Arizona
Arizona basketball popular March Madness NCAA Tournament winner pick
Tommy Lloyd, Koa Peat, Brayden Burries dissect UA’s Big 12 tourney run
Arizona Wildcats head coach Tommy Lloyd, forward Koa Peat and guard Brayden Burries break down their Big 12 tournament win over Houston.
The Arizona Wildcats may not be the favorite to win the 2026 Men’s NCAA Tournament, but that isn’t going to stop a lot of people from picking Tommy Lloyd’s team to win March Madness.
The Big 12 champions got some early support during the NCAA Tournament Selection Show on CBS, when two out of three analysts selected the No. 1 seed in the West Region to win the NCAA Tournament.
Seth Davis predicted an Arizona win over Duke, the No. 1 seed in the East, in the national title game.
Bruce Pearl predicted an Arizona win over Florida, the No. 1 seed in the South Region, for the national championship.
Only Kenny Smith had a different idea. He predicted Purdue to defeat Florida for the NCAA title. The Boilermakers are the No. 2 seed in the West Region, behind Arizona.
Join the madness: USA TODAY Bracket Challenge | Survivor Pool
Final Four, national championship picks:
Kenny Smith: Duke, Purdue, Florida, Virginia
Purdue over Florida for NCAA title
Seth Davis: Duke, Arizona, Houston, Michigan
Arizona over Duke for title
Bruce Pearl: St. John’s, Arizona, Florida, Michigan
Arizona over Florida for championship
National championship odds
Early odds from DraftKings Sportsbook have Duke (+330), Michigan (+350), Arizona (+400) and Florida (+700) as the March Madness favorites.
Purdue is at +3500, while Virginia is at +6000, Houston is at +1000. St. John’s is at +5000.
Reach Jeremy Cluff at jeremy.cluff@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter @Jeremy_Cluff.
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