Eight years ago, when my oldest child was a toddler, I wanted to find a way for him to create a tourney bracket in a way that he could both understand and enjoy. As a result, I created this mascot bracket which I have used with one of my children ever since (my oldest fills out his own now, but my 6 year old daughter still loves to pick the games based on mascots). Over the past few years, a lot of people have asked that I send them a copy of this mascot bracket for them to use with their own kids, so here it is back on my blog. Without further ado, here is my 2026 NCAA mascot bracket updated through all of Tuesday night’s games.

East  Regional

(1) Duke

(16) Siena

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(8) Ohio State

(9) TCU

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(5) St. John’s

(12) Northern Iowa

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(4) Kansas

(13) Cal Baptist

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(6) Louisville

(11) South Florida

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(3) Michigan State

(14) North Dakota State

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(7) UCLA

(10) UCF

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(2) UConn

(15) Furman

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South  Regional

(1) Florida

(16) Prairie View / Lehigh

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(8) Clemson

(9) Iowa

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(5) Vanderbilt

(12) McNeese

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(4) Nebraska

(13) Troy

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(6) North Carolina

(11) VCU

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(3) Illinois

(14) Penn

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(7) Saint Mary’s

(10) Texas A & M

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(2) Houston

(15) Idaho

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West Regional

(1) Arizona

(16) Long Island

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(8) Villanova

(9) Utah State

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(5) Wisconsin

(12) High Point

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(4) Arkansas

(13) Hawaii

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(6) BYU

(11) Texas

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(3) Gonzaga

(14) Kennesaw State

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(7) Miami-FL

(10) Missouri

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(2) Purdue

(15) Queens

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Midwest Regional

(1) Michigan

(16) Howard

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(8) Georgia

(9) Saint Louis

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(5) Texas Tech

(12) Akron

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(4) Alabama 

(13) Hofstra

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(6) Tennessee

(11) SMU/Miami-OH

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(3) Virginia

(14) Wright State

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(7) Kentucky

(10) Santa Clara

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(2) Iowa State

(15) Tennessee State