March 17, 2026
Junfu Han/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Michigan forward Yaxel Lendeborg, who played high school ball in Pennsauken, N.J., was the Big Ten's Player of the Year.
The matchups are set. Your bracket(s) are all filled out. You have a spot reserved on the couch – or at the sports bar – for the entire weekend.
It's that time of the year – one of the best in all of sports – the annual must-see TV event known as "March Madness."
The NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament – also affectionately known as the "The Big Dance" – kicks off Thursday with the first set of first-round games as 64 teams get their chance to become college basketball's champion. By Sunday, only 16 will remain.
Philly, which doesn't have many local teams dancing this year, does have a special treat. First- and second-round games will be played at Xfinity Mobile Arena from Thursday to Sunday. The marquee teams are UConn, UCLA and Virginia.
Without much local flavor in this year's tournament (uh-gain), here is your rooting guide for this year's tournament:
Unfortunately, you'll have to travel to see any of our three local teams (we got you, Lehigh) in the dance.
Villanova got sent West, as the 8-seed against 9-seed Utah State on Friday in San Diego. But, a win over the Aggies would set up a likely matchup against 1-seed Arizona in the second round, and hey, anything can happen.
Penn, coming off a major upset of Yale in the Ivy League Tournament championship, heads South to face a tall order against 3-seed Illinois, ranked 13th in the AP Poll. How long has it been since the Quakers won an NCAA tournament game? Oh, just 31 years. As an 11-seed in 1994, they toppled 6-seed Nebraska before losing to eventual Final Four squad Florida in Round 2.
Lehigh has the play-in game Wednesday night against Prairie View for the opportunity to probably get its rear end kicked in by 1-seed Florida on Friday in the first round. Good luck!
One of the best players for one of the best teams in the tournament has roots in the Delaware Valley, but surprisingly, there isn't much Del Val flavor on Penn, Lehigh or even Villanova – and there aren't very many among the best players in the tournament.
Midwest bracket 1-seed Michigan's Yaxel Lendeborg, who was born in Puerto Rico, moved to Pennsauken and played briefly for Pennsauken High before heading off to Arizona Western, then UAB, then Michigan. He was named Big Ten Player of the Year and is projected to be an NBA lottery pick.
South bracket 1-seed Florida's Thomas Haugh, an All-American, grew up outside Gettysburg and went to the Perkiomen School, which he helped lead to a state championship in 2023.
Camden's D.J. Wagner, son of Camden legend and former NBA player DaJuan Wagner, followed in his father's footsteps by playing for legendary coach John Calipari. D.J. transferred from Kentucky to Arkansas to follow Calipari and plays about 24 minutes per game for 4-seed Arkansas of the West bracket.
If you're one of those Duke lovers with a closet full of Christian Laettner bobblehead dolls and Blue Devil logos all over your bathroom towels and shower curtains – despite no actual ties to the school or state of North Carolina – this could be a great tournament for you.
Duke is the tournament's overall No. 1 seed. The Blue Devils have two starters expected to be first-round picks in June's NBA Draft.
Thanks to NIL, the blue bloods are only getting bluer. Florida, Arizona, and Michigan are the other No. 1 seeds. All four top seeds have combined for 36 Final Fours and eight titles.
Michigan is the only top seed without at least one championship, so feel free to hop on their empathy bandwagon and see where it takes you.
If you're one of the countless Duke haters out there, take solace in Duke being in the same East bracket as blue bloods UConn (2-seed), Kansas (4-seed) and UCLA (7-seed) – schools that have combined for 23 national championships.
The East also has storied programs like Michigan State (3-seed), St. John's (5-seed), Louisville (6-seed) and Ohio State (8-seed). Michigan State, Louisville and Ohio State have combined for six national titles while the Johnnies have been to two Final Fours.
Upsets are what make the NCAA Tournament one of the best events in sports. Pick enough of them correctly and your bracket could be the winner.
For the longest time, the dance was known for the 5-12 upset – at least one 12-seed would beat a 5-seed every year. Lately, the 11-6 battle has become the higher-percentage upset special.
Here at the best options for your 5-12 and 6-11 seeds:
No. 11 South Florida vs. No. 6 Louisville: USF has won 11 straight entering the dance and swept through the AAC Tournament, winning by an average margin of 18.5 points per game. Louisville has played .500 ball over its last eight games and will be without injured star freshman Mikel Brown Jr., a projected NBA lottery pick.
No. 12 High Point vs. No. 5 Wisconsin: High Point [N.C.] won 30 games and rolled through the Big South, averaging 90 points per game, fifth-best in the NCAA. Wisconsin lost six games this year to unranked opponents.
No. 12 Akron vs. No. 5 Texas Tech: This is more about Texas Tech entering the dance on a three-game losing streak, with losses in four of its past seven, including two to unranked teams.
No. 11 Virginia Commonwealth vs. No. 6 North Carolina: It's never ideal to bet against blue blood UNC but VCU has won 16 of its last 17 while the Tar Heels have five losses to unranked teams and got upset by Clemson in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals.
Don't sleep on Midwest bracket 13-seed Hofstra, a small school in Long Island that shouldn't be confused with West bracket 16-seed Long Island, a small school in Brooklyn. (Wait, what?)
You might remember Hofstra as the school where legendary Nova coach Jay Wright got his first head coaching gig, coaching the Pride to consecutive appearances in the big dance (2000, 2001) with point guard Speedy Claxton, who would become a Sixers first-round pick.
The Pride are dancing for the first time since Wright's last year there and face 4-seed Alabama, which will be without its best player, Aden Hollway, who was booted from the school this week after an arrest, per ESPN. A win would put Hofstra in the second round against the winner of the aforementioned Texas Tech-Akron matchup.
Also, 12-seed McNeese State in the South bracket won its 12-6 game last year over Clemson. Another first-round upset would propel the Cowboys back into the second round, against the Nebraska-Troy winner. Nebraska isn't exactly college basketball royalty. Unfortunately for McNeese, two upsets would land them a probable matchup vs. 1-seed Florida in the Sweet Sixteen.
Tennessee hardly profiles as a typical "Cinderella," but the Vols advanced to the Elite Eight last year before losing to Houston. Tennessee's coach, Rick Barnes, is one of the sport's winningest head coaches with more than 850 career victories. In these NIL days, a 6-seed in the Final Four would definitely qualify as Cinderella.
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