KANSAS — The 2026 NCAA Tournament will tip off on Thursday, with multiple mid-major programs seeking to continue recent trends of lower-seeded teams advancing in March Madness. The tournament field includes several first-round matchups between teams with contrasting momentum heading into the single-elimination competition.

The Akron Zips, seeded No. 12, will face the No. 5-seeded Texas Tech Red Raiders in the first round. Akron has won 19 of 20 games since losing to Miami (Ohio) in January 2026, with their only defeat during that stretch coming against Troy. Texas Tech enters the tournament having lost each of its last three games and without JT Toppin, who left the roster one month before the tournament.

The Troy Trojans earned a No. 13 seed and will face the No. 4-seeded Nebraska Cornhuskers in the first round. Troy defeated San Diego State in an early-season road game and lost by one point to USC in a triple-overtime road contest. Nebraska won their first 20 games of the 2025-2026 season but lost six of their final 12 games entering the tournament. The Cornhuskers have never won a game in the NCAA Tournament and have been defeated by lower-seeded teams in the first round on multiple occasions.

The California Baptist Lancers, also a No. 13 seed, will face the No. 4-seeded Kansas Jayhawks in the first round. Kansas defeated both Arizona and Houston during the 2025-2026 season but also lost to Cincinnati and Arizona State. The Jayhawks have not advanced beyond the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament since winning the national title in 2022.

Recent tournament history has provided precedent for lower-seeded teams. Oral Roberts reached the Elite Eight as a No. 15 seed in the 2021 NCAA Tournament, while St. Peter's matched that achievement as a No. 15 seed in 2022. Princeton reached the Sweet Sixteen as a No. 15 seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament, the same year Fairleigh Dickinson defeated Purdue as a No. 16 seed upset over a No. 1 seed and Florida Atlantic reached the Final Four as a No. 9 seed.

In the 2024 and 2025 NCAA Tournaments, only one double-digit seed advanced beyond the first weekend, and both were from power conferences. The Texas A&M Aggies, seeded No. 10 in the South region, will compete under first-year head coach Bucky McMillan.

The Arizona Wildcats entered the tournament with a 32-2 record on a nine-game winning streak. The No. 1-seeded Wildcats and the No. 4-seeded Arkansas Razorbacks could meet in the Sweet Sixteen round if both advance. Duke earned the No. 1 overall seed in the 2026 NCAA Tournament.