How to Fill Out a March Madness Bracket in 2026

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Filling out your March Madness bracket? Here's everything you need to know about this year's tournament.

If you’re filling out a March Madness bracket, you’re in the right place for some 2026 March Madness tips. The NCAA men’s college basketball tournament — often referred to as “March Madness” — is about to get underway. The Duke Blue Devils are entering the NCAA tournament as the No. 1 overall seed after the official bracket reveal on Selection Sunday, March 15. Everything you need to know about filling out a bracket is in this March Madness guide.

How Does March Madness Work?

The NCAA tournament features 68 teams — 31 automatic qualifiers that won their conference tournaments and 37 at-large bids selected by the Selection Committee. Those 68 teams are placed into four regions and seeded 1 through 16 in each region.

Seeds reflect how the committee ranks teams. A No. 1 seed like the Duke Blue Devils is the strongest in its region; a No. 16 seed is the weakest. The bracket pairs the highest seeds against the lowest — No. 1 vs. No. 16, No. 2 vs. No. 15, and so on.

You pick one team to advance from every matchup until one is left standing. The tournament is single elimination — lose once and you’re done. That’s what makes March Madness brackets so brutal and so fun.

Key Dates for the 2026 NCAA Tournament Bracket

The bracket unfolds over six rounds across three weeks:

• First Four: March 17–18 (winners earn a spot in the 64-team bracket)

• First Round (Round of 64): March 19–20

• Second Round (Round of 32): March 21–22

• Sweet 16: March 26–27

• Elite Eight: March 28–29

• Final Four: April 4

• National Championship: April 6 in Indianapolis

How Does The First Four Work?

The First Four is played in Dayton, Ohio, and features eight teams in four games. Two matchups pit the four lowest-seeded teams in the entire field — No. 16 seeds — against each other for a spot in the Round of 64.

The other two games feature the last four at-large teams selected by the committee, typically slotted as No. 11 or No. 12 seeds. Winners from all four games advance into the main bracket.

Most bracket pools lock before the First Round tips off on March 19. Get yours in early!

How Do the Four Regions Work in a March Madness Bracket?

The field is divided into four regions — East, West, South, and Midwest — each with 16 seeded teams. When it comes to picking a March Madness bracket, you choose a winner from each region to reach the Final Four, where those four Final Four teams play a semifinal and championship game.

The four No. 1 seeds this year are the Duke Blue Devils, Michigan Wolverines, Arizona Wildcats, and Florida Gators. The top-seeded Blue Devils won the ACC conference tournament against the Virginia Cavaliers on Saturday.

Historical Final Four Trends Worth Knowing

The Final Four is where most March Madness brackets are won or lost, and the history is worth understanding before filling yours out. At least one No. 1 seed has reached the Final Four in 37 of the last 40 tournaments, according to decades of tournament data.

That said, mid-seed Cinderella runs rarely do happen — No. 11 seeds like VCU (2011), Loyola Chicago (2018), and UCLA (2021) have all reached the Final Four.

Understanding the 2026 March Madness Bracket

Understanding the format is one thing, but knowing March Madness historical trends is what separates casual fans from the sharpest brackets. Here are some of the most notable patterns heading into 2026:

• No. 1 seeds are historically dominant early. No. 1 seeds own a 158-2 all-time record against No. 16 seeds. Only UMBC (2018 over Virginia) and FDU (2023 over Purdue) have ever pulled off the upset. The Duke Blue Devils, Michigan Wolverines, Arizona Wildcats, and Florida Gators carry that kind of historical weight into the first round.

• The 12-vs.-5 matchup is historically volatile. No. 12 seeds have beaten No. 5 seeds roughly 35% of the time — one of the most common upset spots in the tournament.

• 11 seeds have a similar track record. The 11-vs.-6 matchup produces upsets at a comparable rate.

• The typical tournament produces four to six first-round upsets. That’s been the historical norm, though some years see far more chaos than others.

Many office pools use a progressive scoring system that rewards later rounds more heavily. That means Final Four and championship game results tend to carry the most weight. In flat-scoring pools, every round counts equally. Understanding how your specific pool is scored can shape how much risk makes sense on a bracket.

The Michigan Wolverines and Arizona Wildcats have the kind of profiles that historically correlate with deep runs. A team like the Florida Gators — coming off a bumpy conference tournament stretch — could draw extra scrutiny from bracket-makers.

No one has ever filled out a perfect March Madness bracket — so don’t stress about nailing every game. Enjoy the 2026 NCAA Tournament!

NCAA Bracket Reveal and Seeds

The wait is over! Here are all the teams and their seeds for the 2026 NCAA Tournament bracket:​

1-Seeds

• Duke Blue Devils — East

• Arizona Wildcats — West

• Michigan Wolverines — Midwest

• Florida Gators — South

2-Seeds

• UConn Huskies — East

• Purdue Boilermakers — West

• Iowa State Cyclones — Midwest

• Houston Cougars — South

3-Seeds

• Michigan State Spartans — East

• Gonzaga Bulldogs — West

• Virginia Cavaliers — Midwest

• Illinois Fighting Illini — South

4-Seeds

• Kansas Jayhawks — East

• Arkansas Razorbacks — West

• Alabama Crimson Tide — Midwest

• Nebraska Cornhuskers — South

5-Seeds

• St. John’s Red Storm — East

• Wisconsin Badgers — West

• Texas Tech Red Raiders — Midwest

• Vanderbilt Commodores — South

6-Seeds

• Louisville Cardinals — East

• BYU Cougars — West

• Tennessee Volunteers — Midwest

• North Carolina Tar Heels — South

7-Seeds

• UCLA Bruins — East

• Miami Hurricanes — West

• Kentucky Wildcats — Midwest

• Saint Mary’s Gaels — South

8-Seeds

• Ohio State Buckeyes — East

• Villanova Wildcats — West

• Georgia Bulldogs — Midwest

• Clemson Tigers — South

9-Seeds

• TCU Horned Frogs — East

• Utah State Aggies — West

• Saint Louis Billikens — Midwest

• Iowa Hawkeyes — South

10-Seeds

• UCF Knights — East

• Missouri Tigers — West

• Santa Clara Broncos — Midwest

• Texas A&M Aggies — South

11-Seeds

• South Florida Bulls — East

• Texas Longhorns / NC State Wolfpack — West

• Miami (Ohio) RedHawks / SMU Mustangs — Midwest

• VCU Rams — South

12-Seeds

• Northern Iowa Panthers — East

• High Point Panthers — West

• Akron Zips — Midwest

• McNeese Cowboys — South

13-Seeds

• California Baptist Lancers — East

• Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors — West

• Hofstra Pride — Midwest

• Troy Trojans — South

14-Seeds

• North Dakota State Bison — East

• Kennesaw State Owls — West

• Wright State Raiders — Midwest

• Penn Quakers — South

15-Seeds

• Furman Paladins — East

• Queens University Royals — West

• Tennessee State Tigers — Midwest

• Idaho Vandals — South

16-Seeds

• Siena Saints — East

• Long Island University Sharks — West

• UMBC Retrievers / Howard Bison — Midwest

• Prairie View A&M Panthers / Lehigh Mountain Hawks — South