Five men's college basketball teams with best chance to win national title

The 68-team field for the 2026 men's basketball NCAA Tournament is set, with the Duke Blue Devils, the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season and tournament champions, receiving the No. 1 overall seed.

As it relates to the No. 1 seeds, there was little drama. Duke, Arizona and Michigan were locks for the top line, while Florida edged UConn for the final No. 1 seed.

In this exciting one-and-done format, upsets are going to happen, especially in the opening rounds. However, the winner of this spring's Big Dance probably will come from this group of heavyweight contenders.

Five squads with best shot at cutting down the nets

Duke Blue Devils
NCAA Tournament seed: No. 1 in East Region
2025-26 record: 32-2 overall
AP top-25 ranking: No. 1
NCAA NET ranking: No. 1
KenPom rating: No. 1

Duke has the country's best player: freshman big man Cameron Boozer. One thing to monitor for the Blue Devils, though, is the injury status of junior point guard Caleb Foster and sophomore center Patrick Ngongba II. Still, Duke is a legit threat to reach its second consecutive Final Four.

Arizona Wildcats
NCAA Tournament seed: No. 1 in West Region
2025-26 record: 32-2 overall
AP top-25 ranking: No. 2
NCAA NET ranking: No. 3
KenPom rating: No. 3

Arizona has been mighty impressive in the 2025-26 season, with 16 quadrant-one victories and no losses outside of quadrant one. The Wildcats are led by senior guard Jaden Bradley, the Big 12 Conference player of the year, and several outstanding freshmen.

Michigan Wolverines
NCAA Tournament seed: No. 1 in Midwest Region
2025-26 record: 31-3 overall
AP top-25 ranking: No. 3
NCAA NET ranking: No. 2
KenPom rating: No. 2

The Wolverines destroyed many of their opponents in 2025-26, and Michigan ran through the rugged Big Ten Conference. In the league's tournament final, however, No. 7 seed Purdue upset the No. 1 seed Wolverines, so Michigan enters the NCAA Tournament on a bit of a downer. Duke also defeated the Wolverines last month in a non-conference battle in Washington, D.C.

Florida Gators
NCAA Tournament seed: No. 1 in South Region
2025-26 record: 26-7 overall
AP top-25 ranking: No. 4
NCAA NET ranking: No. 4
KenPom rating: No. 4

Florida, the defending national champion, got tripped up on Saturday by hometown Vanderbilt in the Southeastern Conference Tournament semifinals from Nashville, Tenn., but the Gators are still descending upon March Madness on a roll. Before its SEC Tournament setback, Florida had won 12 consecutive games.

UConn Huskies
NCAA Tournament seed: No. 2 in East Region
2025-26 record: 29-5 overall
AP top-25 ranking: No. 6
NCAA NET ranking: No. 10
KenPom rating: No. 11

UConn, which won back-to-back national titles in 2023 and 2024, got thumped on Saturday by rival St. John's in the final contest of the Big East Conference Tournament. In the non-conference, the Huskies boasted a couple of impressive triumphs, including wins over BYU, Illinois, Kansas, Florida and Texas.