the 2026 tournament schedule

Before we get to the tournament schedule, a reminder that brackets are due by the end of February. Click BRACKETS above to fill yours out! And here are the playlists: Youtube and Spotify (courtesy of dparker326).

All games begin and end at 9am Arizona time. AZ does not do daylight saving time, so AZ time = Mountain until most of the rest of the country shifts, and then AZ time = Pacific.

first round: march 1-6, 9-10

March 1

  • (1) Celine Dion, My Heart Will Go On vs (16) Silver Jews, The Wild Kindness

  • (8) Annie Lennox, No More I Love You’s vs (9) Neutral Milk Hotel, The King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 1

  • (5) Bush, Glycerine vs (12) Fiona Apple, On the Bound

  • (4) The Wallflowers, One Headlight vs (13) Ani DiFranco, You Had Time

March 2

  • (6) Billie Myers, Kiss the Rain vs (11) Bob Dylan, Tryin to Get to Heaven

  • (3) Backstreet Boys, Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely vs (14) Tom Waits, Hold On

  • (7) Sade, No Ordinary Love vs (10) Third Eye Blind, The Background

  • (2) Bonnie Raitt, I Can’t Make You Love Me vs (15) Portishead, Roads

March 3

  • (8) REM, Country Feedback vs (9) Liz Phair, Divorce Song

  • (5) Foo Fighters, Everlong vs (12) Vince Gill, Go Rest High on that Mountain

  • (4) Paula Cole, Where Have All the Cowboys Gone vs (13) Magnetic Fields, 100,000 Fireflies

  • (6) Collective Soul, The World I Know vs (11) Michael McDonald, Lonely Talk

March 4

  • (3) Counting Crows, Round Here vs (14) Savage Garden, To the Moon & Back

  • (7) Hootie & the Blowfish, Let Her Cry vs (10) Morphine, Cure for Pain

  • (2) No Doubt, Don’t Speak vs (15) Gillian Welch, By the Mark

  • (1) Red Hot Chili Peppers, Under the Bridge vs (16) Mineral, Parking Lot

March 5

  • (5) Lauryn Hill, Ex-Factor vs (12) Belle and Sebastian, Get Me Away from Here, I’m Dying

  • (4) Lisa Loeb, Stay (I Missed You) vs (13) Lee Ann Womack, Little Past Little Rock

  • (6) Ben Folds Five, Brick vs (11) Skid Row, Wasted Time

  • (3) Goo Goo Dolls, Iris vs (14) Des’ree, I’m Kissing You

March 6

  • (4) The Black Crowes, She Talks to Angels vs (13) Kristin Hersh, Your Ghost

  • (6) Brooks & Dunn, Neon Moon vs (11) Kate Bush, Moments of Pleasure

  • (3) Gin Blossoms, Hey Jealousy vs (14) Mazzy Star, Flowers in December

  • (7) Alanis Morrissette, Uninvited vs (10) Elliott Smith, Between the Bars

March 9

  • (7) Tori Amos, Winter vs (10) Wilco, Via Chicago

  • (2) Cranberries, Linger vs (15) Cat Power, Metal Heart

  • (1) Eric Clapton, Tears in Heaven vs (16) Grandpaboy, Lush and Green

  • (8) Nirvana, Sappy vs (9) Sinead O’Connor, The Last Day of Our Acquaintance

March 10

  • (2) Soul Asylum, Runaway Train vs (15) Patty Loveless, You Don't Even Know Who I Am

  • (1) Guns ‘n’ Roses, November Rain vs (16) Sammy Kershaw, Yard Sale

  • (8) Blink-182, Adam’s Song vs (9) Nick Cave, Nobody’s Baby Now

  • (5) Mariah Carey, Without You vs (12) Crash Test Dummies, Superman’s Song

second round: march 11, 12, 13, 16

sweet 16: march 17, 18, 19, 20

elite 8: march 23, 24

final four: march 26, 27

national championship game: march 30