Last year, all four No. 1 seeds reached the NCAA men's basketball Final Four for only the second time in history.
The top four teams could be very tough to beat again this season.
As expected, Duke (the No. 1 overall seed), Arizona, Michigan and Florida were put at the top of their respective regions on the selection show on Sunday.
Only Florida was a question mark for a No. 1 heading into Saturday night as the defending national champion Gators were blown out by Vanderbilt in an SEC semifinal.
But Houston's loss to Arizona in the Big 12 final and UConn's defeat against St. John's in the Big East championship game later Saturday ensured coach Todd Golden's Florida squad would start the tournament as a No. 1 seed with in-state games in Tampa.
Here are some takeaways from the selection show:
Beasts of the East
Duke clearly is the team to beat in the East Region, despite losing four players, including Cooper Flagg, in the first 33 picks of last year's NBA Draft after a run to the Final Four.
But the Blue Devils, who were missing key contributors Patrick Ngongba and junior Caleb Foster to injury this weekend, aren't a sure thing in a challenging region.
The East is loaded with marquee coaches, including Rick Pitino and No. 5 St. John's and Bill Self and No. 4 Kansas (both of whom are potential Sweet 16 foes for Duke).
Tom Izzo and No. 3 Michigan State and Dan Hurley and No. 2 UConn are on the other half of the East bracket. Hurley led the Huskies to back-to-back national titles in 2023 and '24.
Duke starts with a fun matchup against coach and Syracuse legend Gerry McNamara and his 16th-seeded Siena Saints from Albany, N.Y., on Thursday in Greenville, S.C.
Fab freshmen
The NCAA tournament is a great chance to put on your NBA scouting cap.
Nine of the 10 players listed at the top of ESPN's 2026 mock draft will play in the tournament — injured North Carolina star Caleb Wilson is the only top-10 player out.
Usually, there are not this many top-10 prospects in the tournament, but it seems to be a bit of a down year for international players. In addition, most of the top college prospects play for tournament teams — last year, No. 2 pick Dylan Harper and No. 5 pick Ace Bailey played for a Rutgers team that fell well short of the 68-team tourney.
Duke forward/centre Cameron Boozer and Kansas guard Darryn Peterson, two of the three players most mentioned for the top of the draft, could battle it out in the Sweet 16. BYU forward AJ Dybantsa is the other player projected to be in the race for No. 1. His Cougars team is the No. 6 seed in the West.
Other potential lottery freshmen in the tournament include Houston guard Kingston Flemings, Illinois guard Keaton Wagler, Arkansas guard Darius Acuff Jr., Louisville guard Mikel Brown Jr., Tennessee forward Nate Ament and Arizona guard Brayden Burries.
All eyes on Miami (Ohio)
After a perfect 31-0 regular season in the smaller Mid-American Conference, Miami (Ohio) still wasn't guaranteed a tournament spot because of a weak strength of schedule.
Potential disaster struck in the RedHawks' first game of the MAC tournament when they lost 87-83 to UMass, finally falling short in a close game after eking out wins in each of their previous three games by two points.
But many potential at-large teams didn't cover themselves in glory during conference tournaments, and any fears of Miami missing out seemed to fade as the week went on.
However, the RedHawks still have work to do to make it into the main part of the tournament. The RedHawks were given a No. 11 seed in the Midwest Region and will face SMU on Wednesday in a First Four game in Dayton, Ohio. The winner gets No. 6 seed Tennessee and NCAA active coaching wins leader Rick Barnes in the first main round.
The good news for Miami is the drive to Dayton is just about an hour, meaning the RedHawks should have the majority of fan support for the play-in tilt.
The Akron Zips won their third MAC title in a row and were given a No. 12 seed in the Midwest Region. The Ohio team will face No. 5 Texas Tech in the first round.
Miami is the first MAC team to receive an at-large spot since the Wally Szczerbiak-led RedHawks accomplished the feat in 1999.
Florida's intriguing path
In the South, Vanderbilt and Florida could meet again in the Sweet 16 after the Commodores got a No. 5 seed.
The No. 2 seed in the South, Houston, would play at home in the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 if the Cougars get that far.
An Elite 8 matchup against Florida would be a rematch of last year's national final.
Canadian corner
By my count, 34 Canadians or players who have played on Canadian national teams are on tournament rosters.
The top teams do not have a ton of Canadian content playing big minutes, with the exception of Florida starting point guard Xaivian Lee, who transferred from Princeton prior to this season.
No. 16-seeded Long Island is an underdog for fans in this country to cheer for. The Rod Strickland-coached Sharks feature five Canadians, including top scorers Jamal Fuller and Malachi Davis. LIU battles Arizona in the opening round.
Meanwhile, Santa Clara is back in the tournament for the first time since Steve Nash took the Broncos there 30 years ago. Toronto's Elijah Mahi is the second-leading scorer for No. 10-seeded Santa Clara, which faces No. 7 Kentucky in the first round.
Schedule
The First Four games are Tuesday and Wednesday before the main tournament kicks off Thursday.
The Final Four is April 4-6 in Indianapolis.
