The road to Indianapolis is open! Duke has claimed the No. 1 overall seed, joined on the top line by Arizona, Michigan, and defending champion Florida.
Follow the action with our updated digital March Madness bracket. We're tracking every matchup in real time from the First Four to the National Championship Game.
The 2026 March Madness bracket
Follow every game of every round during the 2026 College Basketball Men's Tournament.
You can also download and print our official bracket by visiting our printable March Madness bracket page. Make sure you fill out your bracket and enter free bracket challenges and contests before the tournament starts for a chance to win huge March Madness prizes.
Enter the Kalshi billion-dollar bracket!
Turn this March into a life-changing experience, as Kalshi is offering one billion dollars for a perfect NCAA Tournament bracket!
If nobody is perfect, there is still one million dollars available for the highest-scoring bracket in the contest!
*Eligible U.S. locations only
March Madness 2026 schedule
| Event | Date | Location(s) |
|---|---|---|
| First Four | March 17-18 | UD Arena (Dayton, OH) |
| First Round | March 19-20 | Various |
| Second Round | March 21-22 | Various |
| Sweet 16 | March 26-27 | Toyota Center (Houston, TX); SAP Center (San Jose, CA); United Center (Chicago, IL); Capital One Arena (Washington, DC) |
| Elite Eight | March 28-29 | Toyota Center (Houston, TX); SAP Center (San Jose, CA); United Center (Chicago, IL); Capital One Arena (Washington, DC) |
| Final Four | April 4 | Lucas Oil Stadium (Indianapolis, IN) |
| National Championship Game | April 6 | Lucas Oil Stadium (Indianapolis, IN) |
How to read this year's March Madness bracket
This year’s March Madness bracket is split into four regions, with every team seeded from No. 1 to No. 16 based on where they landed in the field. Each game moves one team forward through the Round of 64, Round of 32, Sweet 16, Elite Eight, Final Four, and national championship.
While top seeds are built to make deep runs, every bracket has room for March Madness upsets that can shake up the tournament in a hurry. Follow the bracket round by round to track each team’s path and see how the field shrinks on the road to the title.
Choosing between a printable and digital March Madness bracket
A printable bracket is best for fans who want a simple, shareable way to track the tournament by hand, whether for office pools, watch parties, or quick reference during games.
A digital March Madness bracket, like the one on this page, offers more convenience, with daily updates, automatic score tracking, and no need to erase or reprint as results come in.
If you want a bracket you can fill out once and keep on the fridge, go printable. If you want the most accurate, up-to-date view of the tournament, a digital bracket like ours is the better choice.
The perfect March Madness bracket
A question often asked of us is whether there has ever been a perfect March Madness bracket. The answer is simple: No. And there likely never will be.
That's because the odds of successfully predicting a perfect March Madness bracket are 1 in 120.2 billion — assuming you know a little about college basketball! If you're flipping a coin? Those odds become 1 in 9.2 quintillion, per NCAA.com.
No wonder Warren Buffett offered $1 billion to anyone who could fill out a perfect bracket and Kalshi is offering a $1 Billion bracket contest in 2026 as well.
Popular March Madness markets
- March Madness odds
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- Kalshi billion dollar bracket
Covers March Madness bracket guide
Once the bracket is set, it's time to fill out some brackets of your own. Use our free printable bracket to plot a course through the tournament.
Get our prediction
We'll research and release the official Covers March Madness bracket predictions. Use them to your advantage.
Enter contests
Now that your bracket is filled out enter as many free bracket contests as possible. If that's not your thing, there are plenty of other March Madness pool and game ideas to choose from.
March Madness Bracket FAQs
March Madness brackets come out immediately following the Selection Sunday show, which in 2026 is on March 15 at 8:00 p.m. ET..
March Madness brackets are due just before tip-off of the first game of the first round (the Round of 64).
The teams for the March Madness bracket will be announced during the Selection Sunday show, which in 2026 is on March 15.
