Joe Lunardi is back with another summer Bracketology update

There is no such thing as a college basketball offseason for Joe Lunardi.

ESPN’s Men’s Basketball NCAA Tournament Bracketologist is back with another round of projections for the 68-team field in 2026. For the first time since late June, Lunardi dropped a fresh Bracketology update Tuesday morning. There wasn’t any significant movement for the Kentucky Wildcats, though. He still has Mark Pope‘s team slotted as a 3-seed, only this time around, he put the ‘Cats in the West Region (San Jose) instead of the Midwest Region (Chicago).

With that change, Lunardi has Kentucky taking on 14-seeded Furman during the first round in St. Louis. A win for the Wildcats would pit them against the winner of 6-seed Kansas and 11-seed Iowa/SMU in the Round of 32. Duke is the 1-seed in this region with BYU, Pope’s former team, checking in as the 2-seed and a potential Sweet 16 opponent for UK.

Kentucky is far from the only Southeastern Conference team included in the bracket, too. Remember how the league produced a record-setting 14 NCAA Tournament teams a year ago? Lunardi thinks it could happen again in 2026…

• Florida (1-seed)
• Kentucky (3-seed)
• Tennessee (3-seed)
• Arkansas (4-seed)
• Auburn (4-seed)
• Alabama (5-seed)
• Mississippi State (8-seed)
• Missouri (8-seed)
• Texas (8-seed)
• Oklahoma (9-seed)
• Georgia (10-seed)
• Ole Miss (10-seed)
• Vanderbilt (10-seed)
• Texas A&M (11-seed)

Only the Big Ten (11 schools) comes close to Lunardi’s projection of 14 SEC teams making the tournament in 2026. The league might not be as loaded at the top as last season, but the top-to-bottom depth is expected to be equally comparable. Other notable programs, such as St. John’s (2-seed) and Louisville (5-seed), are projected to easily fit into the bracket.

We’re already under 100 days away from the start of the 2025-26 college basketball season.