🏀 Best Calcutta Auction Picks & Targets for March Madness 2026: Seed Rankings & More

If you're reading this, you already know what a Calcutta auction is and are presumably counting down the seconds to enjoy one of the great traditions of March Madness. I've broken down all 68 teams in the 2026 NCAA Tournament field using KenPom rankings and the latest March Madness odds to identify the best value opportunities on every seed line with my Calcutta auction picks.

Below, I break down my five favorite Calcutta targets followed by a complete ranking of every seed line from the 1-seeds through the 12-seeds, with a section on the 13-16 bundles at the bottom. Each seed-line table ranks teams in the order I'd spend on them - put another way, if I had $100 to allocate across a seed line, that's the order I'd look to spend on those teams. I'll also highlight my favorite target at each seed line and why.

🎯 My best Calcutta targets for March Madness 2026

See the official March Madness bracket for every team's path to the Final Four.

1. Vanderbilt (No. 5 seed, South Region)

The Commodores are a top-12 team nationally by advanced metrics with the seventh-best offense and a battle-tested lineup that doesn't make mistakes. They just beat the defending national champion - a No. 1 seed in their own region - by 17 points in the SEC tournament. Everything about this team screams March success except for the name on the front of the jersey ... and that's how you make money in a Calcutta auction.

2. Iowa State (No. 2 seed, Midwest Region)

The Cyclones are a top-six team by advanced metrics, but the gap between them and the top five is so large in most people's view that I'm scooping up all the Iowa State stock I can get. This team turns over its opponents at a prolific rate while draining threes on the other end, and I'll always take a chance on that profile.

3. Gonzaga (No. 3 seed, West Region)

This is a 30-win team that ranks in the top 10 by KenPom net rating, and we all just shrug our shoulders with Gonzaga fatigue. This is an entirely different roster than any of those previous Zags teams, one with a top-10 defense and a legitimate case as the team best equipped to challenge Arizona in the West. The wrinkle is Braden Huff: the star forward has been out since January, but a return by the Sweet 16 is on the table. You might be buying a team at a discount that gets meaningfully better as the tournament goes on.

4. UCLA (No. 7 seed, East Region)

There's a clear drop after the top six seed lines in this year's bracket, and UCLA is the team I'm most willing to pay up for in that next tier. The Bruins enter the tournament just outside the top 25 by KenPom ratings after surviving a tough Big Ten slate, and their offense makes them a tough out in the tournament. I could see a deep run for Mick Cronin's group, and you can probably get them for much cheaper than most top-six seeds.

5. Nebraska (No. 4 seed, South Region)

Be honest: does it make you a little queasy to spend money on a team that has never won an NCAA Tournament game? Now imagine how the rest of the room feels. The reality is this team - which is not an amalgamation of Cornhusker past despite popular belief - ranks 14th in KenPom with the seventh-best defense in the country. I'm not in love with their path (because of Vandy in Round 2), but I'd rather spend up for both teams as a fade against Florida and the South Region as a whole and enjoy the heck out of that second-round matchup.

📊 1-seed rankings

My favorite target: Arizona. Duke was my pick when the March Madness odds were first released, and I'd still rather spend more on the Blue Devils - but so will just about everyone else in your pool, judging by the early returns at ESPN, where 25% of all brackets have Duke winning it all. I'd rather pay a little less and maybe get a little more with the 'Cats, who have looked like the best team in the country for most of the season and face the easiest path to the Final Four.

📊 2-seed rankings

My favorite target: Iowa State. I'm always a sucker for teams that pressure the ball at an elite rate like TJ Otzelberger's teams always seem to do - the Cyclones force a turnover on 22.4% of possessions and turn that into layups and threes on the other end. This is a talented and experienced bunch led by senior Joshua Jefferson, who is ready for his star turn. I'd nominate them early and let the crowd pay up for Houston, Purdue, and UConn.

📊 3-seed rankings

My favorite target: Gonzaga. Illinois is the best team on this line and is priced accordingly, but I'm more intrigued by the road ahead for Gonzaga, which will need to survive the first round (or two) without star forward Braden Huff (17.8 PPG) but should see him return by the Sweet 16. A storybook matchup with 'Zona wouldn't come until the Elite Eight, if it happens.

📊 4-seed rankings

My favorite target: Nebraska. As I laid out above, Nebraska isn't the best No. 4 seed in this tournament and it doesn't face the easiest path, either. But it is certain to be the cheapest, and that's what matters when building a portfolio that will profit come April. If Nebraska wins one game, there's a good chance you'll be sitting on a plus-money ticket for them to win in Round 2 against Vanderbilt with upside beyond that - that's what makes the Calcutta auction format so great.

📊 5-seed rankings

My favorite target: Vanderbilt. St. John's is the flashy 5-seed that everybody wants, and I won't stand in anyone's way. But if your auction room is letting Vanderbilt slip on name recognition alone, take advantage. The Commodores rank five spots higher in KenPom than the Red Storm with a more vulnerable top seed in their region - one they just pummeled less than a week ago.

📊 6-seed rankings

My favorite target: Tennessee. This isn't a seed line I'm in love with chasing, to be honest, but Tennessee is worth staying in a bidding war on if the rest of the room agrees. This is a top-15 team by advanced metrics that attacks the offensive glass better than any team in the country - that's a well-worn recipe that plays in March and April.

📊 7-seed rankings

My favorite target: UCLA. I expect three of these four teams to win in Round 1, which could be enough to get your money back depending on how your auction treats the higher-seeded teams. But the Bruins have the best Final Four potential of this group given what we've seen against a strong Big Ten slate and their ability to score efficiently without turning it over.

📊 8-seed rankings

My favorite target: Ohio State. This is not a seed line I am targeting in Calcutta auctions, to be frank. If you're forcing me to bid on a team - or if the rest of the room plays even further below consensus - I'd take a shot on Ohio State, which took its blows against a tough schedule but has shown high-level upside that is worth tossing a few bucks on.

📊 9-seed rankings

My favorite target: Iowa. The Hawkeyes are one of the most underseeded teams in this tournament relative to their advanced profile, and they draw a wounded Clemson team in the first round before taking aim at the weakest No. 1 seed in Florida. I wouldn't go chasing Iowa, but I'd pay more than a typical No. 9 seed commands for a shot at the upside here.

📊 10-seed rankings

My favorite target: Santa Clara. This is another group that doesn't scream "deep tournament run" to me, but Santa Clara stands out as the best team with the easiest first-round matchup. The Broncos also have the worst name recognition of any school at this seed line, which usually means an opportunity for value in a Calcutta auction.

📊 11-seed rankings

My favorite target: VCU. I fully expect the Rams to beat North Carolina in the first round, as the Tar Heels are not the same team without expected NBA lottery pick Caleb Wilson, who is out for the season after breaking his right thumb. That's probably all it takes to get your money back on an 11-seed, and I'm less confident about these other teams' chances to survive the first round.

*First Four matchup (winner advances to the main bracket)

📊 12-seed rankings

My favorite target: Akron. The Zips are my favorite 5-vs-12 upset pick this year because of how well they match up with Texas Tech, which hasn't been the same since losing star JT Toppin. Akron can shoot the lights out, which is always something I'm looking to target with these cheaper bids.

📊 13-16 seed rankings

Most Calcutta auctions bundle the 13-16 seeds per region into a single lot. Here's how I'd rank the four bundles:

📋 Calcutta auction cheat sheet

Here's every seed line ranked at a glance with my target at each seed line in bold.

🆚 March Madness first-round matchups & previews

Here is the first-round March Madness schedule, and our betting preview:

🏀 March Madness bracket previews: East | Midwest | West | South