2026 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship Bracket
 
INDIANAPOLIS – Making its second NCAA Tournament and first appearance since 2023, Kennesaw State earned a No. 14 seed in the “Big Dance” and will face Gonzaga on Thursday in the first round.
 
It marks the first time that the Owls have clinched an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament as a member of CUSA. Kennesaw State (21-13) and Gonzaga (30-3) will square off at 9:00 p.m. CT Thursday inside Moda Center in Portland, Ore. The game will be shown nationally on TBS.
 
Kennesaw State captured its first CUSA Basketball Championship title with a 71-60 win over No. 4 LA Tech on Saturday night in the final contest of the 2026 Air National Guard CUSA Basketball Championships.
 
RJ Johnson, a First-Team All-CUSA selection, was named the tournament MVP after he capped off his week with 17.0 points per game in Kennesaw State’s three wins, including 5.3 assists per game and a 38.3 field goal percentage.
 
The Owls rank in the top-15 nationally in free throw attempts per game (2^nd, 27.0), offensive rebounds per game (7^th, 13.91), blocks per game (12^th, 5.3) and rebounds per game (15^th, 40.32).

Gonzaga is coming off its sixth WCC Tournament in seven years and 12^th in the last 14 with a 79-68 win over Santa Clara. The Bulldogs punched their ticket to a 27^th straight NCAA Tournament and are led 6-9 graduate student Graham Ike. Ike leads the WCC in scoring at 19.7 points per game and is second in rebounding at 8.2 per contest.