blue Devils rank fourth in the country in adjusted offensive efficiency (128.2) behind only Purdue, Illinois, and Alabama.
This is an electric offense that can turn it on at a moment’s notice, especially when Cameron Boozer and Isaiah Evans are shooting the ball at a high rate. It also didn’t hurt to see Cayden Boozer come alive late in the ACC Tournament and help shoulder a great deal of the scoring load.
If Ngongba and Foster are back for the Final Four, this Duke team can beat anybody in the country. As a result, the Blue Devils have the offensive firepower and enough depth to win it all this year.
Read more college basketball predictions by Chris here.
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Make NCAA Tournament Predictions on PrizePicks
When it’s all said and done, your NCAA Tournament bracket isn’t going to be perfect — everyone knows that. Whether you’re just printing out a bracket and tracking it for fun, or joining a bracket pool, just remember to have fun with it.
Even if your bracket is busted, you can add to the tournament fun and earn money with your NCAA Tournament picks and predictions on PrizePicks Team Picks if you’re right.
From tournament game winners to spreads to backing your National Championship pick with real money, PrizePicks is the place to earn money with your ball knowledge.
Need more help with your bracket and NCAA Tournament picks? Lock in on Playbook throughout the tournament for daily college basketball picks, predictions, and analysis for every game.
