Bracketology: SEC holds narrow edge on Big Ten in race for most NCAA Tournament bids as March Madness nears
College basketball's high-major hierarchy is a tight race in 2026 as March action gets rolling
March is here, and the race for conference supremacy in the 2026 NCAA Tournament bracket is heating up. While the SEC still leads the way with 10 teams in the CBS Sports Bracketology field as of Monday, the league is actually down a team after this past weekend's results.
Auburn, which suffered a Quad 3 home loss to Ole Miss on Saturday, is now among the First Four Out with a 15-14 (6-10 SEC) record. The lowly Rebels had dropped 10 straight before heading to Neville Arena and leveling a brutal blow to the Tigers' at-large hopes.
With Texas A&M now hanging on as a No. 11 seed in Bracketology, the race to see which league can get the most bids is getting tight. The Big Ten is sitting at nine entering the final week of the regular season as Indiana and USC continue to fade. The ACC and Big 12 are both at eight but have teams on the bubble, which could sway the final tally.
Lagging well back is the Big East, which has just three projected NCAA Tournament teams in UConn, St. John's and Villanova. The other projected multi-bid leagues entering the first week of March are the WCC, Atlantic 10 and Mountain West.
Before we dive in further to the conference picture, let's check out where things stand at the top of the bracket entering Monday's action.
Bracketology top seeds
Check out the full field of 68 at the CBS Sports Bracketology hub.
High-major hierarchy
Here is a breakdown of the high-major hierarchy entering the new week. As things stand, the five most powerful conferences account for 38 of the 68 bids. The Big Ten and Big 12 comprise a whopping 10 of the top 16 seeds in today's projection.
SEC (10): Florida (2), Alabama (3), Vanderbilt (5), Arkansas (5), Tennessee (5), Kentucky (6), Texas (9), Georgia (9), Missouri (9), Texas A&M (11)
Big Ten (9): Michigan (1), Illinois (2), Michigan State (2), Purdue (3), Nebraska (3), Wisconsin (6), Iowa (8), Ohio State (9), UCLA (10)
Big 12 (8): Arizona (1), Houston (2), Iowa State (3), Texas Tech (4) Kansas (4), BYU (7), UCF (10), TCU (11)
ACC: (8): Duke (1), Virginia (4), North Carolina (6), Louisville (6), Miami (7), Clemson (8), NC State (8), SMU (10)
Big East (3): UConn. (1), St. John's (5), Villanova (7)
Other potential multi-bid leagues
There are 31 conferences this year, meaning the 26 other leagues are on track to combine for 30 bids. In translation: just four at-large bids are currently expected to come from outside the high-major structure, which would be the same number as last season. Three of the four at-large teams from outside the high-major structure (Santa Clara, New Mexico and VCU) are currently among the "Last Four In."
Though it is currently projected as a one-bid league, keep an eye on the MAC. If Miami (Ohio) were to close the regular season 31-0 but lose in the MAC Tournament, the league would be well-positioned to send two teams into the Big Dance.
WCC: Gonzaga (4), Saint Mary's (7), Santa Clara (11)
Atlantic 10: Saint Louis (10), VCU (11)
Mountain West: Utah State (8), New Mexico (11)
