March Madness 2026 - Updated: Join the BF.net NCAA Bracket!

[Jim French Stepstool]

Let's talk tourney. Thursday-Sunday of the first week is like an extended holiday if you're a college hoops fan.

Off the top of my head----it probably isn't here nor there as it shouldn't effect later round advancement, but I'm missing something regarding Cal Baptist being a 13 seed. IMO there are 14-16s that are clearly better.

Miami (FLA) must be thrilled (not). A seven, & they play ten seed Missouri---in St Louis. 

As I mentioned in the UW thread, while High Point has had a real nice season I'd rather face them than McNeese, which was also a twelve.

Thoughts?

CheezWizHed edit: Here is the BrewerFanatic Bracket if you want to join! 

[CheezWizHed]

Anyone interested in doing a BF.net NCAA BB bracket? 

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

On 3/15/2026 at 5:48 PM, Jim French Stepstool said:

Let's talk tourney. Thursday-Sunday of the first week is like an extended holiday if you're a college hoops fan.

Off the top of my head----it probably isn't here nor there as it shouldn't effect later round advancement, but I'm missing something regarding Cal Baptist being a 13 seed. IMO there are 14-16s that are clearly better.

Miami (FLA) must be thrilled (not). A seven, & they play ten seed Missouri---in St Louis. 

As I mentioned in the UW thread, while High Point has had a real nice season I'd rather face them than McNeese, which was also a twelve.

Thoughts?

Yeah, the seeding gets SUPER funky at the bottom of the bracket. Cal Baptist has some really good predictives. They're borderline top 100 at KenPom, and I'm guessing the committee kind of just defaults to that when it comes to the final 16 teams. Plus, the WAC was quite good this year, albeit on the strength of about two teams (Utah Valley would've had a shot to pull an upset, I think, had they pulled out a win late this past weekend). 

Of course, if they're looking at KenPom, there's no excuse for UMBC to be in a play-in game. Double conference champ, decent predictives, probably a 15 and definitely not headed to Dayton. they're 1.5 pt favorites (at even money) against Howard, and that looks juicy if you're into that sort of thing.

I do have to say, this is the best bracket I've seen in a while. At the very least, Selection Committee chair did a good job giving actual answers, and bonus points that they were logical. Probably the most egregious thing that matters is Vandy as a 5. That team has been a sleeper F4 team for me all year, and they're playing really well. They get a tough McNeese matchup, but I think they'll be alright.

I know Duke is banged up, but it feels like their year to me. Ohio State is probably the best 8, but I'm not sweating anyone else in that region.

 

[Jim French Stepstool]

nm

[Jim French Stepstool]

I'll stick my neck out on some 1st round upsets:

South Florida > Louisville

Utah State > Villanova

Missouri >Miami (FL)

Santa Clara > Kentucky

(drum roll) Akron over Texas Tech

Also I think Vandy beats McNeese, but the Cowboys scare the hell out of them. And UCF-UCLA could hinge on the health of Bilodeau & Dent. They're both expected back but how close to 100% will they be?

In the play-ins I like Texas, Miami(O), UMBC & Lehigh.

[CheezWizHed]

Ok, let's do this! I think this might be the first BF.net Bracket ever!

 

[RedStickBrew]

12 hours ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

I'll stick my neck out on some 1st round upsets:

South Florida > Louisville

Utah State > Villanova

Missouri >Miami (FL)

Santa Clara > Kentucky

(drum roll) Akron over Texas Tech

Also I think Vandy beats McNeese, but the Cowboys scare the hell out of them. And UCF-UCLA could hinge on the health of Bilodeau & Dent. They're both expected back but how close to 100% will they be?

In the play-ins I like Texas, Miami(O), UMBC & Lehigh.

Those are good upset picks. I recall reading something about being less upsets in the NIL era. Not sure if that’s true. 
 

One matchup I’ll be watching is NDSU v Michigan State for a potential high seed going down. 
 

Also Cal Baptist v Kansas could be a close one out west. 

[Jim French Stepstool]

1 hour ago, RedStickBrew said:

 

Also Cal Baptist v Kansas could be a close one out west. 

As I mentioned earlier, I just don't see Cal Baptist even getting as high as a 13 seed. I may very well be missing something there. Kansas DOES seem to have somewhat of a reputation for being a little 'disinterested' in tourney games where they're big favorites on paper.

NDSU-MSU gave me a little pause, but I didn't pull the trigger.

[Jim French Stepstool]

Here's an (I think) exhaustive list of the Wisconsin natives participating in the tourney:

Davion Hannah, Alabama (Milwaukee Academy of Science & Nicolet)

Amari Allen, Alabama (Ashwaubenon)

Jayden Jackson, Cal Baptist (Whitefish Bay)

Jamarion Batemon, Iowa State (Milwaukee Academy of Science)

Xavion Mitchell, Iowa State (Oshkosh North)

Milan Momcilovic, Iowa State (Pewaukee)

Anthony Rise, Iowa State (Brookfield Central)

Seth Trimble, North Carolina (Menomonee Falls)

Noah Feddersen, North Dakota State (Menomonie)

Leon Bond III, Northern Iowa (Tosa East)

Will Hornseth, Northern Iowa (De Pere)

Max Weisbrod, Northern Iowa (Deforest)

Myles Herro, Ohio State (Whitnall)

Amari McCottry, Saint Louis (Milw Thomas More)

Isaac Gard, Wisconsin (Oregon HS)

Will Garlock, Wisconsin (Middleton)

Zach Kinziger, Wisconsin (De Pere)

Andrew Rohde, Wisconsin (Brookfield Central)

[HarryDoyle]

18 hours ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

I'll stick my neck out on some 1st round upsets:

South Florida > Louisville

Utah State > Villanova

Missouri >Miami (FL)

Santa Clara > Kentucky

(drum roll) Akron over Texas Tech

Also I think Vandy beats McNeese, but the Cowboys scare the hell out of them. And UCF-UCLA could hinge on the health of Bilodeau & Dent. They're both expected back but how close to 100% will they be?

In the play-ins I like Texas, Miami(O), UMBC & Lehigh.

Upsets in seeding only. 5-12 and 6-11 matchups are more like 7-10, 8-9 matchups. It's really not an upset until you get down to the 4-13 and lower. (Or is it higher?) One is going to happen but I don't know where. If I had to guess I'd say Troy over Nebraska.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

I'll take the L on UMBC. 🫣

[HarryDoyle]

I would say BA is in his glory calling a Longhorns game, but Barkley and Vitale won't let him get a word in edgewise.

[Jim French Stepstool]

2 hours ago, HarryDoyle said:

Upsets in seeding only. 5-12 and 6-11 matchups are more like 7-10, 8-9 matchups. It's really not an upset until you get down to the 4-13 and lower. (Or is it higher?) One is going to happen but I don't know where. If I had to guess I'd say Troy over Nebraska.

You don't think McNeese beating Vandy would be an upset?

Or High Point beating Wisconsin?

[Jim French Stepstool]

39 minutes ago, HarryDoyle said:

I would say BA is in his glory calling a Longhorns game, but Barkley and Vitale won't let him get a word in edgewise.

😄I haven't been able to watch TEX-NCST, but it's so easy to imagine those two jamokes doing exactly that.

[Underachiever]

20 hours ago, RedStickBrew said:

Those are good upset picks. I recall reading something about being less upsets in the NIL era. Not sure if that’s true. 

I have no evidence to back it up, but I think that we will see fewer upsets in general. Mid-major teams, that in the past would have a team of 3 and 4-year players, are being picked apart. Imagine Steph Curry today. Would he stay at Davidson for three years? He scored 21 pts per game as a freshman! He wouldn't have been around for that sophomore year where he torched Gonzaga, Georgetown, Wisconsin and Kansas for 128 points in four games.

[HarryDoyle]

12 hours ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

You don't think McNeese beating Vandy would be an upset?

Or High Point beating Wisconsin?

Minor upsets.

[HarryDoyle]

12 hours ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

😄I haven't been able to watch TEX-NCST, but it's so easy to imagine those two jamokes doing exactly that.

Barkley belongs back in the studio. 

[RedStickBrew]

35 minutes ago, HarryDoyle said:

Barkley belongs back in the studio. 

They ruined what was an ok game to watch. I turned it off early because it was unwatchable with the Barkley and Vitale nonsense IMO. 

[HarryDoyle]

1 hour ago, RedStickBrew said:

They ruined what was an ok game to watch. I turned it off early because it was unwatchable with the Barkley and Vitale nonsense IMO. 

I did too but with about five minutes left in a very good game IMO. Came down to a last second jumper. Granted, part of the reason was it was pretty late and was tired and I went to bed but damn, as someone who doesn't get worked up over game announcers, both of them managed to break me.

[Jim French Stepstool]

5 hours ago, RedStickBrew said:

They ruined what was an ok game to watch. I turned it off early because it was unwatchable with the Barkley and Vitale nonsense IMO. 

I was finally able to watch the final 10 minutes or so. The Barkley & Vitale stuff reminded me of listening to Bill Walton (RIP), who a lot of people liked as a color guy but who I could not stand. Walton seemed to want to transcend the basketball game & help everyone come to the realization that he's the Most Interesting Man in the World. Utilized the mute button on him more than once.

But NCST-TX was worth the pain. Terrific last 3 minutes.

[RedStickBrew]

1 hour ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

I was finally able to watch the final 10 minutes or so. The Barkley & Vitale stuff reminded me of listening to Bill Walton (RIP), who a lot of people liked as a color guy but who I could not stand. Walton seemed to want to transcend the basketball game & help everyone come to the realization that he's the Most Interesting Man in the World. Utilized the mute button on him more than once.

But NCST-TX was worth the pain. Terrific last 3 minutes.

I think what did it for me was Barkley blaming the NCAA for the current NIL problems which is wrong. The NCAA has lost every court case regarding player compensation etc. I turned it off and went to bed around that time. I did see that it was a close game this morning. 

[Jim French Stepstool]

1 hour ago, RedStickBrew said:

I think what did it for me was Barkley blaming the NCAA for the current NIL problems which is wrong. 

I didn't hear that little gem, which is a good thing. The remote/TV screen might not have survived.😖

[stalton]

*unlurks* I decided to throw my hat in the ring

[CheezWizHed]

On 3/18/2026 at 9:56 AM, HarryDoyle said:

Barkley belongs at home.

Fixed it for you.  And that applies to the moment he retired as a player.  His sole quality as an announcer is to be a loudmouth that says dumb things to spark communication.  I suppose for that reason, he could work for ESPN.  I personally have hated every time I've had to listen to him. 

[HarryDoyle]

Ok, apparently BA was sick the other day and is missing today's games in Buffalo he was supposed to call. Hopefully coming back Saturday. Maybe that had something to do with Barkley and Vitale dominating the broadcast, but the NCAA was better served sitting him down Tuesday as well.