2026 NCAA Tournament Second Round Betting
Part of the excitement of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament is the second round that takes place on Saturday and Sunday each year. This round determines which programs are NCAA Tournament darlings, as any underdog that makes it through the first two rounds of March Madness will be on the receiving end of a ton of positive publicity and fawning from the national media. The four No. 1 seeds for the 2026 NCAA Tournament are the Duke Blue Devils, Michigan Wolverines, Arizona Wildcats and Florida Gators. It is worth remembering that of the 40 national champions since 1985, a total of 26 of them have been No. 1 seeds. A No. 2 seed has won the title five times since 1985, while a No. 3 seed has won the NCAA Tournament four times in that time period.
How about the lowest seed to win a title? That honor goes to the Villanova Wildcats, who won the title as a No. 8 seed in 1985. Can the Duke Blue Devils win their sixth national title in the 2026 NCAA Tournament? Will the Florida Gators defend their national title. Who will this year’s NCAA Tournament darling end up being?
College Basketball Betting Lines
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2026 NCAA Tournament Second Round/Round of 32
Saturday, March 21
KeyBank Center – Buffalo, New York
Bon Secours Wellness Arena – Greenville, South Carolina
Paycom Center – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Moda Center, Portland, Oregon
Sunday, March 22
Benchmark International Arena – Tampa, Florida
Xfinity Mobile Arena – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Viejas Arena – San Diego, California
Enterprise Center – St. Louis, Missouri
NCAA Tournament Second Round Format
What makes the second round so tough for teams is momentum. It's so easy to ride that wave off the First Round of the NCAA Tournament, but after a day off, it's really hard to strap back on the boots and give it another go, especially for teams that made a deep run in their conference tournament. That's why so often, teams who pulled off first round upsets end up falling by the wayside over the weekend.
This is also the first real test for the No. 1 seeds in each of the regions, unless you are 2018 Virginia or a 2023 Purdue. Theoretically, all four No. 1 seeds should get to this point in the competition, but the 1 vs. 8/9 matchups tend to be tricky. You know that all the teams that the No. 1s are going to be facing are teams that were amongst the best 30 or 35 squads in the nation, and once you get down to that, anyone can beat anyone on any given day.
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