Gordon Hayward previews 2026 NCAA Tournament, talks Colgate Total partnership

Gordon Hayward is ready to see who will win the 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. On3 recently spoke to the former Butler star and asked him which teams have the best chance to win it all this year.

“It’s hard to not pick Duke,” Gordon Hayward told On3. “I actually live in Charlotte, so I get a lot of Duke basketball stuff. And I don’t know if you remember, but our run was against Duke. So I’m certainly not a Duke fan by any means, but I think it’s hard to pick against them. I do think they had the point guard go down. So that’s going to be something that they have to figure out.”

Hayward added, “[Cameron] Boozer‘s a beast and I think [Jon] Scheyer‘s a really good coach, and they figure out ways to win. So it’s hard to pick against Duke. I do like Arizona with their size that they have, and then they got older guards. I think the older guards is big in the tournament, guys that have experience. And so I think Arizona‘s going to be tough. Now they’re playing in the best conference in the country this year, in the Big 12. So I mean, Arizona looks like a good team to pick in your brackets.

Duke is the No. a overall team in the tournament, and Arizona is the No. 1 seed in the West side of the bracket. Hayward knows Duke well, as he faced the team when he led Butler to the NCAA Championship game in 2010. It was the first time Butler reached the title game, and the attention helped Hayward get selected No. 9 overall by the Utah Jazz in the 2010 NBA Draft.

Gordon Hayward looks back at Butler’s title run

Hayward also talked about his favorite moment from Butler’s title run. “I think just the fact that we got to play in Indianapolis, which is right where I’m from,” he said. “It’s where Butler is at. I think it’s like eight miles from campus or something like that. So we had not only the whole city of Indianapolis behind us, but I think because we were an unknown program to everyone else, we kind of had the whole country behind us.

Ahead of the tournament, Hayward has partnered with Colgate Total to discuss the importance of oral health. Colgate Total was the official Oral Health Partner of the Big East Tournament, and Hayward explained why he enjoyed the partnership.

“I think it’s a great partnership for me. I’ve got five kids at the house, and so it’s a nightly battle to get everybody to brush their teeth,” Hayward said. “And I’m trying to teach these guys that you got to brush your teeth for preventative reasons. So you don’t get cavities. You don’t end up like your dad who’s got to do root canals and all this stuff. And so Colgate Total’s products are incredible at helping that out. We’re struggling at the Hayward household, but we’re figuring it out.”