2026 Men's NCAA Tournament Projections: Big Ten, SEC Lead With 10 Teams Each
#NCAA Tournament #Mike DeCourcy #Bracketology #March Madness #Big Ten #SEC #Big 12 #Selection Sunday
📌 Key Takeaways
- The Big Ten and SEC are projected to lead the tournament field with 10 bids each.
- The Big 12 remains a top-heavy powerhouse with four teams currently ranked in the top 10.
- Texas, Santa Clara, San Diego State, and Virginia Tech are currently designated as the last four teams to make the cut.
- Selection Sunday is approximately one month away, leaving limited time for bubble teams to improve their standing.
📖 Full Retelling
🏷️ Themes
College Basketball, Postseason Projections, Conference Rivalries
📚 Related People & Topics
NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
American collegiate men's basketball tournament
# NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament The **NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament**, widely known by the monikers **March Madness** and **The Big Dance**, is a premier single-elimination tournament held annually in the United States. The competition determines the national champion of...
Big Ten Conference
American collegiate athletics conference
The Big Ten Conference (formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a U.S. collegiate athletic conference. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1896, it predates the founding of its regulating organization, the NCAA; it is the olde...
Bracketology
Predicting the participants and seeding of an NCAA basketball tournament
Bracketology is the process of predicting the field of college basketball participants in the NCAA men's and women's basketball tournaments, named as such because it is commonly used to fill in tournament brackets for the postseason. It incorporates some method of predicting the metrics the NCAA Sel...
NCAA tournament
Topics referred to by the same term
NCAA tournament may refer to a number of tournaments organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association:
🔗 Entity Intersection Graph
Connections for NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament:
- 🌐 College basketball (4 shared articles)
- 👤 Big Ten Conference (2 shared articles)
- 🏢 National Collegiate Athletic Association (2 shared articles)
- 👤 Big East Conference (2 shared articles)
- 🌐 UConn Huskies (2 shared articles)
- 👤 Lauren Betts (1 shared articles)
- 👤 Naismith Award (1 shared articles)
- 🌐 UCLA Bruins (1 shared articles)
- 🌐 University of Massachusetts Lowell (1 shared articles)
- 👤 America East Conference (1 shared articles)
- 👤 Purdue Boilermakers (1 shared articles)
- 👤 Duke Blue Devils (1 shared articles)
📄 Original Source Content
Which conference can claim the title of best in college basketball? FOX Sports bracket forecaster Mike DeCourcy’s latest NCAA Tournament projections offer a snapshot of the national picture, and the arguments for multiple conferences are fascinating. The Big Ten and SEC feature the greatest depth, with both projected to send 10 teams to the tournament, according to DeCourcy's projections. The Big Ten backs that up with five teams ranked in the top 13 of the AP Poll, while the SEC leans on balance, already boasting nine teams with at least 16 wins as of Feb. 10. The Big 12 and ACC make their case with top-end talent. The Big 12 is projected to place eight teams in the field and features six legitimate Final Four contenders, including four top-10 teams in Kansas, Arizona, Iowa State and Houston. Meanwhile, the ACC features blue bloods Duke and North Carolina, as well as a surging Virginia team that has won nine of its last 10 games. As the 2025-26 regular season quickly winds down, DeCourcy shares his latest NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament projections. EAST REGION SOUTH REGION MIDWEST REGION WEST REGION And it’s never too early to check in on the bubble. According to DeCourcy's projections, Texas, Santa Clara, San Diego State and Virginia Tech are the last four teams in the tournament, while Oklahoma State, Ohio State, Cal and Missouri are the first four out. As for conference representation, the Big Ten and SEC lead the way with 10 teams, while the ACC has nine teams in DeCourcy's latest tournament projections. The Big 12 has seven teams in the mix, while the Big East and West Coast have three teams each. The Mountain West conference has two teams represented in DeCourcy's projections. Selection Sunday is just over one month away, and these projections will inevitably evolve. But for now, DeCourcy’s latest bracket forecast offers a clear snapshot of who’s rising, who’s falling, and which programs are already building the résumés they’ll need when March arrives.