Mascot Madness 2026: Group Preview and Picks

The traditional March Madness bracket asks you to pick winners game by game, seed by seed, region by region. Mascot Madness asks something more fundamental: which animal, archetype, or abstract atmospheric phenomenon is the most dominant force in college basketball? The game is simple. The field of 68 is divided into groups based on mascot type. You pick a group or two, you root for every team in it, and you track how many of your group’s teams are still standing in the Sweet 16, Elite Eight, and beyond. The group that keeps the most teams alive the deepest wins. No single-bracket chaos required.

This year’s field is based on the KenPom efficiency rankings as of February 22, 2026. Those rankings determine who is in the field and serve as the seeding within each group — the lower the KenPom number, the higher the seed. So if you are in the Cats group and you are rooting for Arizona, you are rooting for a team that KenPom rates as the third-best team in the country. If you are rooting for LSU, you are rooting for the 53rd-best team in the country. Group strength is about both star power at the top and depth down the list.

Eight groups this year: Dogs, Cats, Mammals, Humans, Seafarers, Birds, Farmers, and Mythology. The group sizes range from three teams to eighteen. There is meaningful variation in how top-heavy each group is, how many teams are legitimate tournament threats, and whether there is anyone lurking in the middle of the bracket who could make a run. All of that matters. Let’s go through them.

Note: Group assignments are based on mascot identity. Red Raiders, Pirates, and Commodores go to Seafarers. Spartans, Volunteers, Tar Heels, and Blue Devils go to Mythology. Cowboys, Sooners, and Mountaineers go to Farmers. Actual tournament seeds and entry form picks will go up after Selection Sunday on March 15.

Dogs

  1. Gonzaga Bulldogs (KP #9)
  2. UConn Huskies (KP #11)
  3. N.C. State Wolfpack (KP #25)
  4. Georgia Bulldogs (KP #38)
  5. New Mexico Lobos (KP #43)
  6. Washington Huskies (KP #47)
  7. Nevada Wolf Pack (KP #67)

Seven teams, two legitimate top-ten threats, and the best mascot name in any group. UConn Huskies is simply a superior name for a dog group entry — it sounds like a hockey team from a city that has never experienced a comfortable spring. Gonzaga is the safer pick as the group’s top seed and a perennial tournament fixture, but UConn just won two straight national championships and does not really have a gear below threatening. N.C. State is the interesting one here — a team that made a Final Four two years ago by converting whatever psychic energy their fan base generates into tournament wins. Nevada at 67th is bringing up the rear and will likely be gone by Saturday of the first weekend. Dogs have legitimate top-end quality but thin depth past the first three teams.

Cats

  1. Arizona Wildcats (KP #3)
  2. Houston Cougars (KP #6)
  3. BYU Cougars (KP #21)
  4. Villanova Wildcats (KP #28)
  5. Kentucky Wildcats (KP #31)
  6. Auburn Tigers (KP #34)
  7. Clemson Tigers (KP #40)
  8. Missouri Tigers (KP #52)
  9. LSU Tigers (KP #53)

Nine teams. The Cats have nine teams in the field while the Seafarers have three. This is either a structural injustice or proof that the animal kingdom strongly prefers felines. Arizona is a legitimate national title contender. Houston has been a perennial top-ten program under Kelvin Sampson. And then there are four Tigers — Auburn, Missouri, LSU, and Clemson — who occupy a wide range of the bracket from dangerous to just happy to be there. The real depth question for Cats is whether any of the mid-group teams (Villanova, Kentucky, Clemson) can make the second weekend. If two of those three get there alongside Arizona and Houston, Cats may be impossible to beat. The group’s potential weakness is that so many of its teams will eventually be matched against other good teams in the bracket, eating each other alive in close games.

Mammals

  1. Michigan Wolverines (KP #1)
  2. Florida Gators (KP #5)
  3. Arkansas Razorbacks (KP #17)
  4. Wisconsin Badgers (KP #29)
  5. Texas Longhorns (KP #32)
  6. SMU Mustangs (KP #33)
  7. Santa Clara Broncos (KP #35)
  8. UCLA Bruins (KP #42)
  9. VCU Rams (KP #44)
  10. Cincinnati Bearcats (KP #46)
  11. Baylor Bears (KP #48)
  12. TCU Horned Frogs (KP #50)
  13. Belmont Bruins (KP #54)
  14. South Florida Bulls (KP #55)
  15. Boise St. Broncos (KP #60)
  16. Grand Canyon Antelopes (KP #62)
  17. California Golden Bears (KP #66)
  18. Akron Zips (KP #68)

Eighteen teams. The Mammals benefit enormously from being a catch-all category — if it walks on land, breathes air, and does not fit neatly anywhere else, it ends up here. Michigan is the number one team in the country by KenPom efficiency, which means the Mammals have both the deepest field and the top seed. The mascot range in this group is genuinely impressive: wolverines, gators, razorbacks, badgers, longhorns, mustangs, broncos, bruins, rams, bearcats, bears, and one horned frog who is technically a lizard but nobody is turning away the TCU Horned Frogs on a technicality. And then there is Akron. The Akron Zips mascot is Zippy — a kangaroo. A kangaroo is technically a mammal, which is how the Zips land in this group rather than, say, a hypothetical Australian wildlife category that does not exist. Akron is the 68th-best team in the country by KenPom and will almost certainly play a play-in game, but at least Zippy brings some marsupial energy.

Humans

  1. Illinois Fighting Illini (KP #4)
  2. Purdue Boilermakers (KP #7)
  3. Virginia Cavaliers (KP #18)
  4. Saint Mary’s Gaels (KP #27)
  5. Indiana Hoosiers (KP #41)
  6. San Diego St. Aztecs (KP #45)
  7. UCF Knights (KP #49)
  8. USC Trojans (KP #57)
  9. Providence Friars (KP #65)

Nine teams, trimmed down once you move the Spartans, Volunteers, and Tar Heels to where they more properly belong. What remains is still a quality group. Illinois is a legitimate Final Four contender this season. Purdue is Purdue — a team that will give you a Big Ten regular season title and then lose to a team seeded nine spots below them in round two. Virginia under Tony Bennett plays a style of basketball that either bores opponents into submission or loses 53-51 to a 13-seed, often both in the same tournament run. The group has genuine top-end quality in Illinois and Purdue, capable mid-tier programs in Saint Mary’s and San Diego State, and then three programs (UCF, USC, Providence) who will need favorable matchups to make the second weekend.

Seafarers

  1. Vanderbilt Commodores (KP #13)
  2. Texas Tech Red Raiders (KP #16)
  3. Seton Hall Pirates (KP #51)

Three teams united by a relationship with the sea — one naval rank, one raiding tradition, and one pirate flag. Vanderbilt is genuinely good this year, ranked 13th nationally and playing in the SEC. Texas Tech has been one of the more consistent programs in the Big 12 under Mark Adams and brings legitimate defensive toughness to the bracket. Seton Hall, ranked 51st, is a team perpetually living in the bubble watch section of bracket prediction articles. This is a small group, but two of its three teams are legitimate threats to make the second weekend. If Vanderbilt and Texas Tech both advance past the first round, the Seafarers will punch above their weight class.

Birds

  1. Louisville Cardinals (KP #15)
  2. Kansas Jayhawks (KP #19)
  3. Iowa Hawkeyes (KP #26)
  4. Virginia Tech Hokies (KP #56)

Four teams. Louisville and Kansas are serious tournament programs. Iowa has been rebuilding and is now back in the field as a legitimate Big Ten contender. And then there is Virginia Tech. The Hokie is a word with disputed etymology — most likely derived from a school spirit cheer — and the official live mascot is a turkey. A turkey. Virginia Tech brings a gobbling bird to a fight where Kansas has a Jayhawk, which is itself a mythological creature invented to represent Kansas militiamen during the Civil War border wars. So the Birds group contains one mythological bird, two respectable predatory birds, and a turkey. Kansas is a program that routinely sleepwalks through the regular season and then plays its best basketball in March. Louisville under Pat Kelsey has quietly put together a strong roster this season. The group is small but has two teams capable of reaching the second weekend without straining themselves.

Farmers

  1. Nebraska Cornhuskers (KP #12)
  2. Utah St. Aggies (KP #23)
  3. Ohio St. Buckeyes (KP #36)
  4. Texas A&M Aggies (KP #37)
  5. Oklahoma Sooners (KP #58)
  6. West Virginia Mountaineers (KP #59)
  7. McNeese Cowboys (KP #61)

Seven teams working the land, claiming it, or living close enough to it that the distinction is academic. Nebraska is the surprise of this group — 12th in the country by KenPom efficiency is significantly better than most people expected from the Cornhuskers this season. Utah State has been one of the Mountain West’s best programs for years. Ohio State and Texas A&M occupy the middle of the group as programs with enough talent to win a game and enough inconsistency to lose one. Oklahoma and West Virginia are both bubble teams fighting to prove they belong in the field at all. McNeese Cowboys round out the group as the mid-major representative. The two Aggies (Utah State and Texas A&M) will not play each other but will both be rooting for their shared job title to advance. Farmers have genuine top-end quality at Nebraska and Utah State and just enough depth to be interesting.

Mythology

  1. Duke Blue Devils (KP #2)
  2. Iowa St. Cyclones (KP #8)
  3. Michigan St. Spartans (KP #10)
  4. Tennessee Volunteers (KP #14)
  5. Alabama Crimson Tide (KP #20)
  6. St. John’s Red Storm (KP #22)
  7. Saint Louis Billikens (KP #24)
  8. North Carolina Tar Heels (KP #30)
  9. Miami FL Hurricanes (KP #39)
  10. Arizona St. Sun Devils (KP #63)
  11. Tulsa Golden Hurricane (KP #64)

Eleven teams assembled around the idea that mythological figures, ancient warrior cultures, supernatural forces, and weather events all qualify as mascots. This is the deepest group in the field by top-end quality. Duke is the number two team in the country. Iowa State has been one of the Big 12’s most consistent programs. Michigan State Spartans and Tennessee Volunteers — both moved here from where lesser bracketologists might have filed them under Humans — give the group serious tournament pedigree. Spartan warriors and Tennessee volunteers are not ordinary humans; they are historical figures who have taken on legendary status, which is exactly where they belong. Alabama is having a strong year under Nate Oats. The Billikens — Saint Louis’s mascot — is a good luck charm figure from early 20th century pop culture, which qualifies as mythology in a generous reading of the word. Note the two separate hurricane programs (Miami and Tulsa) and two devil programs (Duke and Arizona State), suggesting overlapping creative inspiration across a century of college athletic branding. Mythology has the strongest top line of any group in the field.

Picks and entry form will be posted after Selection Sunday, March 15.

-Hack Crowens

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