2026 NCAA Tournament First Round Betting
Although baseball is getting ready to kick off and basketball and hockey are entering their stretch runs, March belongs to college basketball. The sporting world will turn its collective attention to this three-week event that will bring together millions of fans and casual observers in heartache and celebration. The 2026 NCAA Tournament has First Four games on Tuesday, March 17 and Wednesday, March 18 and then the real action begins with First Round games taking place on Thursday, March 19 and Friday, March 20. The Duke Blue Devils begin the 2026 NCAA Tournament as the betting favorite and they are the No. 1 seed in the East Region. They will begin play on Thursday against No. 16 seed Siena. The Michigan Wolverines are the top seed in the Midwest Region and second in March Madness betting and will play on Thursday against the winner of the No. 16 seed First Four Game between UMBC and Howard. The Arizona Wildcats are the top seed in the West Region and third in NCAA basketball futures and will play on Friday against No. 16 seed Long Island in the first round. The Florida Gators are the No. 1 seed in the South Region and they are the fourth choice in March Madness futures. The Gators begin play on Friday against the winner of the No. 16 seed First Four Game between Prairie View A&M and Lehigh.
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2026 NCAA Tournament First Round/Round of 64 (All Times Eastern)
Thursday, March 19
(9) TCU vs. (8) Ohio State, 12:15 p.m. | CBS
(13) Troy vs. (4) Nebraska, 12:40 p.m. | truTV
(11) South Florida vs. (6) Louisville, 1:30 p.m. | TNT
(12) High Point vs. (5) Wisconsin, 1:50 p.m. | TBS
(16) Siena vs. (1) Duke, 2:50 p.m. | CBS
(12) McNeese vs. (5) Vanderbilt, 3:15 p.m. | truTV
(14) North Dakota State vs. (3) Michigan State, 4:05 p.m. | TNT
(13) Hawai'i vs. (4) Arkansas, 4:25 p.m. | TBS
(11) VCU vs. (6) North Carolina, 6:50 p.m. | TNT
(16) UMBC or Howard vs. (1) Michigan, 7:10 p.m. | CBS
(11) Texas or NC State vs. (6) BYU, 7:25 p.m. | TBS
(10) Texas A&M vs. (7) Saint Mary's, 7:35 p.m. | truTV
(14) Pennsylvania vs. (3) Illinois, 9:25 p.m. | TNT
(9) Saint Louis vs. (8) Georgia, 9:45 p.m. | CBS
(14) Kennesaw State vs. (3) Gonzaga, 10:00 p.m. | TBS
(15) Idaho vs. (2) Houston, 10:10 p.m. | truTV
Friday, March 20
(10) Santa Clara vs. (7) Kentucky, 12:15 p.m. | CBS
(12) Akron vs. (5) Texas Tech, 12:40 p.m. | truTV
(16) Long Island University vs. (1) Arizona, 1:35 p.m. | TNT
(14) Wright State vs. (3) Virginia, 1:50 p.m. | TBS
(15) Tennessee State vs. (2) Iowa State, 2:50 p.m. | CBS
(13) Hofstra vs. (4) Alabama, 3:15 p.m. | truTV
(9) Utah State vs. (8) Villanova, 4:10 p.m. | TNT
(16) Miami Ohio or SMU vs. (6) Tennessee, 4:25 p.m. | TBS
(9) Iowa vs. (8) Clemson, 6:50 p.m. | TNT
(12) Northern Iowa vs. (5) St. John's, 7:10 p.m. | CBS
(10) UCF vs. (7) UCLA, 7:25 p.m. | TBS
(15) Queens University vs. (2) Purdue, 7:35 p.m. | truTV
(16) Prairie View A&M or Lehigh vs. (1) Florida, 9:25 p.m. | TNT
(13) California Baptist vs. (4) Kansas, 9:45 p.m. | CBS
(15) Furman vs. (2) UConn, 10:00 p.m. | TBS
(10) Missouri vs. (7) Miami, 10:10 p.m. | truTV
NCAA Tournament First Round Format
The NCAA Tournament Selection Committee ranks the whole field from 1 to 68, which are known as the seeds, in order to create the bracket. After that, the committee assigns a seed between No. 1 and No. 16 to each of the four regions. The term "seed line" refers to the same four seeds in each location. In the First Four, eight teams compete for the last four spots in the field of 64. The final at-large teams to receive bids to the tournament are the two paired teams that compete for a seed line in the No. 10 to No. 14 range, which fluctuates from year to year depending on the true seeds of the teams overall. Two of the paired teams battle for No. 16 seeds. In each region, the top four seeds overall are ranked No. 1 in their region. Because the regions are paired, if every No. 1 seed made it to the Final Four, the top seed would play No. 4, and the number two seed would play No. 3. In order to avoid pairing the No. 5 true seed with the No. 1 true seed, the No. 2 teams are ideally positioned. By summing up the genuine seed values and comparing them across regions, the committee makes sure that the top four seeds in each region are competitively balanced. To balance the actual seed distribution, some teams will be transferred across the regions if there is a large divergence.
In recent years, there has been an additional factor at play too. The top four seeds have been given as much preferential treatment as possible regarding where games are played. The Selection Committee tries to slot them as close to home as possible, and while the system isn’t perfect, it does help the favorites significantly. The winners of the First Four games are placed in the bracket of the First Round of the NCAA Tournament late in the week. This means there are two No. 1 seeds and two teams that are either No. 5 seeds or No. 6 seeds that won’t know their opponent in the NCAA Tournament First Round until Tuesday or Wednesday.
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