LSU

For not making the big dance for the fourth consecutive season, LSU certainly made a lot of headlines in March with its shady rehiring of Will Wade.

I don’t have near enough time to go over that whole debacle.

Whether or not you agree with Wade’s off-the-court antics or not, nobody can deny that he knows how to win basketball games, particularly in March. After being fired by LSU due to recruiting infractions in 2022, Wade led a McNeese State team from perpetual irrelevance to its first-ever win in the NCAA tournament. His impact is still felt for that program, as it again dominated the Southland conference to make a third straight NCAA tournament appearance last season.

Because of that, I see no reason why he couldn’t bring LSU back to the promised land in just one season—he’s shown no reason to believe he couldn’t. Plus, the last time LSU made the tournament was funnily enough under Wade. I think he’ll get them right back to where he left off.

Minnesota

Nico Medved quietly put together a pretty solid season in his first year as the head coach at Minnesota. While a 15-17 overall and 8-12 league record doesn’t necessarily stand out, Minnesota continually improved throughout the course of the season and was pretty competitive in a league that sent four teams to the Elite Eight this year.

I also don’t think anybody should be quick to forget that Medved was one incredible buzzer-beating shot away from sending Colorado State to the Sweet Sixteen as a 12-seed in the 2025 NCAA tournament, either.

With a full offseason ahead to improve and retool his roster, I think Medved could put his alma mater in position to make the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2019. It certainly won’t be easy playing in a league like the Big 10, though the recent expansion of the NCAA tournament field only serves to help a team like Minnesota return to the big dance.

UNLV

It feels like it's every season that UNLV is crowned the prime bid stealer out of the Mountain West—and every season that never comes to fruition. UNLV hasn’t been to the big dance since 2013 and haven’t even made it out of the quarterfinals of the Mountain West tournament since 2014.

Talk about a dry spell for a program once so highly regarded.

Second-year head coach Josh Pastner has a real chance of getting UNLV back into the NCAA tournament, though. With the return of highly touted and ultra-talented freshman Tyrin Jones and Pastner’s undeniable recruiting ability, the Rebels will have a real chance of success in the new-look Mountain West. However, their tournament odds do somewhat rely on the said new-look Mountain West to actually be a solid, multi-bid league—and UNLV itself hasn’t been known for being a consistently good program for a loooong time.

For my sake, I hope UNLV finally can break through into the NCAA tournament next season and proves that I’m not falling into that same old trap with the Runnin’ Rebels I mentioned earlier. With the opportunities they’ll have in the Player’s Era tournament, they’ll have a chance to make a good case for themselves early on in the season.

Cincinnati 

Cincinnati finally made the decision to move on from previous head coach Wes Miller after years of mediocrity, and I think it’s a move that should land them back in the NCAA tournament, especially after replacing him with Jerrod Calhoun.

Calhoun proved he has what it takes to build a successful roster during his two-year stint at Utah State, and I think he has done an outstanding job recruiting out of the portal in his first offseason with Cincinnati. The Bearcats’ roster is packed with a nice blend of both mid-major and high major talent, as well as a pair of freshmen from Utah State that have a ton of upside.

It should be noted that former Utah State head coaches outside of Ryan Odom don’t exactly have the best track record when it comes to finding success at high-major jobs. I like Calhoun’s odds to avoid this trend, however.

Seton Hall

My final pick looks a little bit different than, mostly because it's void of an up-and-coming coach in their first or second year at their school. Shaheen Holloway will be entering his fifth season at Seton Hall this upcoming year, and it feels like a crucial one for him and the Pirates. Seton Hall hasn’t made the big dance since 2022 and haven’t recorded a tournament win since 2018.

Seton Hall was the recipient of a few too many bad breaks this season, otherwise I think they could’ve been in the tournament. It didn’t help that the Big East hasn’t been all that great as a league of late either, which also hurts Seton Hall’s chances next year as well. 

Seton Hall also feels like the type of team that will be able to squeak into the field with its expansion, as well. Had the field been 76 teams before this season, then it’s likely I wouldn’t even be writing about the Pirates right now.

Regardless, I think the 2026-27 season will be the one that Shaheen Holloway will return to the NCAA tournament and prove his miracle Elite Eight run with Saint Peter’s back in 2022 wasn’t just a fluke.

Honorable Mention

I wanted to throw in one more honorable mention which just missed this list. I think Oklahoma State has a good chance to make a return to the NCAA tournament for the first time since two-time NBA All-Star Cade Cunningham was on the team in 2021.

Oklahoma State had a very turbulent season in its second season under Steve Lutz, but the Cowboys did show marked improvement from Lutz’s first year on the job. Oklahoma State was in the tournament conversation for much of this past season as well, until it suffered a five-game losing stretch and stumbled to finish the regular season.

Avoid that sort of mishap next year, and Oklahoma State could find themselves in the field of 76 .