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It's still very, very early.
But sometimes, NCAA Tournament chances for college basketball teams to get to March Madness are determined as much as anything by some non-conference results. ESPN's Joe Lunardi is already looking at a projection for the field, including interesting spots for the Villanova Wildcats, Syracuse Orange and Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Lunardi, the preeminent bracketologist, put out his latest predictions on Saturday.
He has Villanova listed in his First Four Out.
He then has Syracuse and Notre Dame listed in his Next Four Out.
None of those teams will want that to happen, especially the Wildcats and Orange, who are on relatively unprecedented NCAA Tournament droughts for their programs.
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There's plenty more to unpack from Lunardi.
Right now, he lists his No. 1 seeds as Michigan, Duke, Arizona and Iowa State.
He gives the last four byes to Seton Hall, Baylor, Ohio State and Kentucky.
The four teams he'd have playing as play-in at-large bids are Wisconsin, UCF, Butler and LSU.
The teams joining Villanova as just missing the field are Boise State, TCU and Virginia Tech.
SU and Notre Dame are joined by Oklahoma and Cal on the next list. Beyond them, Lunardi also lists Missouri, VCU, Colorado and Wake Forest being in range.
It's not even 2026 yet, but the bracket is already starting to take a little bit of shape for March.
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