2026 Men's Final Bracket
My final bracket before Selection Sunday, scored against the official NCAA field. Every seed line below is graded with the Paymon Scoring System, which rewards exact placement over just picking the right 68 teams. This is one completed season, not yet a track record. Full methodology on the model page.
Built for the 68-team format (last used 2026) · Max score: 408 pts · The 76-team era raises the max to 456 · Scores across formats are not directly comparable
1
Duke1
Michigan1
Arizona1
Florida12
Houston2
Iowa State2
UConn2
Purdue23
Gonzaga3
Michigan State3
Illinois3
Vanderbilt54
Virginia~ 3
Nebraska4
Arkansas4
Alabama45
St. John's5
Kansas~ 4
Texas Tech5
Wisconsin56
North Carolina6
Tennessee6
Louisville6
BYU67
Miami (FL)7
Utah State9
Clemson~ 8
Kentucky78
Saint Mary's~ 7
Villanova8
UCLA7
Ohio State89
Saint Louis9
Georgia~ 8
TCU9
Iowa910
NC State~ 11
UCF10
Texas A&M10
Miami (OH)~ 1111
Missouri~ 10
VCU11
Santa Clara~ 10
SMU11
Texas11
McNeese State~ 1212
South Florida~ 11
Akron12
Northern Iowa12
High Point1213
Cal Baptist13
Hofstra13
North Dakota St.~ 14
Hawai'i1314
Pennsylvania14
Troy~ 13
Wright State14
Kennesaw State1415
Idaho15
Tennessee State15
Furman15
Queens1516
Siena~ 15
Howard16
Long Island16
UMBC16
Lehigh16
Prairie View A&M16Bubble
Last Four In
Missouri
Santa Clara
SMU
Texas
First Four Out
Auburn
Oklahoma
San Diego State
Indiana
Next Four Out
Virginia Tech
Seton Hall
New Mexico
California
Also Considered
Cincinnati
Oklahoma St.
Stanford
West Virginia