By Joe Lunardi Updated: 11/11/2025 at 8:20 a.m. ETWelcome to the 2025-26 season! We’ll have updated Bracketology projections every Tuesday through the end of the calendar year, with twice-weekly updates beginning in early January.
On the BubbleLast Four Byes Iowa Mississippi St. Virginia Saint Mary’sLast Four In Clemson Cincinnati Utah State GeorgetownFirst Four Out Georgia Marquette Nebraska OklahomaNext Four Out SMU Miami Kansas St. Oklahoma St.
SOUTH (HOUSTON)Oklahoma City1 Houston – aq16 Portland St. – aq8 Oregon9 TexasPhiladelphia5 North Carolina12 Liberty – aq4 St. John’s13 McNeese – aqSt. Louis6 Kansas11 Clemson/ Georgia3 Illinois14 Little Rock – aqTampa7 Ohio State10 Saint Mary’s2 Florida15 Furman – aq
WEST (SAN JOSE)Philadelphia1 UConn – aq16 Vermont – aq8 Baylor9 IndianaPortland5 UCLA12 High Point – aq4 Gonzaga – aq13 Troy – aqPortland6 Wisconsin11 VCU – aq3 BYU14 Utah Valley – aqGreenville7 Creighton10 Mississippi St.2 Kentucky – aq15 St. Thomas – aq
MIDWEST (CHICAGO)St. Louis1aq – Purdue16aq – Long Islandaq – Norfolk St./8aq – San Diego St.9 Ole MissOklahoma City5 Texas Tech12aq – Yale4 Tennessee13aq – Northern IowaBuffalo6 Arkansas11 Cincinnati Utah State/3 Louisville14aq – TowsonSan Diego7 Vanderbilt10 Virginia2 Arizona15aq – Eastern Kentucky
Last Four Byes Iowa Mississippi St. Virginia Saint Mary’s
Last Four In Clemson Cincinnati Utah State Georgetown
Welcome to the 2025-26 season! We’ll have updated Bracketology projections every Tuesday through the end of the calendar year, with twice-weekly updates beginning in early January.
By Joe Lunardi Updated: 11/11/2025 at 8:20 a.m. ETWelcome to the 2025-26 season! We’ll have updated Bracketology projections every Tuesday through the end of the calendar year, with twice-weekly updates beginning in early January.
Last Four Byes Iowa Mississippi St. Virginia Saint Mary’sLast Four In Clemson Cincinnati Utah State GeorgetownFirst Four Out Georgia Marquette Nebraska OklahomaNext Four Out SMU Miami Kansas St. Oklahoma St.
Photo illo by ESPN Illustration, additional photos courtesy of Getty Images, Associated Press, Imagn, USA TODAY Sports, Icon Sportswire, EPA/Shutterstock
Top Overall SeedHoustonFirst Team OutGeorgiaLast Team InGeorgetown
EAST (WASHINGTON D.C.)Greenville1aq – Duke16aq – Navyaq – Southern/8 Missouri9 USCSan Diego5 Michigan St.12aq – Akron4 Iowa State13aq – UC Santa BarbaraTampa6 N.C. State11aq – Memphis3 Alabama14aq – SienaBuffalo7 Auburn10 Iowa2 Michigan15aq – Youngstown St.
Photo illo by ESPN Illustration, additional photos courtesy of Getty Images, Associated Press, Imagn, USA TODAY Sports, Icon Sportswire, EPA/Shutterstock
Photo illo by ESPN Illustration, additional photos courtesy of Getty Images, Associated Press, Imagn, USA TODAY Sports, Icon Sportswire, EPA/Shutterstock
Bracket WatchTop Overall SeedHoustonFirst Team OutGeorgiaLast Team InGeorgetownThe Georgetown Hoyas were a fixture in the bracket after it first expanded to 64 teams. Coming off the 1984 national championship, they were a 1-seed in three of the next five NCAA tournaments, and a single-digit seed in all but one season between 1979 and 1996. John Thompson III did a fair impersonation of his father — the architect of that aforementioned stretch — after taking over the helm in 2004, collecting eight single-digit seeds in 10 campaigns with a Final Four run in 2006. But in the decade since that era ended in 2015, Georgetown has snuck into the tourney only once — as the 2021 Big East tournament champion — and hasn’t come close to an at-large bid the past four seasons … until Friday night. The Hoyas waited out the Beltway traffic then belted Maryland on the Terps’ home floor. Their reward is a spot in our latest bracket as the Last Team In. It will be a fascinating five months to see whether they can stay there.
68-Team Bracket11Clemson11Georgia16Navy16Southern16Long Island16Norfolk St.11Cincinnati11Utah StateSOUTH (HOUSTON)Oklahoma City1 Houston – aq16 Portland St. – aq8 Oregon9 TexasPhiladelphia5 North Carolina12 Liberty – aq4 St. John’s13 McNeese – aqSt. Louis6 Kansas11 Clemson/ Georgia3 Illinois14 Little Rock – aqTampa7 Ohio State10 Saint Mary’s2 Florida15 Furman – aqWEST (SAN JOSE)Philadelphia1 UConn – aq16 Vermont – aq8 Baylor9 IndianaPortland5 UCLA12 High Point – aq4 Gonzaga – aq13 Troy – aqPortland6 Wisconsin11 VCU – aq3 BYU14 Utah Valley – aqGreenville7 Creighton10 Mississippi St.2 Kentucky – aq15 St. Thomas – aqEAST (WASHINGTON D.C.)Greenville1aq – Duke16aq – Navyaq – Southern/8 Missouri9 USCSan Diego5 Michigan St.12aq – Akron4 Iowa State13aq – UC Santa BarbaraTampa6 N.C. State11aq – Memphis3 Alabama14aq – SienaBuffalo7 Auburn10 Iowa2 Michigan15aq – Youngstown St.MIDWEST (CHICAGO)St. Louis1aq – Purdue16aq – Long Islandaq – Norfolk St./8aq – San Diego St.9 Ole MissOklahoma City5 Texas Tech12aq – Yale4 Tennessee13aq – Northern IowaBuffalo6 Arkansas11 Cincinnati Utah State/3 Louisville14aq – TowsonSan Diego7 Vanderbilt10 Virginia2 Arizona15aq – Eastern Kentucky
11Clemson11Georgia16Navy16Southern16Long Island16Norfolk St.11Cincinnati11Utah State
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The Georgetown Hoyas were a fixture in the bracket after it first expanded to 64 teams. Coming off the 1984 national championship, they were a 1-seed in three of the next five NCAA tournaments, and a single-digit seed in all but one season between 1979 and 1996. John Thompson III did a fair impersonation of his father — the architect of that aforementioned stretch — after taking over the helm in 2004, collecting eight single-digit seeds in 10 campaigns with a Final Four run in 2006. But in the decade since that era ended in 2015, Georgetown has snuck into the tourney only once — as the 2021 Big East tournament champion — and hasn’t come close to an at-large bid the past four seasons … until Friday night. The Hoyas waited out the Beltway traffic then belted Maryland on the Terps’ home floor. Their reward is a spot in our latest bracket as the Last Team In. It will be a fascinating five months to see whether they can stay there.