Mar 18, 2026 - 16:03
By espn.com

Final Four, national champion predictions for the men's NCAA tournament - ESPN

After months of debating whether top teams can hold up, weeks of tension over the MAC's strength of schedule, and days of deliberation over which bubble team would be left out, the 2026 men's NCAA tournament is finally underway.

Which team will win it all? Before it's settled on the court, we asked 60 of ESPN's college basketball analysts and reporters to make their Final Four and national championship picks.

The results were not unanimous — in fact, there were clear majority votes in only two of the four regions.

Without further ado, let's run through which teams our survey participants believe have the best chances to cut down the nets in Indianapolis.

South Region

The South was the only region in which the No. 1 seed was not the majority choice to reach the Final Four. Instead, it was the 2025 national runner-up: No. 2 seed Houston. The Cougars were the top choice to win the South by 34 of our 60 analysts, including «College GameDay» personalities Rece Davis, Seth Greenberg and Pete Thamel.

Also in this region: Florida, which defeated Houston in last season's national championship; 46.3% of Tournament Challenge players have the two meeting in the Elite Eight. Among personalities picking the defending champs to return to the Final Four are Jeff Borzello, Jay Bilas and Jay Williams.

East Region

The No. 1 overall seed Duke was the overwhelmingly popular team to win the East region, with nearly two-thirds of the votes (39). Among those picking the Blue Devils are former head coaches Jim Boeheim and Tom Crean, as well as ESPN's chief bracketologist Joe Lunardi, whose final forecast correctly picked all 68 teams in