ESPN analyst updates summertime ‘bracketology’ as 2025-26 school year nears
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- ESPN's Joe Lunardi assigns KU a No. 6 seed, Missouri a No. 8 in new bracket.
- Lunardi excludes Kansas State, Wichita State and UMKC from tournament field.
- Top No. 1 seeds project as Houston, Duke, Florida and Purdue in 2026 bracket.
Kansas’ men’s basketball team has been awarded a No. 6 seed and Missouri an 8-seed in the current 2026 NCAA Tournament “bracketology” of ESPN analyst Joe Lunardi, which was released earlier this week.
Kansas State, Wichita State and UMKC were not granted tourney bids in the analyst’s current summertime projections.
Lunardi in his picks assigned KU to the West Regional, where the Jayhawks would meet either No. 11 seed Iowa or No. 11 seed SMU in the first round. A KU victory would mean a second-round game against No. 3 Kentucky or No. 14 Furman.
Missouri was placed in the South Regional by Lunardi, with an opponent of No. 9 Baylor in the first round. A victory would mean a second-round game against either No. 1 Purdue or No. 16 Jackson State or No. 16 Long Island.
The sites for first- and second-round games are: Oklahoma City; St. Louis; Buffalo, New York; Greenville, South Carolina; Portland; Tampa, Florida; Philadelphia; San Diego. The West Regional games will be held in San Jose, California and South Regional games in Houston.
Lunardi, who will update his bracketology every month through October and then at various junctures during the 2025-26 season, believes No. 1 seeds will be secured by Houston (Midwest), Duke (West), Florida (East) and Purdue (South).
It should be noted ESPN analyst Myron Medcalf disagrees with Lunardi and has K-State as a likely tourney team.
“The Wildcats spent millions on talent last offseason but never had enough chemistry to avoid a 16-17 campaign. This season’s roster will be led by PJ Haggerty, the same PJ Haggerty who earned AP second-team All-America honors last season and led Memphis to the best season of the Penny Hardaway era,” Medcalf wrote. “If Jerome Tang can get this talented group — which also features Serbian standout Andrej Kostić — on the same page, K-State should get back into the NCAA Tournament.”
Also, ESPN’s Jeff Borzello this week mentioned an incoming Jayhawk when discussing “the race to be the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.”
“Cooper Flagg was the odds-on favorite to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft since the day he reclassified into the 2024 high school class, but there won’t be the same lack of drama in the 2026 draft. There are several legitimate contenders for the top pick: BYU’s AJ Dybantsa, Kansas’ Darryn Peterson, Duke’s Cameron Boozer and Tennessee’s Nate Ament — and don’t count out Louisville’s Mikel Brown Jr.,” Borzello wrote.
This story was originally published July 31, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
