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Not since 2000 has a Big Ten Conference team won a national championship. That's when a younger coach Tom Izzo led the Spartans past Florida for the title. With nine teams in the 2026 NCAA Tournament bracket, could this be the year the Big Ten finally breaks through? Among those with the best chance is the Big Ten Conference Tournament champion Purdue Boilermakers, who entered the season as the preseason No.1 but finished with a 27-8 record. Purdue was the national runner-up in 2024 and is a 2-seed in the 2025 March Madness bracket.

Another solid contender in the 2026 NCAA bracket is the third-ranked Michigan Wolverines, who are 31-3. Other conference contenders include the 12th-ranked Illinois Fighting Illini (24-8), national runners-up in 2005 and the 14th-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers (26-6), who are eyeing their first NCAA Tournament win in school history. The Wisconsin Badgers (24-10) are another team that could make noise in March Madness 2026 after reaching the Big Ten Conference Tournament semifinals. Before making any 2026 March Madness bracket predictions, be sure to check out the 2026 NCAA Tournament bracket picks from the proven computer model at SportsLine.

Their proven projection model has simulated every game in the tournament 10,000 times. It has absolutely crushed its March Madness picks recently, beating over 91 percent of all CBS Sports brackets in four of the past seven tournaments. It was all over UConn's championship run two years ago and nailed 12 teams in the Sweet 16 last year. It also correctly predicted all four Final Four teams in 2025.

It knows how to spot an upset as well. The same model has produced brackets that have nailed 25 first-round upsets by double-digit seeds since its inception in 2016.

Now, with the 2026 NCAA bracket revealed, the model is simulating the matchups and its results are in. You can only see it over at SportsLine.

Three 2026 March Madness bracket games to watch

One of the most intriguing 2026 March Madness matchups to watch: No. 8 Georgia against No. 9 Saint Louis in the Midwest Region. Both teams have had solid seasons as Georgia (22-10) tied for seventh in the ultra-competitive SEC at 10-8, while Saint Louis (28-5) shared the Atlantic 10 Conference regular-season championship at 15-3. Georgia, which has seven top-50 Basketball Power Index wins, is led by guard Jeremiah Wilkinson, who averages 17 points in 30 games, including 21 starts. Saint Louis has three top-50 BPI wins and is led by senior center Robbie Avila, who is one of four players averaging double-digit scoring. Avila averages 12.9 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 33 games, all starts.

Another 2026 NCAA Tournament matchup to keep an eye on is No. 7 UCLA vs. No. 10 UCF in the East Region. Mick Cronin has been a regular participant in the NCAA Tournament since his days at Murray State and he'll make his 16th appearance in March Madness as a head coach after leading UCLA to a 23-11 campaign. Meanwhile, Johnny Dawkins guided UCF to its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2019 with a 20-11 season that included high-profile wins over Texas A&M, Kansas, Texas Tech and BYU. They'll tip off at 7:25 p.m. ET on Friday at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia.

Another 2026 March Madness game to watch out for: No. 6 Louisville vs. No. 11 South Florida in the East Region. Every NCAA Tournament since 2005 has seen an 11-seed defeat a 6-seed, including four such instances over the last two years. USF has experience, with six of its top seven scorers being upperclassmen, and no team in the nation made or attempted more free throws than the Bulls. As for the Cardinals, the length of their tourney stay may be dependent on the status of star freshman Mikel Brown Jr. He missed the ACC tourney, and Louisville is 16-5 with him compared to 7-5 without him. You can only see the model's 2026 NCAA bracket picks here.

How to make 2026 NCAA bracket predictions

Who wins every tournament-defining matchup? And which teams will make surprising runs through the 2026 NCAA Tournament bracket? With the model's track record of calling bracket-busting upsets, you'll want to see which stunners it's calling this year before locking in any 2026 NCAA bracket picks.

So what's the optimal NCAA Tournament 2026 bracket? And which NCAA Tournament Cinderella teams will shock college basketball? Visit SportsLine now to see which double-digit seeds you can back with confidence, all from the model that called all four Final Four teams in 2025.