Two debutantes are part of the 2026 March Madness bracket, courtesy of the Atlantic Sun and the WAC. The former sees conference champion, Queens, making its NCAA Tournament debut, while the WAC is sending Cal Baptist dancing for the first time. However, all four newcomers in last year’s NCAA Tournament bracket lost their opening games by an average margin of 20.8 points. Cal Baptist is a 13-seed and will face No. 4 Kansas in the first round of the 2026 NCAA bracket, while No. 15 Queens will take on second-seeded Purdue.
Cal Baptist at least gets a location advantage since its matchup will take place in San Diego, a mere 100 miles from campus. Is that enough to back the Lancers to shock the Jayhawks with your 2026 March Madness picks? Before making any 2026 March Madness bracket predictions, be sure to check out the 2026 NCAA Tournament bracket picks from the proven computer model at SportsLine.
Their proven projection model has simulated every game in the tournament 10,000 times. It has absolutely crushed its March Madness picks recently, beating over 91 percent of all CBS Sports brackets in four of the past seven tournaments. It was all over UConn’s championship run two years ago and nailed 12 teams in the Sweet 16 last year. It also correctly predicted all four Final Four teams in 2025.
It knows how to spot an upset as well. The same model has produced brackets that have nailed 25 first-round upsets by double-digit seeds since its inception in 2016.
Now, with the 2026 NCAA bracket being revealed, the model is simulating the matchups and its results are in. You can only see it over at SportsLine.
2026 March Madness bracket games to watch
One of the 2026 March Madness matchups to keep an eye on: No. 8 seed Villanova vs. No. 9 seed Utah State in the West Region. Nova has won eight straight first-round games and has balance with six players averaging at least 9 ppg. The last time the Wildcats had half-a-dozen players averaging 9 ppg, they won the national title in 2018. As for Utah State, it swept both the Mountain West regular season and tournament while leading the conference with 82.5 ppg. The Aggies are also a perfect 6-0 in neutral-site games, though they’ll have a bit of a geographical edge over the Philly-based Wildcats with this matchup taking place in San Diego.
Also in the West Region, Miami vs. Missouri figures to be a pivotal 7 vs. 10 matchup. The Tigers get a break in terms of location as this contest will take place in St. Louis. But Mizzou has its own merits to stand on with wins over Florida, Vanderbilt and Tennessee. A sub-70% free throw percentage may be Mizzou’s biggest weakness, while Miami struggles from beyond the arc, ranking 296th in D1 in made 3-pointers per game. What the Canes do exceptionally well is convert near the basket, ranking fifth in made 2-pointers per game and 12th overall in field goal percentage.
The third matchup to watch in the West Region is No. 4 seed Arkansas vs. No. 13 seed Hawaii. There wasn’t much rest for the Arkansas Razorbacks last week, and after winning the SEC Tournament championship on Sunday, No. 4 Arkansas takes a cross-country flight to Portland to take on No. 13 Hawaii in the first round of the 2026 NCAA Tournament bracket. Hawaii earned an automatic bid as the Big West Tournament champions, and at least playing in Portland isn’t nearly as far for the Rainbow Warriors as they could have been sent. Hawaii, playing in its second NCAA Tournament in the last 24 years, is 24-8, but it hasn’t played a ranked opponent this season. Meanwhile, Arkansas has played 11 ranked teams, going 5-6 in those contests under John Calipari. You can see how far all these teams go over at SportsLine.
How to make 2026 NCAA bracket predictions
How far will those major programs go? And which Cinderella teams will make surprising runs through the 2026 NCAA Tournament bracket? With the model’s track record of calling bracket-busting upsets, you’ll want to see which stunners it is calling this year before locking in any 2026 NCAA bracket picks.
So what’s the optimal NCAA Tournament bracket 2026? And which 2026 March Madness underdogs will shock college basketball? Visit SportsLine now to see which teams you can back with confidence, all from the model that’s nailed 25 upsets by double-digit seeds since its inception and beat over 91% of players in four of the last seven tournaments.
