NCAA Tournament Bubble Teams: Updated Cutline For 2026

Saint Louis' Quentin Jones (1) pressures Virgina Commonwealth's Brandon Jennings (0) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, in St. Louis.
(AP Photo/Lexie Knight)
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As the college basketball calendar pushes into late February and early March, nothing in sports gets more attention than the NCAA Tournament bubble.

Teams on the right side of the bubble? They’ll make the tournament and have a chance to shock the world.

For others, their tournament bubble will burst. They’ll have to start the long college hoops offseason grind. 

Of course, all of these bubble teams could play themselves off the bubble by winning their conference tournament in March. Otherwise they’ll be sweating it out with the rest of the bubble gang on Selection Sunday.

I have collated the list below by looking at multiple NCAA bubble projections, including Joe Lunardi’s at ESPN and Jerry Palm’s at CBS. I then split the teams into buckets and organized them according to their KenPom rating. 

Here’s an updated look at the men’s NCAA Tournament bubble, as of March 2.

NCAA Tournament Bubble Teams

Current StatusTeamKenPom Rating
Last Four ByesOhio State35
Last Four ByesTexas A&M38
Last Four ByesSMU39
Last Four ByesSan Diego State42
Last Four InSanta Clara37
Last Four InAuburn40
Last Four InNew Mexico46
Last Four InTCU49
First Four OutIndiana43
First Four OutVCU45
First Four OutSeton Hall53
First Four OutCal73
Next Four OutVirginia Tech57
Next Four OutWest Virginia59
Next Four OutStanford65
Next Four OutUSC67

Last Four Byes

Last Four In

First Four Out

Next Four Out

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About the Author Read More @chaseakiddy

Chase Kiddy is a writer for BetMGM and co-host of The Lion's Edge, an NFL and college football podcast available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and everywhere else. He has also written for a number of print and online outlets, including the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Washington Post, Daily News-Record, and HERO Sports. His first novel, Cave Paintings, is in development.

Chase Kiddy is a writer for BetMGM and co-host of The Lion's Edge, an NFL and college football podcast available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and everywhere else. He has also written for a number of print and online outlets, including the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Washington Post, Daily News-Record, and HERO Sports. His first novel, Cave Paintings, is in development.