March Madness is set to tipoff, and the teams just below Duke and Connecticut as No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in the East along with Arizona and Purdue in the West will provide plenty of quality watch and wager action. The No. 3, 4 and 5 seeds in the East have been ranked in the AP Top 25 all season, and will be solid challengers in the brackets. 

Perennial top Big Ten performer Michigan State along with Big East champion St. John's and annual Big 12 power Kansas provide tournament-ready profiles and stats with quality coaching to win and advance through the East Region of the NCAA Tournament 2026 brackets. Gonzaga, Arkansas and Wisconsin are the 3-5 seeds in the West who will try to challenge top seeds Arizona and Purdue. 

Top Coaches

Beyond the top teams in the strongest East Region, four national champion and Hall of Fame coaches are leading their teams in Dan Hurley (No. 2 UCONN), Tom Izzo (No. 3 Michigan State), Bill Self (No. 4 Kansas), Rick Pitino (No. 5 St. John’s) and the top-overall seed in the tournament Duke with coach Jon Scheyer. 

More NCAA Tournament 2026 stats, contests, profiles of a national champion, keys to NCAA Tournament success and opening round odds with additional information you can bet on is part of my top seeds coverage in the East and West Regions at OSGA. 

No. 3, 4, 5 Seeds East Region

No. 3 Michigan State Spartans 

Record: 25-7
Key Wins: Arkansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, Iowa, Illinois, UCLA, Purdue, Ohio State
Key Losses: Duke, Michigan (2x), Nebraska, Wisconsin, UCLA
National Title Odds: +5000
Final Four Odds: 
KenPom Strength of Schedule: 21
KenPom Stats: Adjusted Offense No. 24, Defense No. 13
Twitter: @MSU_Basketball
Head Coach: Tom Izzo

Michigan State is playing in its 28th consecutive NCAA Tournament, extending the longest NCAA Tournament streak in Big Ten history. The Spartans were the last Big Ten team to win the national title in 2000. More Big Ten stats profiles are outlined in the Big Ten Tournament preview and includes Michigan State as a top-tier FG% defense and the top rebounding team in the Big Ten. 

Michigan State (-16.5) opens the NCAA Tournament against No. 14 North Dakota State in Buffalo, NY. The winner plays the 6/11 winner between Louisville (-5) and South Florida. 

North Dakota State won the Summit League regular season and tournament title. The Bison scored 82 points per game on 49% FG and 39% 3-point shots with a league-best 71 ppg defense. The Bison led the Summit League in rebounding and steals, but did not play any team from a Power 5 conference and had a 282 Strength of Schedule with KenPom offensive efficiency of 124 and defensive efficiency also 124.   

No. 4 Kansas Jayhawks

Record: 23-10
Key Wins: Tennessee, NC State, TCU (2x), Iowa State, BYU, Texas Tech, Arizona, Houston 
Key Losses: North Carolina, Duke, UCONN, Iowa State, Arizona, Houston
National Title Odds: +1700
Final Four Odds: 
KenPom Strength of Schedule: 1 
KenPom Stats: Adjusted Offense No. 57, Defense No. 10
Twitter: @KUHoops
Head Coach: Bill Self 

Kansas played the toughest schedule in the country, according to KenPom net ratings, including the No. 1 SOS of defenses. Losses to Duke, Arizona, Houston and UCONN along with wins over Arizona and Houston show the Jayhawks can battle with the best teams, and especially with their defensive profile and 1st team All-Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Flory Bidunga (13.8 ppg, 9 rpb, 3 blocks/game). Star freshman guard Darryn Peterson (20 ppg, 4.2 rpg) missed 11 games with cramping and hamstring issues, but the future NBA top pick is the Jayhawks top scorer. 

Kansas (-14.5) opens the NCAA Tournament against No. 13 Cal Pabtist in San Diego. The winner plays the 5/12 winner between St. John's (-12) and Northern Iowa. Cal Pabtist won the WAC Tournament and played three Big 12 teams this season, losing by 6 and 8 points to Utah and Colorado, and blown out by 29 points vs. BYU. 

No. 5 St. John's Red Storm

Record: 28-6
Key Wins:  Ole Miss, Villanova (2x), UCONN (2x) 
Key Losses: Alabama, Iowa State, Kentucky, UCONN
National Title Odds: +4000
Final Four Odds: 
KenPom Strength of Schedule: 43 
KenPom Stats: Adjusted Offense No. 44, Defense No. 12
Twitter: @StJohnsBBall
Head Coach: Rick Pitino 

St. John's won the Big East regular season and conference tournament titles. The Red Storm strength on defense is their Big East Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year, senior forward Zuby Ejiofor (16.0 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 3.5 apg, 2.0 blocks).

St. John's (-12) opens the NCAA Tournament against No. 12 Northern Iowa in San Diego. The winner plays the 4/13 winner between Kansas (-14.5) and Cal Baptist. Northern Iowa finished 6th in the Missouri Valley but won the conference tournament after leading the league in scoring defense (61.3 ppg), FG% defense (40.7%) and 3-point defense (28.5%) with the best assist/turnover ratio in the valley.  

No. 3, 4, 5 Seeds West Region

No. 3 Gonzaga Bulldogs

Record: 30-3
Key Wins: Oklahoma, Alabama, Kentucky, UCLA, Santa Clara (3x), St. Mary's, 
Key Losses: Michigan, St. Mary's
National Title Odds: +4500
Final Four Odds: 
KenPom Strength of Schedule: 87
KenPom Stats: Adjusted Offense No. 29, Defense No. 9
Twitter: @ZagsMBB
Head Coach: Mark Few 

Gonzaga (-20.5) opens the NCAA Tournament against No. 14 Kennesaw State in Portland. The winner plays the 6/11 winner between BYU and NC State/Texas First Four game.

No. 4 Arkansas Razorbacks

Record: 30-3
Key Wins: Louisville, Texas Tech, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt (2x), Oklahoma (2x), Missouri (2x), Texas
Key Losses: Michigan State, Duke, Houston, Kentucky, Alabama, Florida,
National Title Odds: +3300
Final Four Odds: 
KenPom Strength of Schedule: 10
KenPom Stats: Adjusted Offense No. 6, Defense No. 48
Twitter: @RazorbackMBB
Head Coach: John Calipari 

Arkansas (-15.5) opens the NCAA Tournament against No. 13 Hawaii in Portland. The winner plays the 5/12 winner between Wisconsin (-10) and High Point.

No. 5 Wisconsin Badgers

Record: 24-10
Key Wins: UCLA, Michigan, Ohio State, Illinois (2x), Michigan State, Iowa, Purdue 
Key Losses:  BYU, TCU, Nebraska, Villanova, Purdue, Ohio State, Michigan  
National Title Odds: +3300
Final Four Odds: 
KenPom Strength of Schedule: 18
KenPom Stats: Adjusted Offense No. 11, Defense No. 51
Twitter: @BadgerMBB
Head Coach: Greg Gard 

Wisconsin (-10) opens the NCAA Tournament against No. 12 High Point in Portland. The winner plays the 4/13 winner between Arkansas (-15.5) and Hawii.

More updates, stats and information you can bet on during the 2026 NCAA Tournament. 

You can bet on it. 

FairwayJay is a leading sports betting industry analyst, handicapper, content creator, writer, reporter and poker player. He's been covering major sports from a betting perspective for more than two decades from Las Vegas. FairwayJay is also on the scene for major sports and poker events plus industry conferences as a credentialed media member. Follow @FairwayJay on X and OSGA for more betting insight and information you can bet on. 

FairwayJay is a leading sports betting industry analyst, handicapper, content creator, writer, reporter and poker player. He's been covering major sports from a betting perspective for more than two decades from Las Vegas. FairwayJay is also on the scene for major sports and poker events plus industry conferences as a credentialed media member. Follow @FairwayJay on X and OSGA for more betting insight and information you can bet on.