Article by: Drayten Nobles, Contributing Writer

The month of March is one of the biggest when it comes to sports for one reason: March Madness. With a star-studded group of teams this year in both the men’s and women’s tournaments, fans should be excited for what is to come in March and on into April.

How Does the Tournament Work?

The NCAA tournament, or March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament held annually to crown a champion of both men’s and women’s college basketball. The winners of each conference tournament are given an automatic bid into the tournament, while a committee selects 37 additional teams, bringing the total teams in the tournament to 68. Many qualities go into the selection, such as team performance, strength of schedule, or NET rankings. NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool) rankings are used to determine the qualities of teams by using game results, scoring margin, and other metrics. The tournament will begin with the “First Four,” where four at-large teams and four automatic qualifiers play to fill in the 64-team bracket. This is followed by the first and second rounds, where 64 teams and, later, the 32 remaining teams will face off in multiple cities. Next is the Sweet 16, where the remaining teams play at four preselected sites. The eight teams that win face off in the Elite 8 at the same sites, with the four winners going to the Final Four. The Final Four is held at one predetermined stadium, which is typically a large football stadium. This is finally followed by the NCAA championship, where the winner of the entire tournament will be crowned.

The 2026 Men’s Tournament

With the first few games already kicked off, the Men’s NCAA tournament is officially here. As of now, the Duke Blue Devils, Michigan Wolverines, and Arizona Wildcats are the contending favorites to win the National Championship. With that being said, there are tons of games left to play, and upsets in March Madness can happen at any given time.

This year’s tournament has had no shortage of star power, as countless highly touted prospects and future NBA stars have made their marks on the big stage. Players such as AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, and Cam Boozer are among the top prospects who stood out during their time in the tournament.

While this year hasn’t had any “Cinderella stories” so far, this tournament has seen several huge upsets. A recent example is the nine-seed Iowa Hawkeyes, who took down the defending champion Florida Gators to move on to the Sweet 16. Early upsets this year include VCU’s massive comeback win over North Carolina and High Point’s stunning win over Wisconsin in the round of 64. 

The 2026 Women’s Tournament

This year’s women’s tournament has also kicked off with a bang. A familiar face sits at the top of the projections, that being the UConn Huskies, finishing the regular season with an undefeated record of 31-0. UConn has been on a dominant run so far in the tournament and is hoping to reach yet another National Championship. Not far behind in the odds sits the UCLA Bruins at a regular-season record of 27-1 and now 2-0 in tournament play. Neck and neck with them sit both South Carolina and Texas, both have shown out so far this tournament and in past tournaments. All four of these teams are no strangers to success and are hoping to make it all the way to the end once again. 

Much like the Men’s tournament, the Women’s tournament has a plethora of future WNBA talent. Some examples include Azzi Fudd, who is currently projected to be the number one pick in the WNBA draft by some websites. Other top-end stars like Lauren Betts of UCLA and Flau’jae Johnson of LSU have been dominating in March and have increased their stock before the coming draft. 

With several teams hoping to repeat recent success, several remaining teams are hoping to spoil their fun en route to being crowned the queens of Women’s college basketball.

Conclusion

Both the Men’s and Women’s brackets were announced on Sunday, March 15, 2026. The Men’s tournament began with the “First Four” games on March 17 and will finish with the NCAA championship on April 7. Meanwhile, the Women’s tournament began with its “First Four” games on March 18 and will end with the championship on April 5. For more information on the Men’s tournament, visit Men’s Basketball Tournament Information, and for the Women’s tournament, visit 2026 March Madness: Women’s NCAA tournament schedule, dates, times | NCAA.com.