NCAA Tournament 2026 Stats And Profiles: No. 1 and No. 2 Seeds South And Midwest Regions

March Madness is set to tipoff and the NCAA Tournament 2026 stats and bracket has been revealed. Record wagering is expected again, and the top teams will draw more watch and wager interest and be most popular picks for millions of fans in NCAA Tournament bracket pools. That includes the South and Midwest Region top seeds Florida and Michigan. Also, I profile the East and West Region top seeds Duke Blue Devils and Arizona Wildcats with added stats, odds and coverage with information you can bet on at Off Shore Gaming, and add more below.

A previous season keys to NCAA Tournament success may also assist you in your pursuit of profit when wagering on college basketball and March Madness. As you review more NCAA Tournament 2026 stats, matchups, brackets and tips and make your bets, check back ahead of and during the NCAA Tournament for more content, stats, odds updates from leading online sportsbooks with information you can bet on.

Key stats to picking an NCAA Tournament champion

When evaluating the KenPom advanced stats, know that 22 of the last 23 National Champions have finished in the Top 20 in both offensive and defensive adjusted efficiency. This year’s teams include:

• Duke (4 offense, 1 defense)
• Michigan (8,1)
• Arizona (5,3)
• Florida (9,6)
• Houston (14,5)

Other teams to watch with stronger efficiency profiles for NCAA Tournament 2026 stats include:

• Iowa State (21,4), Illinois (1,28), Michigan State (24,13), Purdue (2,36), Connecticut (30,11), Gonzaga (29,9),  Nebraska (55,7), Alabama (3,67), Vanderbilt (7,30), Virginia (27,16), Kansas (57,10), St. John’s (44,12), Texas Tech (12,33), Arkansas (6, 47), Tennessee (37,15)

Top Coaches

Beyond the top teams in the strongest East Region, four national champion and Hall of Fame coaches are leading their teams in Dan Hurley (No. 2 UCONN), Tom Izzo (No. 3 Michigan State), Bill Self (No. 4 Kansas), Rick Pitino (No. 5 St. John’s) and the top-overall seed in the tournament Duke with coach Jon Scheyer.

No. 1 and No. 2 Seeds South Region

No. 1 Florida Gators 

Record: 26-6
Key Wins: Miami, Tennessee, Georgia, Vanderbilt, Alabama, Kentucky (2x), Ole Miss, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas
Key Losses: Arizona, Duke, UCONN, Missouri, TCU
National Title Odds: +600 (BetUS)
Final Four Odds: +160
KenPom Strength of Schedule: 7
KenPom Stats: Adjusted Offense No. 10, Defense No. 4
X: @Gators MBK
Head Coach: Todd Golden

Florida is the defending national champions, and this year’s Gators team was an SEC stats leader on defense as a top 3 scoring, FG%, 3-point percentage and rebounding margin team. The Gators led the SEC in scoring margin (+16.0) in conference play, and have averaged 82.2 points per game overall on offense through the SEC Tournament to rank top 10 in the country. The Gators offensive rebounding percentage ranks No. 2 in the country with center Rueben Chinyelu the SEC’s top rebounder and forward Alex Condon No. 3 in rebounding and a third-team All-SEC selection.

Junior forward Thomas Haugh was voted by SEC coaches as first-team All-Conference while scoring 17.2 ppg and 6.1 rebounds per game. Junior center Rueben Chinyelu was SEC Defensive Player of the Year, Scholar-Athlete of the Year and second-team All-Conference for SEC Coach of the Year Todd Golden in his fourth season leading the Gators. Slovenian guard Urban Klavzar (10 ppg) was voted SEC Sixth Man of the Year.

Florida opens the NCAA Tournament 2026 stats as a big favorite in Tampa against the First Four No. 16 game winner between Lehigh (-3) and Prairie View.

No. 2 Houston Cougars

Record: 28-6
Key Wins: Auburn, Arkansas, Texas Tech, TCU, UCF, Kansas, BYU (2x)
Key Losses: Tennessee, Texas Tech, Iowa State, Kansas, Arizona (2x)
National Title Odds: +950
Final Four Odds: +250
KenPom Strength of Schedule: 15
KenPom Stats: Adjusted Offense No. 14, Defense No. 5
X: @UHCougarMBK – #GoCoogs
Head Coach: Kelvin Sampson

Houston had 10 Quad 1 wins this season – one of only seven teams to hit double-digits. But they lost to Arizona twice, including in the Big 12 Championship Game, 79-74. The Cougars Big 12-best defense allowed just 64.7 ppg and outscored conference opponents by an average of 12.2 points per game with a 41.3% FG defense – third-best in the Big 12. Houston’s scoring offense (76.9) and FG shooting (45%) were near average in conference play with a +2.0 rebounding margin No. 5 in the Big 12. But the Cougars pressure defense led them to the best turnover margin and assist/turnover ratio in the Big 12. Senior guard Emanuel Sharp (15.8 ppg) and freshman guard Kingston Flemings (16.5 ppg, 5.4 apg) are both 85%+ free throw shooters and 1st team All-Big 12 performers looking to lead the Cougars back to the Final Four for the second straight year.

Houston opens the NCAA Tournament 2026 stats as a -23.5 point favorite vs. No. 15 Idaho in Oklahoma City. The winner plays the 7/10 winner between St. Mary’s (-2.5) and Texas A&M to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.

No. 1 and No. 2 Seeds Midwest Region

No. 1 Michigan Wolverines

Record: 31-2
Key Wins: TCU, Auburn, Gonzaga, Villanova, Purdue, Ohio State (3x), Nebraska, Michigan State (2x), Illinois, UCLA, Iowa
Key Losses: Duke, Wisconsin
National Title Odds: +325
Final Four Odds: -120
KenPom Strength of Schedule: 5
KenPom Stats: Adjusted Offense No. 6, Defense No. 3
X: @umichbball
Head Coach: Dusty May

More Big Ten team stats leaders to review in the Big Ten conference tournament preview. Michigan won the Big Ten and had 13 Quad 1 wins this season. The Wolverines led the Big Ten in scoring (85.9 ppg), FG% (50.9), FG% defense (40.4) and scoring margin (+15.5) in conference games. Michigan also led the league in blocked shots and was top 3 in assists and rebounding margin. Senior transfer Big Ten Player of the Year Yaxel Lendeborg averaged 14.7 points and 7.2 rebounds per game for the Wolverines and Big Ten Coach of the Year Dusty May. Wolverines 7-foot 3 Spanish center Aday Mara (11.3 ppg, 67% FG, 6.9 rpg) also led the league in blocked shots and was Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and third team all-conference after transferring from UCLA, along with sophomore power forward Morez Johnson Jr (13.7 ppg, 7.4 rpg), who transferred from Illinois.

Michigan opens the NCAA Tournament in Buffalo, NY against the No. 16 play-in winner of UMBC (-1.5) vs. Howard.

No. 2 Iowa State Cyclones

Record: 27-7
Key Wins: St. John’s, Purdue, Iowa, UCF, Kansas, Houston, Texas Tech
Key Losses: Kansas, Cincinnati, TCU, BYU, Texas Tech, Arizona (2x)
National Title Odds: +1400
Final Four Odds: +300
KenPom Strength of Schedule: 31
KenPom Stats: Adjusted Offense No. 21, Defense No. 4
X: @CycloneMBB
Head Coach:  T.J. Otzelberger

Iowa State moved up to a No. 2 seed after a T3 place finish in the Big 12 and then a run to the Big 12 Tournament semi’s before losing to No. 1 Arizona, 82-80. The Cyclones led the conference in steals with more than 8 per game, and were top-3 in turnover margin and assist-to-turnover ratio. Iowa State has seemingly been undervalued much of the season while going a league-best 21-13 against the spread (ATS) and entering the NCAA Tournament No. 21 in adjusted offensive efficiency and No. 4 on defense – right at the numbers of top 20 in each that has produced 22 of the last 23 national champions. Iowa State was top-3 in both 3-point shooting (36.6%) and 3-point defense (32.8%) while making nearly 9 trifecta’s per game in conference play. Blocked shots and free throw shooting (67%) are a weakness ranking bottom-2 in both, but with a top defensive profile, the Cyclones are battle tested to advance through the bottom half of the Midwest bracket.

Key players to watch include 1st-team All-Big 12 senior forward Joshua Jefferson (16.6 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 4.0 apg) and 2nd-team players senior guard Tamin Lipsey (13.3 ppg, 5.0 apg, 4.0 rpg, 47% 3’s) and junior forward Milan Momcilovic (17.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 90% FT).

Iowa State (-23.5) opens the NCAA Tournament against No. 15 Tennessee State in St. Louis. The winner plays the 7/10 winner of Kentucky (-3.5) vs. Santa Clara.

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