WAY TOO EARLY PROJECTION OF TEAMS IN 2026 MARCH MADNESS

Below is MY perceived 2026 NCAA Men’s March Madness 68-team bracket summary along with why these contenders are projected where they are and who the last four in might be. With clear sections and some bracket context based on multiple bracketology sources and current standings. 🏀 2026 NCAA March Madness – Perceived Bracket & Summary  Top Seeds (Projected No. 1s) No. 1 Seeds: Duke, Michigan, Arizona, UConn These are the teams currently leading polls and bracket projections: Duke has taken over the AP No. 1 spot after a signature win over Michigan, Michigan and Arizona remain elite in NET and poll rankings, and UConn is dominating the Big East.  🏆 Projected Bracket — Top Regions (This is a  field combining multiple bracketology projections through February) No. 1 Seeds Duke – ACC powerhouse with top metrics and high Quad-1 win totals.  AP News Michigan – Elite resume, strong analytics profile across KenPom & NET. Arizona – Undefeated and dominant in Big 12 play.  UConn – Big East leader and consistent NET top10 team. �table 2–4 Seeds (Consensus among projections): Purdue – Listed as a 2-seed and inside the top 10 NET as well.  Illinois, Houston, Iowa State, Gonzaga – All regularly projected as 2–3 seeds due to strong resumes and Quad-1 victories.  Texas Tech, North Carolina, Florida – Frequently slotted in the 4–5 range.  🔥 Bubble & At-Large Favorites These teams are frequently projected in the middle seed range (6–10) and are viewed as strong bubble contenders: Wisconsin – Now considered a lock with a solid Quad-1 profile.  Bucky’s 5th Quarter NC State, Villanova, Utah State – Often seen as swing seeds (7–9).  Tennessee, Alabama, Iowa, Louisville – Held inside projected field in most bracketology lists.  📉 Perceived Bubble & Tiering Likely In (just inside): NC State, UCLA, Auburn, Missouri, USC, SMU � Traditional Bubble (needs wins to secure): Butler, Creighton, Seton Hall, UCF, San Diego State � 🏟️ Last Four In (Play-In Candidates) According to recent projections such as Sporting News’ field of 68 and other bracketology builds: 📌 Projected Last Four In Texas Ohio State Texas A&M New Mexico These teams typically show up just inside the 68-team range but with resume gaps that could easily drop them on Selection Sunday.  ❌ First Four Out (Near-Misses) Teams often crack the bracket: Just outside the field, meaning they’d need late resume boosts to USC Santa Clara Virginia Tech Missouri These programs hover near the cut line due to inconsistent Quad-1 wins or fewer signature victories.  🧠 Why These Projections Make Sense 📊 Standings & Metrics The teams near the top of the NET and AP polls (Duke, Michigan, Arizona, UConn) also have strong strength of schedule and Quad-1 win totals — key components the Selection Committee values.  NCAA.com+ 📍 Conference Strength Big Ten, ACC, Big 12, and SEC teams are well-represented due to conference depth and quality wins. The Big Ten alone has numerous projected bids.  Bucky’s 5th Quarter 📉 Strong Mid-Majors Gonzaga and Utah State often appear in the field due to excellent records, strong conference performance, and Quad-1/Quad-2 victories.  The Slipper Still Fits Views: 3

2020 MARCH MADNESS PICK SHEETS , UPDATES AND OCCASIONAL OPINION

MARCH 12,2020 “Today, NCAA President Mark Emmert and the Board of Governors canceled the Division I men’s and women’s 2020 basketball tournaments, as well as all remaining winter and spring NCAA championships,” the NCAA said in a statement. “This decision is based on the evolving COVID-19 public health threat, our ability to ensure the events do not contribute to spread of the pandemic, and the impracticality of hosting such events at any time during this academic year given ongoing decisions by other entities.” This marks the first year the NCAA tournament has not been played since its inception in 1939. That year, the event featured only eight teams, and Oregon beat Ohio State to win the first championship. National Championship   ]This is where you can print your “OFFICE POOL” Bracket, Check the scores, etc. Yes I will have “MY PICKS” so you can compare your picks to mine. (And Laugh or Cry)I will have A “MASTER BRACKET”,  “WHAT IF YOU CHOSE THE HIGH PICKS”  for each game.  Yes I will have MY PICKS. .An “UPSET” will be RED on “ALL HIGH PICKS”  Bracket.  GREEN indicate HIGH SEED Win What is a seed?  Merely a starting place.  Although unlikely, IT is possible for two 16 seeds to meet in the final game.  Would lets say Michigan St  were to be seeded as a number 16.  They would still have  to win all games to be CHAMPION ! SEEDING attempts to give a more favored team an easier path to the CHAMPIONSHIP.  Seeding should lead to  the best 2 teams playing in the final game.  However there  is always that upset minded team;  or  the chance that the favored team has a bad game, a stand out player is sick or injured. To  print BRACKET:  HOVER OVER SHEET.  You will see a window at bottom with an arrow pointing down (second from right).  Click this button.  It will open a new window with the bracket then click the printer icon or go to file,  and PRINT. TO Enlarge each sheet: Hover over and select the square on the far bottom RIGHT.  To return to PAGE  Repeat. MASTER BRACKET 2020 NCAA tournament schedule and locations: DATES ROUND WATCH CITY, STATE HOST(S) FACILITY March 15 Selection Sunday 6 p.m. ET on CBS N/A CBS will broadcast the Selection Show at 6 p.m. ET N/A March 17-18 First Four March Madness Live Dayton, OH University of Dayton UD Arena March 19/21 1st/2nd Rounds March Madness Live Albany, NY Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Times Union Center March 19/21 1st/2nd Rounds March Madness Live Spokane, WA University of Idaho Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena March 19/21 1st/2nd Rounds March Madness Live St. Louis, MO Missouri Valley Conference Enterprise Center March 19/21 1st/2nd Rounds March Madness Live Tampa, FL University of South Florida Amalie Arena March 20/22 1st/2nd Rounds March Madness Live Greensboro, NC Atlantic Coast Conference Greensboro Coliseum March 20/22 1st/2nd Rounds March Madness Live Omaha, NE Creighton University CenturyLink Center Omaha March 20/22 1st/2nd Rounds March Madness Live Sacramento, CA Sacramento State University Golden 1 Center March 20/22 1st/2nd Rounds March Madness Live Cleveland, OH Mid-American Conference/Cleveland State Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse March 26/28 Midwest Regional March Madness Live Indianapolis, IN Horizon League/IUPUI Lucas Oil Stadium March 26/28 West Regional March Madness Live Los Angeles, CA Pepperdine University STAPLES Center March 27/29 South Regional March Madness Live Houston, TX University of Houston Toyota Center March 27/29 East Regional March Madness Live New York, NY St. John’s University/Big East Conference Madison Square Garden April 4/6 Final Four and title game TBS/ March Madness Live Atlanta, GA Georgia Institute of Technology MASTER BRACKET [pdf-embedder url=”https://fromthemiddle.blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/2020-MARCHMADNESS-MASTER.pdf” title=”2020 MARCHMADNESS MASTER”] ALL HIGH PICKS   MY PICKS Views: 118

NCAA March Madness 2016

What a thrilling ending to the 2016 edition of MARCH MADNESS. North Carolina probably wishing the could have waited a couple of seconds for their final shot.  I didn’t do so well.  I DID however pick a number two seed to win (Michigan State); BUT it was a number two seed which won.  So I have to give myself  a half credit (?). It has been FUN.  I  plan to do this again next year.  Despite my troubles with CHROME.  It gave me fits in updating.  I would spend sometimes an hour updating just one bracket sheet.  Finally learned I had to clear my cache every time before I attempted to update anything. Be sure to check back regularly.  I don’t have any idea what I will write about….. NO! wait I have some idea.  Maybe some racing history. (If I can find the notes I made a couple years ago.  Also…. who knows. WELCOME TO OUR 2016 MARCH MADNESS.  I am not sure How many years we have been doing this.  I will have to look it up.   This is where you can print your “OFFICE POOL” Bracket, Check the scores, etc. I will have this “MASTER BRACKET”,  “WHAT IF YOU CHOSE THE HIGH PICKS”  for each game.  An “UPSET BRACKET”  (if the favored team wins it will be in Green, if it is an upset it will be listed in RED”.  And, Yes I will have my picks so you can compare your picks to mine. (And Laugh or Cry)  What is a seed?  Merely a starting place.  Although unlikely, IT is possible for two 16 seeds to meet in the final game.  Would lets say Michigan St  were to be seeded as a number 16.  They would still have  to win all games to be CHAMPION !    SEEDING attempts to give a more favored team an easier path to the CHAMPIONSHIP.  Seeding should lead to  the best 2 teams playing in the final game.  However there  is always that upset minded team;  or  the chance that the favored team has a bad game, a stand out player is sick or injured.  I am reminded of one year in our STATE High School WRESTLING Tournament.  The Athletic Assn.  decided to go with a draw, rather than seeding.  The Result?  Two wrestlers with one defeat each faced each other in the first match.  Loser of a first round match goes home.  It was a 3 OT match.  One of these wrestlers went home, while wrestlers with more losses during the season advanced.  The winner of this match had no competition left.  Easy wins.  He won the CHAMPIONSHIP  that first match.  Not much excitement. Reportedly there is a TEENAGE GIRL in Indiana who has only missed 3 games in this years bracket. She picked Texas over Northern Iowa.  California over Hawaii. Final game she had Syracuse over North Carolina.  Her Champion pick is……VILLANOVA. She says she does not follow Basketball regularly and has only attended a game or two at her high school.      Maybe this is proof the rest of us over think some things To  print BRACKET: Click on PRINT PDF button at top and select page with the bracket you want to print. ( If you do not see the “PRINT PDF” button.  Please go to the The Title “NCAA March Madness 2016”  and click to advance to the full post).  MASTER BRACKET [pdf-embedder url=”https://fromthemiddle.blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/2016-march-madness-MASTER-bracket.pdf”] ALL HIGH PICKS [pdf-embedder url=”https://fromthemiddle.blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/2016-march-madness-ALL-HIGH-PICKS-bracket.pdf”] UPSETS [pdf-embedder url=”https://fromthemiddle.blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/2016-march-madness-UPSETS-bracket.pdf”] MY PICKS [pdf-embedder url=”https://fromthemiddle.blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/2016-march-madness-MY-PICKS-bracket.pdf”]       Views: 109