by Max Goren
There’s a new #1 overall seed in this Monday’s Maxetology: Michigan has taken over the top spot. Arizona’s second loss in a week drops them from top dog to just another one seed. That’s the biggest change in the top part of the bracket, but it was chaos in the middle- many teams between the 7 and 11 seed lines didn’t do much to help themselves this weekend.
Teams in italics denote predicted automatic qualifiers.
Up/Down arrows denote teams moving seed lines.
Asterisks denote teams new to the bracket.
Through games on February 15, 2026:
Rising: Florida, Villanova, Wisconsin, Saint Mary’s, Miami-FL, Indiana, UNC-W
Falling: Michigan St, Auburn, Iowa, NC State, SMU, UCF, Texas A&M, Georgia, Troy
New: USC, TCU, San Diego St, USF, Wright State, Merrimack
Dropped: Missouri, Virginia Tech, New Mexico, Tulsa, Oakland, Marist
1 Seeds
1. Michigan (#1 overall seed)
2. Duke
3. Arizona
4. UConn
2 Seeds
5. Houston
6. Illinois
7. Purdue
8. Iowa State
3 Seeds
9. Nebraska
10. Gonzaga
11. Florida ↑
12. Kansas
4 Seeds
13. Vanderbilt
14. Texas Tech
15. UVA
16. Michigan St ↓
5 Seeds
17. Alabama
18. St. John’s
19. Saint Louis
20. Arkansas
6 Seeds
21. Louisville
22. BYU
23. North Carolina
24. Tennessee
7 Seeds
25. Utah State
26. Kentucky
27. Villanova ↑
28. Clemson
8 Seeds
29. Wisconsin ↑
30. Auburn ↓
31. Saint Mary’s ↑↑
32. Miami-FL ↑↑↑
9 Seeds
33. Miami-OH
34. Iowa ↓
35. NC State ↓
36. Indiana ↑
10 Seeds
37. SMU ↓
38. UCF ↓↓
39. Texas
40. Texas A&M ↓
11 Seeds
41. UCLA
42. Georgia ↓
43. USC*
44. Santa Clara
45. TCU*
46. San Diego St* (Last Team In)
12 Seeds
47. USF*
48. Belmont
49. McNeese St
50. Yale
13 Seeds
51. Liberty
52. High Point
53. Hawaii
54. UNC-Wilmington ↑
14 Seeds
55. Cal-Baptist
56. St. Thomas
57. ETSU
58. Troy ↓
15 Seeds
59. Austin Peay
60. Portland State
61. Wright St*
62. Navy ↑
16 Seeds
63. UT-Martin
64. Merrimack*
65. LIU
66. Vermont
67. Bethune-Cookman
68. Howard
Bubble Watch
New Mexico (First Team Out)
Missouri
Ohio State
Virginia Tech
VCU
Seton Hall
West Virginia