2026 Men’s NCAA Tournament Projections: Ohio State Gets a Bump, Texas Drops

Selection Sunday is days away, and the men’s NCAA tournament bracket picture is becoming increasingly clearer. And part of that is because the list of teams with auto-bids is filling out. Furman, which had not been part of the field previously, enters as a No. 15 seed with the Southern Conference automatic bid. Troy assured its place in the field, is still is a 14-seed and likely will remain there. Texas and Ohio State, however, are in interesting spots and moving a bit, according to FOX Sports bracket forecaster Mike DeCourcy. The Longhorns — who ended the regular season losing four of five — dropped from the last spot among the No. 11 seeds to the First Four. The Buckeyes finished the regular season strong with a three-game win streak, and ahead of the Big Ten tournament, they’re up to the No. 10 seeds, bumping Missouri down to the 11-seeds. So as conference tournaments get underway and bubble teams look to earn their NCAA tournament spots, here’s a look at DeCourcy’s latest seed projections for the men’s bracket. No. 1 seeds 1. Duke2. Michigan3. Arizona4. Florida No. 2 seeds 5. UConn6. Houston7. Illinois8. Michigan State No. 3 seeds 9. Iowa State10. Alabama11. Nebraska12. Gonzaga No. 4 seeds 13. Virginia14. Purdue15. Kansas16. Texas Tech No. 5 seeds 17. Arkansas18. Vanderbilt19. St. John’s20. North Carolina No. 6 seeds 21. Louisville22. Tennessee23. Wisconsin24. BYU No. 7 seeds 25. Villanova26. Kentucky27. Saint Mary’s28. Georgia No. 8 seeds 29. Miami Hurricanes30. Utah State31. Saint Louis32. UCLA No. 9 seeds 33. Miami RedHawks34. Clemson35. TCU36. Iowa No. 10 seeds 37. Texas A&M38. Ohio State39. UCF40. NC State No. 11 seeds 41. Santa Clara42. Missouri43. Texas vs. 44. VCU45. SMU vs. 46. New Mexico No. 12 seeds 47. South Florida48. Yale49. Stephen F. Austin50. High Point No. 13 seeds 51. Liberty52. Northern Iowa53. Utah Valley54. Hofstra No. 14 seeds 55. UC Irvine56. North Dakota State57. Troy58. Portland State No. 15 seeds 59. Wright State60. Merrimack61. Tennessee State62. Furman No. 16 seeds 63. Queens64. LIU65. Howard66. UMBC67. Bethune-Cookman68. Boston U And it’s never too early to check in on the bubble. According to DeCourcy’s seed list, Indiana, Auburn, Virginia Tech and San Diego State are the first four teams out of the tournament, while Cal, Cincinnati, Oklahoma State and Seton Hall are the next four out. Selection Sunday is days away, and this list will inevitably evolve. For now, DeCourcy’s latest seed list offers a clear snapshot of who’s rising, who’s falling and which programs are already building the résumés they’ll need when March Madness arrives.