The Big Ten are the big winners of the first weekend of the 2026 men’s NCAA tournament.
Going 6-1 in the second round, the league has a real chance to place multiple teams in the Final Four with a strong showing in the second weekend. Finally, there’s some hope of breaking the conference’s national championship drought that spans a quarter century. Check out our full Sweet 16 rankings for the men’s tournament, led by a Big Ten team in No. 1 seed Michigan.
While Power 4 football conferences dominated the Sweet 16 last season, the Big East advanced UConn and St. John’s into the second weekend to make it five multi-bid leagues left in the field.
Elsewhere, the SEC is scrambling with the loss of top-seed Florida to Iowa in a shocking second-round South Region upset. The Big 12 is looking strong with top three very good teams in Arizona, Houston and Iowa State still remaining.
Since the East Region contains both Big East teams and Duke — as well as Michigan State out of the Big Ten — it limits the two conferences to only one Final Four bid between them for next weekend. Taking the Spartans out of consideration, five Big Ten teams, four SEC teams and three Big 12 teams are essentially battling for three Final Four bids outside of the East Region.
Although mid-major underdogs are nowhere to be found in the second weekend of the NCAA tournament, No. 11 seed Texas from the First Four is the most unlikely story to track in the second weekend.
Big Ten: 6 teams (out of 9)
Big 12: 3 teams (out of 8)
Big East: 2 teams (out of 3)
With only four teams making the Sweet 16, and No. 1 seed and defending champion Florida out, it’s up to the remaining SEC teams to make a Final Four push.
The Gators were eliminated by No. 9 seed Iowa to headline a 4-4 second round for the league. Alabama and Arkansas both had impressive opening weekend runs as four seeds. The two will battle top seeds Michigan and Arizona in the next round.
Tennessee gained momentum with its win over No. 3 seed Virginia and faces No. 2 seed Iowa State next in the Midwest Region. The surprise in the league is Texas. The Longhorns became just the sixth team from the First Four to join the Sweet 16 after three wins in five days but play No. 2 seed Purdue in the next round.
2026: 10 bids, 13-6 record
2025: 14 bids, 23-13 record
2024: eight bids, 9-8 record
No. 1 Florida lost to No. 9 Iowa 73-72
No. 4 Alabama beat No. 5 Texas Tech 90-65
No. 4 Arkansas beat No. 12 High Point 94-88
No. 5 Vanderbilt lost to No. 4 Nebraska 74-72
No. 6 Tennessee beat No. 3 Virginia 79-72
No. 7 Kentucky lost to No. 2 Iowa State 82-63
No. 10 Texas A&M lost to No. 2 Houston 88-57
No. 11 Texas beat No. 3 Gonzaga 74-68
It’s been a massive start for the Big Ten in the NCAA tournament with six teams making the Sweet 16 after a 6-1 second round performance. The Big Ten already surpassed the league’s win totals from two seasons ago while matching last season’s NCAA tournament win total as well. Our Ricky O’Donnell ranked the Big Ten as the best conference in college basketball this season even though the computers still favored the SEC.
In the Midwest Region, top-seed Michigan will be the favorite in Chicago next weekend when they face No. 4 seed Alabama. Purdue gets No. 11 seed Texas after the Longhorns knocked out Gonzaga. Three seeds Illinois and Michigan State are in for battles facing two seeds Houston and UConn, respectively.
Nebraska and Iowa making the Sweet 16, and facing each other, is the big bonus in this scenario. The No. 9 seed Hawkeyes eliminating top seed and defending national champion Florida in the South Region is the tournament’s biggest upset so far. It also guarantees the Big Ten at least one Elite Eight team that doesn’t come from the four remaining top-three seeds.
The Big Ten is in a solid position to have multiple Elite Eight teams after the next round with Michigan and Purdue also early favorites in Sweet 16 matchups.
2026: nine bids, 13-3 record
2025: eight bids, 13-8 record
2024: six bids, 10-6 record
No. 1 Michigan beat No. 9 Saint Louis 95-72
No. 2 Purdue beat No. 7 Miami 79-69
No. 3 Illinois beat No. 11 VCU 76-55
No. 3 Michigan State beat No. 6 Louisville 77-69
No. 4 Nebraska beat No. 5 Vanderbilt 74-72
No. 7 UCLA lost to No. 2 UConn 73-57
No. 9 Iowa beat No. 1 Florida 73-72
Carrying three teams into the Sweet 16, the Big 12 still has three top-two seeds left in Arizona, Houston and Iowa State.
Top seed in the West Region, Arizona pulled away from Utah State. The Wildcats will be tested by SEC tournament champion Arkansas in the Sweet 16.
Houston is well-positioned in the South Region with No. 1 seed Florida falling in the second round. Of course, the Cougars need to worry about No. 3 seed Illinois and its high-powered offense in the Sweet 16 first but should welcome the home city advantage. Injury to Joshua Jefferson didn’t stop Iowa State from taking down No. 7 seed Kentucky. The Cyclones play No. 6 seed Tennessee next in the Midwest Region.
2026: eight bids, 9-5 record
2025: seven bids, 14-7 record
2024: eight bids, 7-8 record
No. 1 Arizona beat No. 9 Utah State 78-66
No. 2 Houston beat No. 10 Texas A&M 88-57
No. 2 Iowa State beat No. 7 Kentucky 82-63
No. 4 Kansas lost to No. 5 St. John’s 67-65
No. 5 Texas Tech lost to No. 4 Alabama 90-65
No. 9 TCU lost to No. 1 Duke 81-58
After taking a step forward with eight bids, the ACC backtracked by sending only top seed Duke onto the Sweet 16. Virginia lost as the stronger No. 3 seed against No. 6 seed Tennessee. Meanwhile, Louisville and Miami lost to stronger Big Ten teams in Michigan State and Purdue.
Duke still remains the team to beat in the East Region. They’ll face Big East champion and No. 5 seed St. John’s in the Sweet 16 The ACC only getting the Blue Devils into the Sweet 16 is another poor showing from the league in the NCAA tournament.
2026: eight bids, 5-7 record
2025: four bids, 5-4 record
2024: five bids, 12-5 record
No. 1 Duke beat No. 9 TCU 81-58
No. 3 Virginia lost to No. 6 Tennessee 79-72
No. 6 Louisville lost to No. 3 Michigan State 77-69
No. 7 Miami (FL) lost to No. 2 Purdue 79-69
A solid showing from the Big East with two out of three bids making the second weekend. Both conference representatives in the Round of 32 advanced.
Conference champion St. John’s beating No. 4 seed Kansas on Dylan Darling’s game-winning layup was a massive win for the Red Storm. UConn is also back in the Sweet 16 in the East Region and looked dangerous pulling away from UCLA despite an off-night on offense.
The East Region has both Big East teams competing for one spot in the Final Four. Connecticut faces No. 3 seed Michigan State while St. John’s plays top seed Duke. Should both Big East programs advance, the Red Storm won the Big East series 2-1 in the regular season, including the conference tournament title game in Madison Square Garden.
2026: three bids, 4-1 record
2025: five bids, 4-5 record
2024: three bids, 10-2 record
No. 2 UConn beat No. 7 UCLA 73-57
No. 5 St. John’s beat No. 4 Kansas 67-65
There’s no other way to spin it: 2026 is a big disappointment for the WCC in the NCAA tournament. Despite receiving three bids, the WCC generated the same number of tourney wins as the MAC and one fewer win than the two-bid A10. It’s the first time the WCC was limited to one tournament win since 2014.
Gonzaga’s loss to No. 11 seed Texas is also a troubling sign for the Bulldogs. The last two years is the first time the Zags failed to reach the Sweet 16 in back-to-back seasons since second-round exits in 2013 and 2014. Over the last decade, Gonzaga was one of the best in the country at consistently making the second weekend of the NCAA tournament. Both the WCC, and the Bulldogs, will try to regroup this offseason.
2026: three bids, 1-3 record
2025: two bids, 2-2 record
2024: two bids, 4-2 record
No. 3 Gonzaga lost to No. 11 Texas 74-68
Struggles in the second round continued for the Atlantic 10 with both Saint Louis and VCU losing to Big Ten programs in the Round of 32. The A10 hasn’t produced a second-weekend team since Dayton made its Elite Eight run in 2014, losing 10 straight second round games in the process.
Although the league deserves credit for multiple bids and two first-round wins in 2026, getting another team into the Sweet 16 is the next step for the Atlantic 10.
2026: two bids, 2-2 record
2025: one bid, 0-1 record
2024: two bids, 2-2 record
No. 9 Saint Louis lost to No. 1 Michigan 95-72
No. 11 VCU lost to No. 3 Illinois 76-55
2026: two bids, 1-2 record
2025: one bid, 0-1 record
2024: one bid, 0-1 record
