The NCAA tournament bracket is set and the games are set to begin Tuesday with the First Four.

Here’s a rundown of the players to watch, potential underdog teams and what to know about the 2026 NCAA men’s basketball tournament.

East region

No. 1 Duke: The Blue Devils enter as the No. 1 overall seed, riding an 11-game winning streak and ...Read more

NBA expansion could be getting closer.

In a significant first step, the NBA will hold a vote next week to move forward with adding expansion teams in Las Vegas and Seattle, according to ESPN.

Should 23 of the 30 team governors vote in support of the move, the NBA can focus solely on adding teams in those markets and begin the bidding process. ...Read more

DENVER — Lizzy Evans’ view of her big brother is clearer than ever this year. When the Nuggets are on TV, her focus is at the top of the frame, where she can usually spot him on Denver’s sideline. Beaming, she takes photos of him through the screen. He’s easier to find now that he’s in the foreground.

“He’s on the front of the ...Read more

CHICAGO — Is this finally the Big Ten’s year to break the drought?

Are we tired of hearing this question every March?

It has been 26 years since the last NCAA championship in men’s basketball for a power conference that’s perennially touted as one of the country’s best. To put things in perspective, that 2000 Michigan State team that...Read more

NEW YORK – Steve Kerr jokingly opened his pregame press conference at Madison Square Garden by telling reporters that he had cooked up a revolutionary scheme that would perplex New York Knicks coach — and former Golden State Warriors assistant — Mike Brown.

It turned out that the Xs-and-O’s Kerr alluded to were actually just playing ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — San Diego State tuned in to Sunday’s NCAA Tournament selection show hoping its 22 wins and big-name opponents would be enough to extend its March Madness streak.

It wasn’t. The Aztecs were left out of the 68-team bracket for the first time since 2019, marking a disappointing end to a season that never quite took off. CBS ...Read more

CHICAGO — The Illinois men’s basketball team received a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday and will play 14th-seeded Penn in the first round Thursday in Greenville, S.C.

The winner will face No. 6 seed North Carolina or No. 11 VCU on Saturday.

The Illini are in the South Region along with No. 1 seed Florida and No. 2 Houston. The ...Read more

RALEIGH, N.C. — Duke’s Blue Devils are growing accustomed to being No. 1.

The Devils are ranked No. 1 in the AP basketball poll and the NCAA NET rankings. They won the ACC regular-season title and then added the tournament championship in Charlotte, N.C., with a 74-70 victory over Virginia.

When the selections and seedings were announced ...Read more

DETROIT — Michigan men's basketball always was locked into a 1 seed.

But its position in the NCAA Tournament bracket did change slightly Sunday, following its 80-72 loss to Purdue in the Big Ten championship game in Chicago.

The loss dropped Michigan to the third overall No. 1 seed, and the Wolverines (31-3) will open Thursday in Buffalo, N....Read more

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida received the final No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday, a day after the Gators’ SEC Tournament no-show loss against Vanderbilt in the semifinals cast doubt whether they’d secure one of four coveted spots.

Todd Golden’s squad will face the Prairie View or Lehigh on Friday in Tampa’s Benchmark ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The NCAA Tournament path for the Kentucky men’s basketball team is set.

The 2026 bracket was revealed on the CBS Selection Show on Sunday evening, and the Cats will be the 7 seed in the Midwest Region, with a first-round game against 10-seeded Santa Clara set for Friday in St. Louis.

The tip time and TV assignment for that...Read more

STORRS, Conn. – A new season begins for the UConn men’s basketball team, which was announced as a No. 2 seed in the March Madness field on Sunday.

After failing to dethrone St. John’s in the Big East regular season and the conference tournament, attempting to sleep off the pain of a brutal loss in Manhattan and turn the page, the Huskies ...Read more

Brandon Ingram made a 3-point field goal at the 2:30 mark of the third quarter, prompting coach J.B. Bickerstaff to call a timeout. As Ingram celebrated with his teammates while returning to the bench, Bickerstaff expressed frustration, as the basket highlighted Detroit's lackluster defensive performance during the period.

The Pistons' defense ...Read more

CHICAGO — Michigan’s bid for a Big Ten double-double ran into trouble.

All that stood between the Wolverines and the chance to become the first team in program history to sweep both conference titles in the same season was the Purdue Boilermakers.

Top-seeded Michigan couldn’t overcome a rough start to the second half and fell short of ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Guarding Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Luka Doncic on the last possession of a deadlocked game is one of the most unenviable tasks in any professional sports league.

That’s why the Nuggets’ goal was to guard them with two defenders, not one.

Twice in the span of a week, an NBA MVP candidate broke Denver hearts with a game-...Read more

The Minnesota Timberwolves know in order to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, most things have to go right. There is little margin for error. Despite some good moments, the Wolves didn’t play close to perfect, and because of that, they came away with a 116-103 loss Sunday to wrap up a four-game road trip 1-3.

The number that stood out was the ...Read more

MIAMI — From the start, there has been Heat homage for greatness, their own and beyond.

During the team’s initial season, amid Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s retirement tour, a Haitian marble sculpture was presented to the Lakers center in 1989 for his contributions to the game.

Famously, there was the retirement of Michael Jordan’s No. 23, ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Lakers entered a critical six-game stretch Saturday that could very well determine their playoff position in the competitive Western Conference postseason race.

Behind the heroics of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, the Lakers defeated the Nuggets in a thrilling 127-125 win at Crypto.com Arena that secured a playoff seeding ...Read more

MIAMI — The Magic have the Heat’s number this season.

Five times, the in-state rivals have faced off this year. All five times, the Magic picked up the win. Saturday was no different, as Orlando took down Miami, 121-117, at the Kaseya Center despite a late comeback attempt form the home team. The loss snapped the Heat’s seven-game winning...Read more

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It hadn’t been Cameron Boozer’s night up until then, but still, with 27.4 seconds left and the game on the line, one of the best young coaches in the game commanded the ball — and the game’s fate — to be in Boozer’s hands.

Boozer delivered.

Not how you thought he might — but he did nonetheless.

Up two, the ...Read more