March Madness bracket tracker: Who's in, out and on men's NCAA Tournament bubble

[ASFN Admin]

It's conference tournament time.

While some postseason tournaments have gotten underway this week and last, a few more get started over the next few days as college basketball inches closer to Selection Sunday for the 2026 men's NCAA Tournament.

REQUIRED READING: March Madness bracketology: NCAA tournament bubble predictions, new No. 1 seed

With some conference tournaments already concluding, we have seen autobids clinch spots in the Big Dance by winning their respective tournaments. Which is to say, the number of available bids for spots in March Madness is shrinking and will only continue to dwindle.

A handful of teams enter the conference tournaments with little else to prove, but they should remember that seeding can still be effected. Other teams enter their respective conference tournaments treating it like the NCAA tournament, as with one loss they could vanish from the brackets before they are even revealed.

Here's a look at the latest NCAA Tournament preview, including bubble teams and locks to reach March Madness:

March Madness bracket bubble watch tracker​

March Madness locks​

Based on games through Tuesday, March 10

• Big Ten (9): Michigan, Illinois, Purdue, Nebraska, Michigan State, Iowa, Wisconsin, Ohio State, UCLA
• Big 12 (7): Arizona, Iowa State, Houston, Kansas, Texas Tech, BYU, Texas Christian
• SEC (7): Florida, Vanderbilt, Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky
• ACC (6): Duke, Virginia, Louisville, North Carolina, Clemson, Miami,
• Big East (3): UConn, Villanova, St. John's
• Other (10): Gonzaga, Utah State, Queens (N.C.)*, High Point*, Northern Iowa*, Long Island*, Tennessee State*, Furman*, North Dakota State*, Troy*

*Clinched auto berth by winning conference title

42 teams entered play on Tuesday, March 10, with a 99.4% chance or better to reach the Tournament, according to Bart Torvik's "TourneyCast." These "locks" make up 62% of the field this season for the NCAA Tournament.

Torvik's metrics are used in the NCAA's BPI equation, alongside third-party analyst Ken Pomeroy, also referenced as KenPom by college basketball fans.

The 42 teams that are considered "locks" include eight more teams that have punched their tickets to the tournament with an auto-bid by winning their conference tournaments.

NCAA Tournament likely ins​

• SEC (1): Texas A&M
• ACC (1): North Carolina State
• Big 12 (0): N/A
• Big Ten (0): N/A
• Big East (0): N/A
• Other (3): Miami (Ohio), Howard, Hofstra

Entering the final week of the regular season, these are the teams that are "likely in" and have between a 70% and 98.9% chance to reach the NCAA Tournament, per Torvik.

While NC State is still likely in the tournament, they were seen as a lock just last week. However, the Wolfpack has slipped of late with six losses in their last seven games.

Last week, we had 11 teams making the "likely in" list. That has slimmed down to five teams, as most teams have either locked in a spot or fallen into the bubble.

NCAA Tournament bubble teams​

• SEC (4): Oklahoma, Auburn, Texas, Missouri
• Big 12 (2): Cincinnati, Central Florida
• Big Ten (1): Indiana
• ACC (1): Southern Methodist
• Big East (0): N/A
• Other (13): UMBC, Wright State, VCU, McNeese State, Lehigh, Boston University, South Florida, Utah Valley, Akron, Yale, Bethum-Cookman, Liberty, New Mexico

All of the teams included in this list have a 70% chance or lower to make the NCAA Tournament. Some of these teams are "more in" the tournament than others, but none can afford a major slip-up in the conference tournaments, and some of the teams need to win the tournament outright to get into the NCAA tournament.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: March Madness bracket tracker: Who's in, out and on NCAA bubble

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