Arizona remained the number one overall seed in the updated ESPN Bracketology on Tuesday. Kansas beat Arizona 82-78 on Monday night to give the Wildcats their first loss of the season. Michigan is ahead of Arizona in the major metric sites.
ESPN resident bracketologist Joe Lunardi has Arizona as the top seed in the West Regional. Lunardi projects Arizona to play 16th-seeded Harvard in the first round. That would put Arizona reserve guard Evan Nelson against his former program. Arizona beat Harvard in the second round of the 2013 NCAA Tournament.
Arizona and Harvard are projected to play their first-round game in San Diego, per Lunardi. The winner between Arizona and Harvard is projected to play either eighth seeded Texas A&M or ninth seeded SMU. The winner in that mini pod would advance to the West Regional semifinals in San Jose.
Lunardi has fourth-seeded Gonzaga and fifth seed Alabama as potential opponents in the West Regional Semi-Final in San Jose. On the other half of the West bracket, Lunardi has Nebraska as the projected second seed and Florida as the third seed. Arizona defeated Alabama and Florida this season.
— Joe Lunardi (@ESPNLunardi) February 10, 2026
Other teams of note in Bracketology
Connecticut, Duke and Michigan remain the other top-seeded teams in the updated Bracketology on Tuesday. The Big XII is fourth with seven projected NCAA Tournament berths. Lunardi projects Houston and Iowa State as two seeds, Kansas as a three, Texas Tech as a four, BYU six and UCF, nine.
Other 2025-26 Arizona opponents that Lunardi has in the bracket are eight-seeded Auburn and 10th seed UCLA in the Midwest and 11th-seeded San Diego State in the First Four with a chance to earn their way into the South Regional. Lunardi also has St. Mary's, who Arizona beat in an exhibition game, as the 10th seed in the South.