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March Madness predictions 2026: Using AI to pick NCAA Tournament bracket upsets, Final Four originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . If you’re looking for help filling out your 2026 March Madness bracket, Sporting News has you covered.

We have brackets from college experts Bill Bender and Mike DeCourcy. Vinnie Iyer is giving you his bracket straight from KenPom. And if you’re a believer in artificial intelligence, we have its picks as well.

Gemini is an AI model from Google designed to provide data-driven analysis for complex queries. We fed it the 2026 men’s tournament bracket and asked for its predictions, including the likeliest upsets and the path to the Final Four in Indianapolis. Here’s how Gemini responded when asked who would win every matchup in the tournament (upsets in bold).

MARCH MADNESS HQ: Live NCAA bracket | Full TV schedule | Printable bracket March Madness bracket predictions 2026 SN East Region picks FIRST ROUND 1 Duke over 16 Siena 8 Ohio State over 9 TCU 12 Northern Iowa over 5 St. John's 4 Kansas over 13 Cal Baptist 6 Louisville over 11 South Florida 3 Michigan State over 14 North Dakota State 7 UCLA over 10 UCF 2 UConn over 15 Furman SECOND ROUND 1 Duke over 8 Ohio State 12 Northern Iowa over 4 Kansas 3 Michigan State over 6 Louisville 2 UConn over 7 UCLA SWEET 16 1 Duke over 12 Northern Iowa 2 UConn over 3 Michigan State ELITE EIGHT 1 Duke over 2 UConn I picked Duke to win the East region due to their unique roster construction and historical efficiency metrics: Freshman Cameron Boozer has dominated the ACC, leading the conference in both scoring and rebounding. The Blue Devils finished the regular season ranked in the top 5 nationally in both offensive and defensive efficiency.