March 16 (UPI) — The UMBC Retrievers and Howard Bison will meet Tuesday in a First Four matchup, tipping off the 2026 NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament.
The 68-team tournament’s progress will unfold over the next three weeks, culminating with the April 4 Final Four and April 6 national title game in Indianapolis.
More than 1,000 players will compete in 67 games in more than a dozen arenas across the country during the latest edition of March Madness.
The No. 1 overall seed Duke Blue Devils are favored to win the title. Fellow top seeds Arizona, Michigan, Florida and No. 2 UConn are among the other Top-5 favorites.
Tournament games will air on CBS, TBS, TNT, truTV and digital platforms.
The 16-seeded Retrievers and Bison will get underway at 6:40 p.m. EDT at UD Arena in Dayton, Ohio. No. 11 seeds Texas and N.C. State will face off in a second First Four matchup at 9:15 p.m. in Dayton.
Additional First Four meetings between No. 16 seeds Prairie View and Lehigh and No. 11 seeds Miami University and SMU will finish the round Wednesday on the same court.
All First Four games will air on truTV.
The Retrievers or Bison will be rewarded with a ticket for a Round of 64 meeting with the top-seeded Michigan Wolverines. The Prairie View Panthers or Lehigh Mountain Hawks will meet the top-seeded Florida Gators in the first tournament game of their 2025 title defense.
The Miami RedHawks or SMU Mustangs will take on the No. 6 Tennessee Volunteers. The Texas Longhorns or N.C. State Wolfpack will advance to face the No. 6 BYU Cougars.
The No. 9 TCU Horned Frogs will face the No. 8 Ohio State Buckeyes in the Round of 64 opener at 12:15 p.m. Thursday in Greenville, S.C.
Teams and players to watch
The No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide is the top-scoring team in the country (91.7 points per game). The No. 11 Miami RedHawks (90.7), No. 12 High Point Panthers (90), No. 4 Arkansas Razorbacks (89.9) and No. 8 Georgia Bulldogs (89.8) will be among the other top offenses to watch.
The RedHawks (31-1), who recently suffered their lone loss of the season, lead the nation in field goal percentage (52.4%) and rank eighth in 3-point percentage (39.1%). The No. 9 Saint Louis Billikens were the best 3-point shooting (40%) team to make the field. The No. 2 Purdue Boilermakers averaged more assists (19.9) per game than any other tournament team.
The defending champion Gators are the top rebounding team in the tournament, with 45.4 per game. High Point averaged the most steals per game (10.9) and third-most fast break points (18.8) per contests.
Unlike two of the last three editions of the tournament, the 2026 version will feature the nation’s top scorer, with projected No. 1 NBA Draft pick A.J. Dybansta suiting up for No. 6 BYU. The 6-foot-9 freshman guard/forward averaged 25.3 points per game this year.
Duke freshman Cameron Boozer (22.8), Arkansas freshman Daris Acuff Jr. (22.8), Alabama sophomore Labaron Philon Jr., Lehigh junior guard Nasir Whitlock (21) and Wisconsin senior guard Nick Boyd (20.8) are among the other top scorers in the field.
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Michigan State junior guard Jeremy Fears Jr. (9.2 assists per game), Purdue senior guard Braden Smith (9.1), Texas Tech sophomore guard Christian Anderson (7.6) and UCLA senior guard Donovan Dent (7.6) are among the top assist men in the tournament.
Florida junior center Rueben Chinyelu (11.5 rebounds per game) is the top rebounder in the tournament. Boozer (10.2) are among the other elite rebound collectors.
Iowa State junior forward Milan Momcilovic, who made 49.6% of his 3-point attempts this season, is the top long distance shooter. Saint Louis sophomore guard Trey Green (45.6), Texas Tech senior forward Donovan Atwell (45.4) and Acuff (44.5) are among the other top shooters.
Kansas freshman guard Darryn Peterson (19.8 points per game), Houston freshman guard Kingston Flemings (16.4) and Tennessee freshman forward Nate Ament (17.5) are among the other projected Top 10 NBA Draft picks set to compete.
The official bracket for the 2026 NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament can be printed here. The NCAA says the odds of predicting all 63 games — from the Round of 64 on — are 1 in 9.2 quintillion.
The 2026 NCAA Division I women’s basketball tournament will start with a First Four matchup between No. 11 seeds Richmond and Nebraska on Wednesday in Durham, N.C. The women’s tournament Final Four and title game will be held April 3 and 5, respectively, in Phoenix.
Women’s tournament games will air on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN News. A women’s tournament bracket can be found here.
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