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How Many Teams Did Each Conference Land in 2026 March Madness Field?

The SEC had another dominant Selection Sunday showing, while the ACC is resurgent in 2026.
Dan Lyons|
John Calipari’s SEC champion Arkansas squad is one of 10 teams from the conference to make March Madness in 2026.
John Calipari’s SEC champion Arkansas squad is one of 10 teams from the conference to make March Madness in 2026. | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

In this story:

Arkansas RazorbacksDuke Blue DevilsFlorida GatorsUConn HuskiesArizona WildcatsGonzaga Bulldogs

The SEC has long been known as the nation’s most imposing college football conference. Over the last few years, the league has used its football-earned riches to transform itself into one of the elite basketball conferences as well.

That was never more apparent than last March. The 16-team SEC, in its first year with Oklahoma and Texas as member schools, landed a college hoops record 14 programs in the 68-team March Madness field. Regular season champion Auburn reached the Final Four, where they were defeated by SEC tournament champion Florida, which went on to beat Houston to capture the men’s NCAA tournament crown.

The SEC’s 14-bid season smashed the record 11 programs that made the tournament from the Big East in 2011—the earlier iteration of the league that featured programs like Syracuse, Louisville and West Virginia before conference realignment created a fissure in the league. Those same realignment forces have caused significant consolidation of power throughout college sports, and thus has created more one-bid leagues and eroded the concept of the Cinderella that has helped define March Madness as one of the great sporting events.

This year’s field is slightly less drastic, though the SEC still leads the way.

The SEC lands 10 teams in the 2026 men’s NCAA tournament, the most of any conference

Florida, defending its title from a season ago, is a No. 1 seed in this year’s field. They’re joined by No. 4 seeds Alabama and Arkansas, this year’s conference tournament champion, No. 5-seed Vanderbilt, No. 6 Tennesse, No. 7 Kentucky, No. 8 Georgia, No. 10 seeds Missouri and Texas A&M, and No. 11 Texas, one of this year’s First Four competitors.

It is a strong showing for the SEC once again, but there’s an argument to be made that teams like Crimson Tide, Razorbacks and Commodores, which fell to the Arkansas after an impressive SEC championship run, are actually underseeded given the league’s depth. In any case, expect the Southeastern Conference to make plenty of noise this March.

More: March Madness Brackets—Expert Predictions for the 2026 Men’s NCAA Tournament

The Big Ten and Big 12 matches their conference bid records

The Big Ten serves as the SEC’s main counterpart atop college sports, and many of its schools have more traditional basketball focus than those in the SEC, though no Big Ten program has won a national title since 2000, when Tom Izzo and Michigan State cut down the nets.

No. 1 seed Michigan is the frontrunner to break that lengthy drought this year. They’re joined by conference tournament champion Purdue (No. 2), Michigan State (No. 3), Illinois (No. 3), upstart Nebraska (No. 4), Wisconsin (No. 5), UCLA (No. 7), Ohio State (No. 8) and Iowa (No. 9).

This year is the third time since the start of the decade that the Big Ten has landed nine schools in the tournament.

The Big 12, meanwhile, may have the best top tier of programs of any conference, and have eight teams in this year’s field, led by conference champion and No. 1 seed Arizona. Houston and Iowa State earned No. 2 seeds, while Kansas (No. 4), Texas Tech (No. 5), BYU (No. 6), TCU (No. 9) and UCF (NO. 10) are all in the mix.

The Big 12’s eight bids match the conference record set in 2024.

Duke Blue Devils head coach Jon Scheyer cuts down the net after defeating the Virginia Cavaliers in the ACC championship.
Jon Scheyer led Duke to the ACC championship on Saturday and captured the No. 1 overall seed in the men’s NCAA tournament on Sunday. | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

The ACC caps resurgent regular season with eight March Madness bids—the league’s most since 2018

The ACC bottomed out a year ago, landing just four teams in the NCAA tournament field—the fewest for the league since 2013, the final year before Syracuse and Pitt came over from the Big East. While the conference doesn’t quite have the depth as some of its peer leagues beyond No. 1 overall seed Duke, it is still a major step in the right direction for one of the sport’s premier college hoops conferences.

The Blue Devils are joined by Virginia (No. 3 seed), North Carolina (No. 6), Louisville (No. 6), Miami (No. 7), Clemson (No. 8) and a pair of teams in the First Four, No. 11 seeds NC State and SMU.

The loser of Selection Sunday: the Big East

The Big East remains an important basketball power, especially as long as Dan Hurley has UConn in national championship contention, but the rest of the league has struggled to keep pace. The Huskies, who have faded a bit down the stretch, are a No. 2 seed in the Big Dance, joined by league champion St. John’s (No. 5) and Villanova (No. 8). And that’s it.

The three bids tie the Big East with the WCC, and is the fewest that the league has earned since 1993.

Sweeney: Ten Teams That Could Make Cinderella Runs in 2026 Men’s March Madness

WCC, MAC are the mid-major winners entering March Madness

No. 3 seed Gonzaga in its final year with the WCC before jumping to the soon-to-be-reborn Pac-12, is a stalwart near the top of the NCAA tournament seed lines. Saint Mary’s, a No. 7 seed, is also a regular Big Dance partygoer, and are set to play in their fifth consecutive men’s NCAA tournament. The Bulldogs and Gaels are joined by Santa Clara, which parlayed a tremendous season into an at-large bid on the 10-seed line, the first tournament trip for the Broncos since 1996.

Meanwhile, the MAC pulled off its first multi-bid season since 1999. Miami (Ohio) may not be undefeated any longer after an upset loss in the MAC quarterfinals, but were not left out of the dance at 31–1, and will play in the First Four, while the conference tournament champion Akron is a trendy pick to make some noise as a No. 12 seed.

Full rundown of 2026 March Madness bids by conference:

The only other league to land multiple bids this year is the Atlantic 10. Of the 31 leagues that make up Division I men’s basketball, 23 are one-bid leagues this season.

Conference

2026 Bids

2025 Bids

Record (Year)

SEC

10

14

14 (2025)

Big Ten

9

8

9 (2021, ‘22, ‘26)

ACC

8

4

9 (2017, ‘18)

Big 12

8

7

8 (2024, ‘26)

Big East

3

5

11 (2011)

WCC

3

2

3 (2008, ‘12, ‘22, ‘26)

Atlantic 10

2

1

6 (2014)

MAC

2

1

2 (1985, ‘86, ‘95, ’98, ‘99, 2026)

Atlantic Sun

1

1

2 (1994)

America East

1

1

1 (1980–)

American

1

1

4 (2014, ‘16, ‘19)

Big Sky

1

1

1 (1968–)

Big South

1

1

1 (1991–)

Big West

1

1

3 (1988, ‘90)

CAA

1

1

3 (2011)

CUSA

1

1

6 (2004)

Horizon

1

1

3 (1998)

Ivy League

1

1

1 (1939–)

MAAC

1

1

2 (1995, 2012)

MEAC

1

1

1 (1981–)

MVC

1

1

4 (2006)

Mountain West

1

4

6 (2024)

NEC

1

1

1 (1980)

OVC

1

1

2 (1987, 2019)

Patriot

1

1

1 (1992–)

SoCon

1

1

1 (1939–)

Southland

1

1

1 (1972–)

Summit

1

1

2 (1990, ‘91)

Sun Belt

1

1

4 (1986)

SWAC

1

1

1 (1980–)

WAC

1

1

4 (1998)

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Dan Lyons
DAN LYONS

Dan Lyons is a staff writer and editor on Sports Illustrated's Breaking and Trending News team. He joined SI for his second stint in November 2024 after a stint as a senior college football writer at Athlon Sports, and a previous run with SI spanning multiple years as a writer and editor. Outside of sports, you can find Dan at an indie concert venue or movie theater.

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