March Madness 2026: Selection committee reveals preview of its 1-seeds
By Jacob Moss
Published:
As the calendar quickly approaches the end of February and the beginning of March, college basketball programs around the country are gearing up for what they hope will be a deep run in this year’s NCAA Tournament.
Sixty-eight teams will end up punching their ticket to the big dance come Selection Sunday, but several of the nation’s top squads have already begun to separate themselves from the pack as the odds-on favorites to land the 4 coveted 1-seeds.
In anticipation of this final push towards March Madness, the NCAA selection committee released a preview of its bracket on Saturday and revealed who would be on the top seed line if the tournament began right now.
As things currently stand, the selection committee has the Michigan Wolverines as their top overall seed, followed by the Duke Blue Devils, the Arizona Wildcats, and the Iowa State Cyclones, who round out the top 4.
The folks over at Kalshi are in agreement with the selection committee on the first 3 squads earning a 1-seed, with both Michigan and Duke being virtual locks with 96% and 94% odds, respectively, and Arizona right behind them with 78% odds to land a 1-seed.
Kalshi isn’t as high on the Cyclones, though, currently giving them the fifth-best odds to land a top seed at 26%. Instead, Kalshi has the Houston Cougars as the fourth-best odds to earn a 1 seed, despite Iowa State just beating them.
Outside of these top 4, Florida came in as the highest-seeded squad from the SEC in its bracket preview, with the selection committee slotting them in as a 3 seed. At this point, Kalshi is also giving the Gators an 11% chance to earn a 1 seed.
