"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 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."
"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 the field."
ESPN surveyed 60 college basketball analysts and reporters to predict the 2026 men's NCAA tournament bracket. The South region showed the most surprising result, with No. 2 seed Houston selected by 34 analysts to win the region instead of the No. 1 seed, while defending champion Florida also received significant support. In the East region, No. 1 overall seed Duke overwhelmingly dominated predictions with 39 votes, nearly two-thirds of the total, though some analysts split remaining votes among Michigan State and three other teams. Only two of the four regions produced clear majority votes among the survey participants.
Read at ESPN.com
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