March Madness Picks & Best Bets 2026 NCAA Tournament - First Round & First Four

Mar 13th, 2026 5:33 PM EDT

The Road To Indianapolis begins Tuesday with the so-called First Four games of the NCAA Tournament. This year, March Madness ends in April with the National Championship Game on April 6. After checking the latest college basketball odds, be sure to check our March Madness Picks & Best Bets below once the bracket is set Sunday night.

Recent NCAA Tournament history has been very kind to No. 1 seeds.

In all, 17 of the past 25 and 7 of the past 8 national champions were No. 1 seeds. The most recent exception was Connecticut in 2023. Those Huskies entered the tournament as a No. 4 seed. Of course, UConn proceeded to win back-to-back national titles as Danny Hurley kept the bulk of his team in-tact.

Want a bigger dog than the 2023 Huskies – in terms of seeding – to win a national title? You’ll have to back to the 2014 UConn Huskies. Those pups were a No. 7 seed before running the table and cutting down the nets at Jerry World. Those Huskies were +9500 to win the Tournament.

Three No. 3 seeds have won the Tourname since 2000, and one No. 2 seed has won during that time.

March Madness Picks & Best Bets: Game-By-Game Predictions

Here are our predictions for each of the First Four and First Round Games of the NCAA Men’s Tournament:

First Four

Dates: Tuesday & Wednesday
Site: UD Arena (Dayton, Ohio)
Picks: TBA

March Madness Picks & Best Bets: Schedule, Dates To Watch

Here are our key March Madness Picks & Best Bets key dates to mark on your calendar and upcoming schedule:

First Four: March 17-18
First round: March 19-20
Second round: March 21-23
Sweet 16: March 26-27
Elite Eight: March 28-29
Final Four: Saturday, April 4
National championship game: Monday, April 6

March Madness Schedule

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Round ▲▼	Dates ▲▼	City ▲▼	Venue ▲▼	Host(s) ▲▼
First Four	March 17 & 18	Dayton, OH	UD Arena	University of Dayton
First/Second	March 19 & 21	Buffalo, NY	KeyBank Center	Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference; Canisius College; Niagara University
First/Second	March 19 & 21	Greenville, SC	Bon Secours Wellness Arena	Furman; Southern Conference
First/Second	March 19 & 21	Oklahoma City, OK	Paycom Center	Big 12 Conference
First/Second	March 19 & 21	Portland, OR	Moda Center	Oregon State University
First/Second	March 20 & 22	Tampa, FL	Benchmark International Arena	University of South Florida
First/Second	March 20 & 22	Philadelphia, PA	Xfinity Mobile Arena	Saint Joseph's University
First/Second	March 20 & 22	San Diego, CA	Viejas Arena	San Diego State University
First/Second	March 20 & 22	St. Louis, MO	Enterprise Center	Missouri Valley Conference
South Regional	March 26 & 28	Houston, TX	Toyota Center	Rice University
West Regional	March 26 & 28	San Jose, CA	SAP Center	San Jose State University
Midwest Regional	March 27 & 29	Chicago, IL	United Center	Northwestern University
East Regional	March 27 & 29	Washington, D.C.	Capital One Arena	Georgetown University
Final Four	April 4 & 6	Indianapolis, IN	Lucas Oil Stadium	Horizon League; IU Indianapolis

March Madness Picks & Best Bets: All-Time Longshots To Win

Going back to the expansion of the field to 64 teams in 1985, here's a look as the longest pre=tournament odds for the NCCA winner.

odds	YEAR	Team	SEED	FINAL OPP.	SCORE
+9500	2014	UConn	No. 7	Kentucky	60-54
+3500	1985	Villanova	No. 8	G'town	66-64
+2500	2011	UConn	No. 3	Butler	53-41
+2000	1988	Kentucky	No. 6	Oklahom	83-79
+1800	1997	Arizona	No, 6	Kentucky	84-79 (OT)
+1600	2023	UConn	No. 4	San Diego	76-59

March Madness Picks & Best Bets: Betting Trends To Watch

Here's a look at some trends and history surrounding the March Madness top seeds:

Most times seeded No. 1: North Carolina (18)
All four No. 1 seeds made Final Four: Twice (2008, 2025)
No No. 1 seeds made Final Four: Four (1980, 2006, 2011, 2023)
Championship games featuring two No. 1 seeds: 11 (1982, 1983, 1999, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2015, 2017, 2021, 2024, 2025)
Championship game featuring no No. 1 seeds (modern era): Eight
Only team to beat three No. 1 seeds: Arizona (1997 - beat No. 1 Kansas in Elite Eight, No. 1 North Carolina in Final Four, No. 1 Kentucky in championship game)

March Madness Picks & Best Bets: Best Finish By Seed

In all the No. 1 see has won 26 national championships since the NCAA Tournament expanded to its current (legitimate) 64-team field in 1985,

SEED	BEST FINISH	TIMES
No. 1	National Champion	26
No. 2	National Champion	5
No. 3	National Champion	4
No. 4	National Champion	2
No. 5	Runner-up	4
No. 6	National Champion	1
No. 7	National Champion	1
No. 8	National Champion	1
No. 9	Final Four	2
No. 10	Final Four	1
No. 11	Final Four	6
No. 12	Elite Eight	2
No. 13	Sweet 16	3
No. 14	Sweet 16	2
No. 15	Elite Eight	2
No. 16	Second round	2

March Madness Picks & Best Bets: SU Record By Seed

The No. 1 rocks on the moneyline, going 537-134 (.800) straight-up in the NCAA Tournament going back to 1939. In all, seeds 1 through 5 are historically above water in terms of winning straight up. Here's a look.

Seed	Overall record
No. 1	537-134
No. 2	373-155
No. 3	294-156
No. 4	250-158
No. 5	183-160
No. 6	168-159
No. 7	141-159
No. 8	113-159
No. 9	98-160
No. 10	97-159
No. 11	105-160
No. 12	81-160
No. 13	39-160
No. 14	25-160
No. 15	16-160
No. 16	2-160