First Six Teams in the Big Dance

Automatic Bids are starting to get filled in as Championship Week is underway. Here is a quick snapshot look at the first six teams entering the Field of 68 for the 2026 NCAA Tournament.

Atlantic Sun: Queens 21-13 (KenPom #183)

Best Wins: (H) Lipscomb, (N) Austin Peay, (N) Central Arkansas

Queens has made the NCAA Tournament in its first season of eligibility, delivering three wins in three days in the Atlantic Sun Tournament. The team’s top rated wins of the season came in the A-Sun semifinals and Championship game, including beating Central Arkansas in overtime on Sunday. 

Queens has displayed a capable offense with an up-tempo pace, shooting well at every level, including nearly 36 percent from beyond the arc with a high volume of long range attempts. The defensive numbers are less impressive for Queens, who had a middle-of-the-pack defensive rating while finishing third in the A-Sun regular season to offset the league’s top offensive ranking. 

Home court meant more in the A-Sun than in any other conference this season by win percentage and Queens did impress with six road wins before winning three games in Jacksonville in the conference tournament. In the non-conference season Queens did try to play up, facing five games vs. the Big East, ACC, and SEC, but all of those results were losses by at least 20 points as this isn’t a team likely to be a threat for an upset in the Round of 64, and Queens is a candidate to be a First Four #16 seed as well. 

Big South: High Point 30-4 (KenPom #93)

Best Wins: (N) Furman, (N) Illinois-Chicago, (H) Winthrop, (N) Winthrop 

High Point is in the NCAA Tournament for a second straight season. Last year’s Panthers went 29-6 and earned a #13 seed after taking the Big South Tournament, competing well in a 75-63 loss to Purdue, falling short as an underdog at +8 in a 4/13 pairing. This year’s team has a slightly better record but fewer quality wins. 

It was a coaching change season as Flynn Clayman maintained the success that Alan Huss had before he joined Creighton as the successor-in-waiting behind Greg McDermott. Last year’s team had top 100 wins over UAB and North Texas in the non-conference season while the overall depth of the Big South was stronger in 2024-25 than it appears to have been this season. 

Despite the repeat Big South titles, the roster for High Point turned over dramatically as only three contributors on this year’s team were with the Panthers last season. High Point lost three of its five top 200 non-conference games and didn’t face a single major conference team this season. A 30-win team will catch some attention as likely a #12 or #13 seed and this is an experienced team that has terrific turnover rates on both sides of the ball. The strength of schedule for High Point will be one of the weakest rated paths among all 68 teams in the tournament, however. 

Missouri Valley: Northern Iowa 23-12 (KenPom #70)

Best Wins: (A) UC Irvine, (A) Illinois-Chicago, (A) Murray State, (N) Illinois State, (N) Illinois-Chicago

The Missouri Valley Conference Tournament provided plenty of upsets and Northern Iowa was the beneficiary, winning four games in a row as the #6 seed to take Arch Madness. This will be the first NCAA Tournament trip for Northern Iowa since 2016 and the Panthers have advanced in each of the past three appearances under Ben Jacobson, including a Sweet 16 run in 2010. 

The Panthers went 0-2 vs. MVC leader Belmont and went 0-3 in top 100 non-conference games this season but Northern Iowa does have 16 top 200 wins. The non-conference losses to Tulsa, Wichita State, and Saint Mary’s were all competitive games decided by five or fewer points.

The Panthers will be an attractive underdog with an ultra-slow pace of play and steady turnover and shooting results. The Northern Iowa defense has a top 25 efficiency ranking nationally as well and the defense was excellent in the MVC Tournament as none of four opponents reached 70 points. This is also a team with great experience playing together as all five starters were on the team last season, a rarity in this era of college basketball and that continuity could pay dividends in the Big Dance. The Panthers are a candidate to land in one of 5/12 pairings that often attracts an upset threat. 

Northeast: Long Island 23-10 (KemPom #217)

Best Wins: (H) James Madison, (A) Missouri State, (H) LaSalle) 

Long Island hasn’t won the NEC Tournament but its opponent on Tuesday, Mercyhurst, isn’t eligible as Lakers are in just their second Division I season. Long Island is likely to be a potential First Four team either way as finding quality wins on the resume is a challenge with the Sharks going 0-7 in top 200 games this season. Long Island did compete well in a few of those games, taking Winthrop to overtime and losing by four at Mississippi State. 

In NEC play Long Island with 15-3 and won two close games to reach the NEC Final without having to play a fellow top 5 team in the conference standings. Long Island has a better defense than offense, with the ability to create turnovers while holding opponents below 32 percent on 3-point shooting. This was the best defense in the NEC led by former NBA star Rod Strickland, with the program improving in record in three straight seasons since a 3-26 campaign in his first season in 2022-23. 

The NEC is not a well regarded conference with a ranking of 29th out of the 31 conferences this season but Long Island didn’t look out of place in two games vs. SEC teams in December. Long Island did lose by 40 at Illinois early in the season and that is the type of matchup the team may need to prepare for next week. 

Ohio Valley: Tennessee State 23-9 (KenPom #186)

Best Wins: (N) UNLV, (A) UNC Asheville

Tennessee State finished tied with Morehead State at 15-5 in the OVC standings with the Tigers featuring the top offense in the conference. In the tournament final Tennessee State scored 93 against Morehead State for a dominant win to claim an NCAA Tournament spot, the first for the program since 1994. This is the first season under head coach Nolan Smith, who starred at Duke as a point guard in the late 2000s before a brief NBA career. 

Quality wins are hard to find for the Tigers as Tennessee State is the only top 200 team in the OVC. The Tigers went 3-0 vs. Tennessee Martin who has the second best rating in the league. Tennessee State did beat UNLV in Henderson for a semi-away win back in December as well. 

The Tigers won seven of the final eight regular season games before posting two wins by double-digit margins in the OVC Tournament. A #15 seed is likely ahead for the Tigers and this is a team that might give a quality team an early scare with a quick pace of play and solid rebounding results. The Tigers have enough size to compete and are a good free throw shooting team, but defense won’t likely hold up for 40 minutes for a serious upset threat.

Summit League: North Dakota State 27-7 (KenPom #114)

Best Wins: (H) CS Northridge, (H) Southern Illinois, (A) Montana, (A) Drake, (H) St. Thomas

North Dakota State last made the NCAA Tournament in 2019, though the Bison also qualified for the 2020 Tournament that didn’t take place. Dave Richman has been with the program since 2014-15 and with 27 wins this is the best record he has put forward. The Summit League was somewhat stronger overall last season and North Dakota State managed to avoid the expected clash with St. Thomas in the conference tournament. 

The Bison put together a handful of solid results in non-conference play, and most losses came in competitive games, though the Bison couldn’t schedule any major conference teams. The season numbers put North Dakota State as a borderline top 100 team on offense and defense as this is a capable group. 

Richman’s teams won a First Four game in the 2019 Tournament and gave Gonzaga a bit of a scare in a 10-point loss as a #15 seed back in 2015. The Bison will likely land with the program’s best seeding since winning as a #12 seed over Oklahoma in the 2014 Tournament.