March Madness 2026: Our experts reset their NCAA Tournament brackets with updated picks heading into Sweet 16

If your bracket is busted, you are not alone, so here's what our experts would do if given a chance to reset their predictions

The first week of the 2026 NCAA Tournament is in the books. Only one double-digit seed (Texas) is advancing to the Sweet 16, and for the second consecutive year, the field features only high-major teams. College basketball fans are due for some elite matchups in the Sweet 16 and beyond, with three of the four No. 1 seeds advancing to the second weekend. Reigning national champion Florida is the only No. 1 seed that lost in the second round after a stunning upset defeat against No. 9 seed Iowa. In total, nine of the 16 teams remaining are making a return to the Sweet 16, which is the most since the 2003 NCAA Tournament. Still, there are plenty of teams making their long-awaited return to the second weekend, such as Iowa and St. John's. Neither program has reached the Sweet 16 since 1999. Then there's Nebraska. The Cornhuskers are making their first appearance in the Sweet 16 after entering the NCAA Tournament as the only high-major team that had never won a game in the Big Dance.

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  Our experts had a chance to reset their respective brackets after a wild week of hoops. Here is who each of us is rolling with to reach the Final Four and win the title.

Gary Parrish: Houston

Original pick for champion: Houston

Every Final Four team from my original bracket posted on Selection Sunday remains alive -- so I'll stick with what I've got. That means St. John's out of the East, Houston out of the South, Arizona out of the West and Michigan out of the Midwest. Needless to say, that would be a wonderful Final Four featuring one Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame coach (Rick Pitino) and three others (Kelvin Sampson, Dusty May and Tommy Lloyd )who are having careers that suggest they'll possibly, if not likely, join him in the future. My projected title game is still Houston-Michigan. And I still have the Cougars cutting nets in Indianapolis to give Sampson his first national championship at the age of 70, one that should help ease the heartbreak attached to that loss in the title game of the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

Matt Norlander: Arizona

Original pick for champion: Houston

The bad news: I lost BYU and Florida as my Elite Eight teams. The good? All other six are still alive, including my Final Four. So with that stroke of luck, I'm stubbornly insisting on the same four teams going to Indy that I had on Selection Sunday. Houston over Arizona in the title game. Houston's play through the first two rounds has done nothing to dissuade me from the Coogs. But we're gonna get at least one upset in the Sweet 16, so I'll go with the game I'm going to be at in San Jose on Thursday night: Texas squeaks by Purdue in a thriller. 

David Cobb: Arizona

Original pick for champion: Arizona

Arizona has the right combination of a great backcourt and tremendous size/physicality. The Wildcats are also impervious to going cold from the outside because their effectiveness is not predicated on making 3-pointers. But don't let Arizona's 2-point heavy style fool you into thinking its guards are anything less than spectacular. The tandem of Brayden Burries and Jaden Bradley are solid as they come. Given their good health, strong recent performance and overall lack of weaknesses, the Wildcats remain the safest bet to win the 2026 national championship. 

Cameron Salerno: Duke

Original pick for champion: Duke

My original pick to win the title before the NCAA Tournament started was Duke. I'm sticking with that prediction despite a shaky start. One change from my first bracket: Arizona to the national title game. I originally had the Wildcats losing to Arkansas in the Sweet 16, but I'm changing my pick after watching them in person last weekend in San Diego. Arizona has the depth to make it to the final game of the college basketball season, but I'm still sticking with Duke to win the title. Getting Patrick Ngongba II back is huge for the Blue Devils. Duke has a tough path to Indianapolis, but if they can get there, I like its chances.

Chip Patterson: Arizona

Original pick for champion: Arizona

Arizona has looked like the best team in the country since the start of March, and what gives it a great chance to keep this winning streak going all the way to Indianapolis is the versatility. The Wildcats, like many of the Sweet 16 teams left, has multiple future pros in the rotation, but together Tommy Lloyd has shown to have a group that win multiple ways. They can win low-possession grinders or track meets, and for the last couple of weeks the efficiency doesn't really change that much as styles shift. So even though this particular bracket reset has the Wildcats beating Houston for a third time (which admittedly seems crazy), it's Arizona's title worthiness that is our most confident position. 

As for the rest of the bracket outlook, there is no combination of results that would surprise me coming out of the East Region but I do wonder if that blood bath corner of the bracket sends a bruised contender to the Final Four. And in the Midwest the signs point to Michigan getting a favorable path with Iowa State banged up and Alabama carrying the second-lowest defensive rating of teams still dancing.  

Isaac Trotter: Arizona

Original pick for champion: Arizona

The draw for a Michigan team that is playing like Thanos is just too hard to pass up, especially knowing what we know now about availability for key stalwarts like Alabama's Aden Holloway and Iowa State's Joshua Jefferson. Outside of Alabama drilling 17 3-pointers, I don't see a path for Michigan to lose before it gets to Indianapolis. Arizona-Michigan would feel like the National Title game, just 48 hours early. For my money, those are the best two rosters in the sport. 

I went with Arizona over Michigan when we did this exercise a week ago. I have to stick with it now. What a game that would be. I just can't get over the idea that Arizona's guards are slightly better than Michigan's, even though I tend to believe that the Wolverines' frontcourt could get the best of Tommy Lloyd's band of monsters. Thursday's Houston-Illinois winner has a real path to make the National Championship game, too. I went with the Illini because of the schematic edges and the offensive rebounding advantages. And yeah, I have UConn making the Final Four. Even with warrior point guard Silas Demary Jr. banged up, Dan Hurley can emerge from the East if its shooters get back on track. Illinois beats UConn in a non-conference rematch in the Final Four, but Arizona knocks off the Illini in the finale to avenge Salim Stoudamire, Hassan Adams and Channing Frye.