2026 March Madness: 1 Thing To Know About Every Men’s NCAA Tournament Team

Who will advance out of the first weekend? Which teams will end up in the Final Four? We can’t predict the future, but we’re providing answers and insight on each team in the 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. With Selection Sunday behind us, you have four days to make your picks and test your knowledge against your peers, and we’re here to help you make that perfect March Madness bracket. Here’s one thing to know about every team in the men’s NCAA Tournament: Akron: The Zips earned an automatic bid in clutch fashion, when Shammah Scott’s step-back 3 broke a tie with Toledo with six seconds remaining in the Mid-American Tournament title game on Saturday. Alabama: The Crimson Tide lead the nation in 3-point shot attempts per game and have been among the top six teams in that category since coach Nate Oats got the job in 2019. Alabama is shooting 35.8% (81st in the nation) on 35.3 attempts per game this season. Arkansas: The Razorbacks beat Vanderbilt to win the SEC Tournament on Sunday, their first since 2000. It took just two seasons for coach John Calipari to return that hardware to Fayetteville. Arizona: The Wildcats are led by coach Tommy Lloyd, who won Big 12 Coach of the Year honors for leading Arizona to both a conference regular-season and postseason title while integrating freshmen Koa Peat and Brayden Burries into the starting lineup of a veteran team. BYU: The Cougars have the NCAA’s leading scorer in AJ Dybansta, who’s averaging 25.3 points per game, but are without their third-leading scorer in Richie Saunders, who sustained a season-ending ACL injury on Feb. 14. Saunders was averaging 18.0 points per game. Cal Baptist: This is the Lancers’ first appearance in the NCAA Tournament. They transferred to Division I in 2018, meaning they weren’t tournament eligible until the 2022-23 season. Three seasons later, Cal Baptist is dancing. Clemson: The Tigers lost their second-leading scorer, Carter Welling, to a season-ending ACL injury on March 12. Duke: The Blue Devils have one of the strongest wins of the season, beating fellow 1-seed Michigan on a neutral court in Washington D.C. Duke has also claimed the ACC regular-season and postseason titles over the past two seasons. Florida: The Gators are a 1-seed for the second consecutive season. Florida has gone back-to-back once in its history (2006 and 2007) and is attempting to do it again after winning the 2025 national title. [NCAA ODDS: Latest Men’s March Madness Odds, Favorites] Furman: Furman has qualified for the NCAA Tournament just once since 1980 — in 2023. During that season, the Paladins upset No. 4 seed Virginia. Georgia: The Bulldogs average 89.8 points per game, the most in program history by a whopping 7.1 points. Gonzaga: Last season was the first time in 14 years that the Bulldogs failed to make the Sweet 16. They’ll try to restart that new streak without star forward Braden Huff, who’s currently sidelined with a knee injury. Hawaii: The Rainbow Warriors haven’t qualified for the NCAA Tournament since 2016, which was the first year their current coach, Eran Ganot, took over. Ten years later, he had led them to the Big Dance once again. Hawaii was also the only team that had to traverse across an ocean to play in its conference tournament, which was held in Las Vegas. High Point: The Panthers have qualified for the NCAA Tournament for two consecutive seasons after making zero appearances between 1999 (when it became NCAA Tournament eligible) and 2024. Cam’Ron Fletcher, one of High Point’s best players, is in his sixth collegiate season and was a four-star recruit for Kentucky in 2020. Hofstra: Hofstra enters the NCAA Tournament winning 12 of its past 13 games, but it needed a game-winning bank shot to get passed Towson in the CAA Tournament semifinals. Houston: This is the first time the Cougars haven’t earned a 1-seed since 2022. Houston’s leading scorer is freshman Kingston Flemings. Howard: The Bison enter the NCAA Tournament with 23 wins, the most in program history. They’ve qualified for the NCAA Tournament in three of the past four seasons. Idaho: This is Idaho’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1990. Illinois: At 131.1 points per 100 possessions, the Fighting Illini’s offense is the best KenPom’s rankings have tracked dating back to 2002. Illinois is 0-4 in overtime games this season, though. Iowa: The Hawkeyes broke a two-year streak of missing the NCAA Tournament, qualifying for the Big Dance in coach Ben McCollum’s first season. Iowa plays at the second-slowest pace of all 365 teams (64.8 possessions per game). Iowa State: The Cyclones’ three best scorers — Milan Momcilovic, Joshua Jefferson and Tamin Lipsey — are all returning players. Kansas: The Jayhawks are led by star freshman guard Darryn Peterson. They have a 14-8 record in games in which Peterson has played and have gone 9-2 when he’s out. He’s healthy at the start of the NCAA Tournament. Kennesaw State: The Owls are coached by Antoine Pettway, a former four-year player at Alabama in the 2000s. Kentucky: The Wildcats’ 7-seed is their lowest since 2014 when they were an 8-seed. Lehigh: The Mountain Hawks haven’t qualified for the NCAA Tournament since 2012, when they upset a second-seeded Duke team that was led by now-Atlanta Hawks star CJ McCollum. LIU: The Sharks are coached by former 17-year NBA pro Rod Strickland, who led DePaul to two Sweet 16 appearances as a player in the late 1980s. Louisville: The Cardinals haven’t won an NCAA Tournament game since 2017. [MEN’S BRACKET: NCAA Tournament Bracket, Leaders & Stats] McNeese: McNeese extended its NCAA Tournament streak to three consecutive seasons despite a change in coaches from Will Wade to Bill Armstrong. Miami (Fla.): In coach Jai Lucas’ first season, the Hurricanes had an 18-win turnaround after winning seven games last season. Miami (OH): The RedHawks became the first team to have an undefeated regular season since Gonzaga in 2021. They earned an at-large bid out of the Mid-American Conference after losing their first conference tournament game to U-Mass. Michigan: The Wolverines’ top four contributors — Yaxel Lendeborg (UAB), Morez Johnson Jr. (Illinois), Aday Mara (UCLA) and Elliot Cadeau (North Carolina) — are all first-year transfers. Michigan State: The Spartans added only one player from the transfer portal in guard Divine Ugochukwu (Miami), but an injury ended his season early. Michigan State point guard Jeremy Fears Jr. leads the nation with 9.2 assists a game. Missouri: The Tigers have never made it past the Sweet 16. NC State: The Wolfpack returned only one player — their leading scorer, Paul McNeil Jr. — from the 2024-25 roster and are in the first season under coach Will Wade. Nebraska: The Cornhuskers have never won an NCAA Tournament game in eight appearances in program history. North Carolina: The Tar Heels have one of the best wins of any team, handing Duke one of its two losses this season. UNC, however, is without star freshman Caleb Wilson, who’s out with a broken right thumb sustained during practice. North Dakota State: The Bison entered the NCAA Tournament with 27 wins — the most in program history. Northern Iowa: The Panthers won four games in four days to earn the auto-bid out of the Missouri Valley Conference. Ohio State: The Buckeyes are led by senior guard Bruce Thornton, who is making his first NCAA Tournament appearance in four seasons. Penn: This is the Quakers’ first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2018, and it’s coming in the first year under coach Fran McCaffery. Prairie View A&M: This is Prairie View’s third trip to the NCAA Tournament and second under coach Byron Smith. Purdue: The Boilermakers hadn’t won two games in a row since Feb. 14, but then they rolled through the Big Ten Tournament with ease, winning it as a 7-seed. At 131 points per 100 possessions, the Boilermakers are the No. 2 offense KenPom’s rankings have tracked behind only this season’s Illinois team. Queens University: Queens has qualified for the NCAA Tournament in its first opportunity to do so, as the Royals transferred to Division I in 2022 and this season was their first year eligible for March Madness. Saint Louis: The Billikens made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019 and extended coach Josh Schertz after two seasons at the helm Saint Mary’s: Coach Randy Bennett has led the Gaels to 11 NCAA Tournament appearances over the past 25 seasons, but has never won a Sweet 16 game. Santa Clara: The Broncos are dancing for the first time in 30 years, the last time being when NBA Hall of Famer Steve Nash was their point guard. Siena: Siena is coached by Gerry McNamara, who helped Syracuse win the 2004 national championship as a freshman alongside now-NBA star Carmelo Anthony. SMU: The Mustangs have made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017. It’s their first appearance under coach Andy Enfield, who’s in his second season since coming over from USC. South Florida: The Bulls have made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since going from the Big East to the American Athletic Conference (now American Conference) in 2014. St. John’s: In two seasons under coach Rick Pitino, the Red Storm have won two Big East regular-season titles and two conference titles. Tennessee: The Volunteers lead the nation in offensive rebounding percentage, grabbing a whopping 44.7% of their missed field-goal attempts. Florida is right behind them at 43.2%. Tennessee State: The Tigers haven’t qualified for the NCAA Tournament since 1994. They’re coached by former Duke player and assistant coach Nolan Smith, who’s in his first season. Texas: The Longhorns have made the NCAA Tournament six years in a row under four different coaches: Shaka Smart, Chris Beard, Rodney Terry and Sean Miller. This is Miller’s first season since coming over from Xavier. Texas Tech: The Red Raiders are playing without superstar and National Player of the Year candidate JT Toppin, who sustained a season-ending ACL injury on Feb. 17. He was averaging 21.8 points and 10.8 rebounds per game. Troy: The Trojans have now qualified for the NCAA Tournament in two consecutive seasons, but they’ve never won a tournament game in their three previous trips. UCF: At 54, the Golden Knights have the lowest KenPom ranking of any men’s power conference team that earned an at-large bid. UCLA: The Bruins’ 11 national titles are more than any other men’s program, but they haven’t brought home a banner since 1995. UConn: The Huskies are trying to be the second program to win three NCAA Tournaments in a four-year span. UCLA did it twice (1964-1967 and six in a row between 1967-1973). UMBC: This is the Retrievers’ first trip back to the NCAA Tournament since they became the first 16-seed to knock off a 1-seed when they beat Virginia in 2018. Utah State: The Aggies have become the pinnacle of a coaching stepping stone. Their last three coaches — Craig Smith, Ryan Odom and Danny Sprinkle — have all gone on to have success at the high major level. Despite the constant changeover, Utah State has made the NCAA Tournament six of the past seven seasons. Vanderbilt: The Commodores have now qualified for the NCAA Tournament in both seasons under coach Mark Byington. Vanderbilt improved from a 10-seed last year to a 5-seed this year. VCU: The Rams have made the NCAA Tournament under seven different coaches in the 21st century: Jeff Capel, Anthony Grant, Shaka Smart, Will Wade, Mike Rhoades, Ryan Odom and now Phil Martelli Jr. Villanova: In coach Kevin Willard’s first season, the Wildcats are making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2022 when Jay Wright was at the helm. Wisconsin: The Badgers are the only team to beat Michigan in Ann Arbor this season. They’re led by sixth-year senior guard Nick Boyd, who was a member of FAU’s Final Four team in 2021. Wright State: The Raiders have qualified for the NCAA Tournament five times but have yet to win a game.