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Come Fan with UsWednesday, August 5, 2026

Bracketology: Few changes on Friday morning

Thursday night’s action resulted in just a couple of changes from Chris Dobbertean’s morning’s projection, and with a tournament-heavy Friday schedule, don’t expect many revisions on Saturday either.

Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports

With several matchups of non-bid contenders on Thursday night’s slate, there were surprisingly few games that affected this bracket. Basically, Iowa dropped down to an eight seed after falling at Michigan State, with New Mexico moving up to replace the Hawkeyes on line no. 7. Xavier also fell, to a position just above the First Four, following its home loss to Villanova, with Arkansas jumping the Musketeers on the seed list.

That’s pretty much it.

(1) SOUTH
Memphis (Thu/Sat)
(2) WEST
Anaheim (Thu/Sat)
Orlando (Thu/Sat) San Diego (Fri/Sun)
1 Florida (SEC) 1 Arizona (Pac-12)
16 Alabama State/Weber State 16 Robert Morris (NEC)
8 Kansas State 8 88 George Washington
9 Arizona State 9 Oklahoma State
San Diego (Fri/Sun) San Antonio (Fri/Sun)
55 5 Texas 5 5 Michigan State
^12 Stanford 1212 Green Bay (Horizon)
4 Cincinnati (AAC) 4 Iowa State
13 Belmont (OVC) 13 Louisiana Tech (C-USA)
Raleigh (Fri/Sun) Spokane (Thu/Sat)
6 Connecticut 666 Kentucky
11 Xavier ^11 BYU/Providence
3 Duke 3 San Diego State
14 Delaware (CAA) 14 Georgia State (Sun Belt)
Milwaukee (Thu/Sat) Raleigh (Fri/Sun)
7 VCU 7 Ohio State
10 Oregon 10 Gonzaga (WCC)
2 Michigan (Big Ten) 2 Virginia (ACC)
15 Vermont (AmEast) 15 Florida Gulf Coast (A-Sun)
(4) EAST
New York (Fri/Sun)
(3) MIDWEST
Indianapolis (Fri/Sun)
St. Louis (Fri/Sun) St. Louis (Fri/Sun)
1 Kansas (Big 12) 1 Wichita State (MVC)
16 Davidson (SoCon) 16 High Point/Utah Valley
8 SMU 8 Iowa
9 St. Joseph's 9 Baylor
Spokane (Thu/Sat) San Antonio (Fri/Sun)
5 UCLA 5 Oklahoma
12 Harvard (Ivy) 12 Toledo (MAC)
4 North Carolina 4 Creighton
13 Iona (MAAC) 13 North Dakota State (Summit)
Orlando (Thu/Sat) Buffalo (Thu/Sat)
6 Saint Louis (A 10) 6 UMass
11 Pittsburgh ^11 Dayton/Nebraska
3 Louisville 3 Syracuse
14 Stephen F. Austin (Southland) 14 Boston U. (Patriot)
Buffalo (Thu/Sat) Milwaukee (Thu/Sat)
7 New Mexico (MW) 7 Memphis
10 Colorado 10 Arkansas
2 Villanova (Big East) 2 Wisconsin
15 N.C. Central (MEAC) 15 UC Irvine (Big West)
FIRST FOUR (Dayton)
Tuesday: To Orlando Tuesday: To Buffalo
16 Alabama State (SWAC) ^11 Dayton
16 Weber State (Big Sky) 11 Nebraska
Wednesday: To St. Louis Wednesday: To Spokane
16 High Point (Big South) ^11 BYU
16 Utah Valley (WAC) 11 Providence
BIDS BY CONFERENCE AVOIDING DAYTON ARRIVALS DEPARTURES
Big 12: 7 Arkansas None None
A 10: 6 Pittsburgh

Big Ten: 6 Stanford

Pac-12: 6 Xavier

AAC: 5 LAST FOUR IN

ACC: 5
Providence

Big East: 4 Nebraska

SEC: 3 Dayton

MW: 2 BYU

WCC: 2 FIRST FOUR OUT

1-Bid Conferences: 22 California


Tennessee


Minnesota


Florida State


NEXT FOUR OUT


Georgetown


Missouri


Southern Mississippi


St. John's

Also considered: Utah, LSU, Georgia, Marquette, Clemson, N.C. State, Indiana

On Friday, Harvard can clinch the first automatic bid by defeating Yale in New Haven. If the Crimson fail, they’ll have another shot at Brown on Saturday night.

Elsewhere, there will be plenty of conference tournament action to follow, including the Ohio Valley semifinals, Missouri Valley and Big South quarterfinals, and early round action in the Southern, Horizon, and Colonial.

I'll have my next bracketology update on Saturday morning, which may be the final day of the season without any significant changes. Until then, you can visit Blogging the Bracket, which features daily TV previews and morning recaps. You can also follow me during each night's action on Twitter @ChrisDobbertean.

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