A quartet of SEC teams are hoping to break through in the 2026 NCAA Tournament bracket and reach their first Final Four. Missouri, Tennessee, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt have a combined 94 March Madness appearances without winning a region. Other programs in the March Madness bracket 2026 that have yet to reach the Final Four include BYU, Clemson and TCU. While every squad would love to cut down the nets, these programs simply accomplishing something that’s never been done before in their history could be considered a success.

Others like California Baptist and Queens are making their March Madness bracket debuts, so notching a win would be quite an achievement. There are several motivating factors for every 2026 March Madness team, which could play a part on who you get behind with NCAA Tournament bracket 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 revealed, the model is simulating the matchups and its results are in. You can only see it over at SportsLine.

Three 2026 March Madness bracket games to watch

One of the most intriguing 2026 March Madness matchups to watch: No. 8 Ohio State vs. No. 9 TCU in the East region. Ohio State missed the last three NCAA Tournaments after only missing three of the previous 16 editions, but the Buckeyes are back in the Big Dance. They rely heavily on their starters, who scored 85.8% of their points this season, which ranked seventh in Division I. TCU is in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in five years, and it has won a game in two of the last three tournaments.

Another 2026 NCAA Tournament matchup to keep an eye on is No. 7 UCLA vs. No. 10 UCF in the East Region. Both teams limp into this matchup, with UCF losing four of its last five, while UCLA saw its top two scorers in Tyler Bilodeau and Donovan Dent get injured in the Big Ten tourney. The Bruins need those two to keep their highly efficient offense humming as just five teams in all of college basketball commit fewer turnovers than Mick Cronin’s squad. The Knights, however, counter with an explosive offense that averaged 81 ppg this season, the most by any UCF team in 46 years.

Another 2026 March Madness game to watch out for: No. 6 Louisville vs. No. 11 South Florida in the East Region. Every NCAA Tournament since 2005 has seen an 11-seed defeat a 6-seed, including four such instances over the last two years. USF has experience, with six of its top seven scorers being upperclassmen, and no team in the nation made or attempted more free throws than the Bulls. As for the Cardinals, the length of their tourney stay may be dependent on the status of star freshman Mikel Brown Jr. He missed the ACC tourney, and Louisville is 16-5 with him compared to 7-5 without him. You can only see the model’s 2026 NCAA bracket picks here.

How to make 2026 NCAA bracket predictions

Who wins every tournament-defining matchup? And which 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’s calling this year before locking in any 2026 NCAA bracket picks.

So what’s the optimal NCAA Tournament 2026 bracket? And which NCAA Tournament Cinderella teams will shock college basketball? Visit SportsLine now to see which double-digit seeds you can back with confidence, all from the model that called all four Final Four teams in 2025.