BYU March Madness Hub: Schedule, Seed, Opponent and Path to Final Four

Kevin Young and the BYU basketball program are going dancing. It will be the second time in as many seasons that BYU has gone to the Big Dance with Young at the helm. On Sunday, the 2026 NCAA Tournament bracket was unveiled. This article will serve as the BYU March Madness hub where we will review BYU's seed, schedule, and path to the Final Four.

The nation's leading scorer AJ Dybantsa and @BYUMBB are a 6-seed out West pic.twitter.com/W8OSxMzo8u
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 15, 2026

Seed: 6-Seed

As expected, BYU will be a 6-seed in the 2026 NCAA Tournament. The Cougars will face the winner of one of the First Four games between Texas and NC State. NC State and Texas will play each other in Ohio on Tuesday. The winner will fly to Portland where BYU will be waiting on Thursday.

Schedule

Like always, BYU will play its first round game on Thursday, March 19th. The Cougars are only eligible to play the Thursday-Saturday pairing due to no-Sunday play. BYU will play in the first round at 5:25 Mountain Time on TBS.

If BYU beats NC State or Texas in the first round of the tournament, they will advance to take on the winner of Gonzaga-Kennesaw State.

Gonzaga is the 3-seed in BYU's grouping and will be the odds-on favorite to advance to the second round. If both BYU and Gonzaga win, it would be a rematch of two former WCC foes. BYU-Gonzaga would also feature two constrasting styles.

BYU is fueled by its offense. The Cougars rank 10th nationally in offensive efficiency per KenPom. Gonzaga ranks 9th in defensive efficiency per KenPom.

Path to the Final Four

BYU is in a West bracket that is absolutely loaded. Included in the West bracket are three high-major champions: Arizona, Purdue, and Arkansas. Then there is Gonzaga who was the WCC Champion as well.

The Cougars have never made it to the Final Four and this year's path looks quite daunting.

First, BYU must advance past the first round. Texas and NC State are two bubble teams that KenPom likes quite a bit. NC State and Texas rank 34th and 37th in KenPom, respectively. BYU ranks 23rd nationally in KenPom.

In the second round, the Cougars would likely face 3-seed Gonzaga. The Zags rank 10th in KenPom.

Then there is 2-seed Purdue who is coming off a Big Ten championship. The Boilermakers boast the nation's best offense and would be a challenging matchup for a BYU defense that has struggled to get consistent stops.

Lastly, there is 1-seed Arizona who would likely stand in between BYU and a Final Four run. The Cougars and the Wildcats played each other twice already this year. BYU lost to Arizona twice by single digits.

If BYU is going to make a Final Four run, something that has never happened in school history, they would likely need chaos across the region.