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Andy Katz | krikya18.com Correspondent | February 18, 2026

Andy Katz's latest 2026 March Madness men's basketball bracket predictions

March Madness bracket prediction on Feb. 17

With a little less than a month away from Selection Sunday, Andy Katz has revealed his newest bracket predictions. Michigan, UConn, Arizona and Duke still get the No. 1 seeds as Purdue climbs back up as a No. 2 seed. 

Take a look at his newest predicted 68-team field below.

RANKINGS: AP Top 25 Poll | NET rankings

2026 March Madness bracket predictions

Seed Midwest South WEST East
1 Michigan UConn Arizona Duke
16 Howard/NJIT LIU/Bethune-Cookman UT Martin Wright State
         
8 NC State Miami (Fla.) Utah State Iowa
9 St. Mary's Indiana Auburn UCF
         
5 Arkansas Louisville Alabama St. John's
12 Liberty Belmont Yale South Florida
         
4 Virginia Vanderbilt Gonzaga Michigan State
13 UNC Wilmington Stephen F. Austin Hawaii High Point
         
6 North Carolina Tennessee Kentucky Saint Louis
11 Ohio State/TCU Miami (OH) UCLA Georgia/San Diego State
         
3 Florida Nebraska Texas Tech Kansas
14 South Alabama Austin Peay Cal Baptist North Dakota State
         
7 Wisconsin Villanova BYU Clemson
10 Texas A&M USC SMU Texas
         
2 Iowa State Houston Purdue Illinois
15 Merrimack Portland State Navy East Tennessee State

 

Conferences with multiple teams in Katz's bracket predictions

Conference Total Teams
Big Ten 11 Indiana, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska, Ohio State, Purdue, UCLA, USC, Wisconsin
SEC 10 Alabama, Auburn, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt
ACC 8 Clemson, Duke, Miami (Fla.), Louisville, Virginia, North Carolina, NC State, SMU
Big 12 8 Arizona, BYU, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, TCU, Texas Tech, UCF
Big East 3 St. John's, UConn, Villanova
West Coast 3 Gonzaga, Santa Clara, Saint Mary's
Mountain West 2 San Diego State, Utah State


Andy Katz's field of 68

Here is Katz's full seed list in order, from one through 68:

  School (seed) Automatic Qualifier
1 Michigan (1) AQ Big Ten
2 Duke (1) AQ ACC
3 Arizona (1)  
4 Uconn (1) AQ Big East
5 Houston (2) AQ Big 12
6 Iowa State (2)  
7 Illinois (2)  
8 Purdue (2)  
9 Kansas (3)  
10 Nebraska (3)  
11 Florida (3) AQ SEC
12 Texas Tech (3)  
13 Vanderbilt (4)  
14 Michigan State (4)  
15 Gonzaga (4) AQ WCC
16 Virginia (4)  
17 St. John's (5)  
18 Arkansas (5)  
19 Louisville (5)  
20 Alabama (5)  
21 Tennessee (6)  
22 North Carolina (6)  
23 Saint Louis (6) AQ A10
24 Kentucky (6)  
25 BYU (7)  
26 Clemson (7)  
27 Villanova (7)  
28 Wisconsin (7)  
29 Utah State (8) AQ MW
30 Miami (Fla.) (8)  
31 NC State (8)  
32 Iowa (8)  
33 Auburn (9)  
34 Indiana (9)  
35 UCF (9)  
36 Saint Mary's (9)  
37 Texas A&M (10)
38 SMU (10)  
39 USC (10)  
40 Texas (10)  
41 UCLA (11)  
42 Georgia (11)  
43 San Diego State (11)  
44 Ohio State (11)  
45 TCU (11)  
46 Miami (OH) (11) AQ MAC
47 Belmont (12) AQ MVC
48 South Florida (12) AQ American
49 Liberty (12) AQ CUSA
50 Yale (12) AQ Ivy
51 Stephen F. Austin (13) AQ Southland
52 High Point (13) AQ Big South
53 UNC Wilmington (13) AQ CAA
54 Hawaii (13) AQ Big West
55 Cal Baptist (14) AQ WAC
56 Austin Peay (14) AQ ASUN
57 North Dakota State (14) AQ Summit
58 South Alabama (14) AQ Sun Belt
59 Portland State (15) AQ Big Sky
60 East Tennessee State (15) AQ Southern
61 Navy (15) AQ Patriot
62 Merrimack (15) AQ MAAC
63 Wright State (16) AQ Horizon
64 UT Martin (16) AQ OVC
65 LIU (16) AQ NEC
66 Bethune-Cookman (16) AQ SWAC
67 Howard (72) AQ MEAC
68 NJIT (17) AQ American East

First Four out: Missouri, New Mexico, VCU, Santa Clara

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🏆 HISTORY: Title winners | MOP winners | Most tournament titles
📝 EXPLAINERS: NET rankings | Field of 68
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