Michigan earns No. 1 seed in Midwest Region, will face winner of UMBC/Howard

Shortly after falling to No. 7 seed Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament championship game, Dusty May and the Michigan Wolverines learned their seed line, region and matchup for the 2026 NCAA Tournament. U-M, a No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region, will face the winner of the UMBC Retrievers and the Howard Bison.

UMBC and Howard will play in Dayton on Tuesday before taking off to Buffalo to meet up with the top-seeded Wolverines. Michigan will begin its NCAA Tournament run on Thursday, against Tuesday night’s winner.

Michigan finished the regular season with a 29-2 overall record and a 19-1 mark in the Big Ten. The Wolverines beat Ohio State and Wisconsin in their first two games of the Big Ten Tournament before bowing out in the championship game to Purdue by a final score of 80-72.

Other notable teams in the Midwest Region include Iowa State, Virginia and Alabama.

Below is the full Midwest Region bracket:

No. 1 Michigan/No. 16 UMBC/Howard

No. 8 Georgia/No. 9 Saint Louis

No. 5 Texas Tech/No. 12 Akron

No. 4 Alabama/No. 13 Hofstra

No. 6 Tennessee/No. 11 Miami (OH)/SMU

No. 3 Virginia/No. 14 Wright State

No. 7 Kentucky/No. 10 Santa Clara

No. 2 Iowa State/No. 15 Tennessee State