By: Victor Olorunfemi

It is that time of the year you have all been waiting for, where I, the March Madness Master, give you the winner before the tournament even begins. I know what you ALL are thinking: Victor, it must be amazing to be a March Madness genius, an oracle, the greatest that has ever predicted. To which I humbly respond: thank you; it is amazing, and you can refer to me as 'The Modern Nostradamus'. But it is not all roses and rainbows, you see. For one, I have had an abnormally large noggin since birth, an omen of the predictive genius that was to come. And two, while many of you have profited from my abilities, I myself have sworn off the trappings of sports gambling so as not to use my powers for evil.

That is how I have arrived at a practically perfect March Madness record that speaks for itself. Last year, not only did I tell you Florida would win, but I also told you it would likely be against Houston in the final. The year before that, I gave you UConn as the champion. And if you look back, even when I've been 'wrong,' a closer inspection reveals I was right all along.

• 2025: Find me another expert who told you Florida would win and would likely play Houston in the final.

• 2024: Since 1985, only two programs had repeated as champions, yet I bravely and correctly gave you UConn.

• 2023: Was I wrong on paper? Yes. BUT only because I missed that UConn also had eight losses.

• 2022: Was I also wrong on paper here? Yes. ONLY because, out of the subconscious fear of not coming off as biased and choosing my home state, I overlooked Kansas.

• 2021: Was I wrong here, too? Yes, but again only on paper. Read between the lines, and you will see I gave you the correct seed, which is at least partial credit.

• 2020: I would have been correct if the tournament had gone ahead, so I'm taking full credit.

• 2019: Virginia won as I told you they would, as both I and the final four MVP (look it up, don't be lazy) proved to be THAT GUY.

• 2018: You are really going to count my first attempt against me? Come on now.

With my record put into the proper perspective, I am happy to tell you who will win the latest March Madness, based on my astute research that has nothing to do with any of the basketball played this season.

​​The Virginia Cavaliers will be the 2026 NCAA Tournament Champions

Quick Maths

The first key pattern comes from simple arithmetic. Since the 1985 expansion to 64 teams, when a team with three losses has won the title, it has always been part of a sequence: either before or after, teams with two or four losses have also won. This shows a streak involving consecutive numbers.

• In 1994, THREE-loss Arkansas won the title, preceded by FOUR-loss UNC and followed by two-loss UCLA. 4-3-2.

• In 2008, THREE-loss Kansas won the title. They were followed by FOUR-loss UNC and FIVE-loss Duke. 3-4-5.

• In 2019, THREE-loss Virginia won the title. They were preceded by FOUR-loss Villanova and followed by TWO-loss Baylor. 4-3-2.

Looking to 2026, the trend continues: three-loss Connecticut won in 2024, and four-loss Florida most recently. According to the pattern, a five-loss team should be next.

Now we know the winner will either be Connecticut, Saint Mary's, McNeese, Virginia, Saint Louis, or Akron.

It's my Turn!

Channeling the spirit of the famous Skip Bayless meme, the next clue also comes from sequencing. In this case, every time four successive champions come from four different regions, the following champion is always a four-loss team, then a five-loss team.

With multiple numbers pointing to the number five, that suggests the champion will be significant in some way to five.

Five Out

It has been five tournaments since an ACC team won the tournament, and which ACC team is the only one in the tournament with five losses? Virginia.

Then consider that a Virginia win would mark the fifth time a program starting with the letter V has won the championship.

Bonus

This century, only one team has lost back-to-back finals: Butler in 2010 and 2011. Where did that second final take place? Houston, Texas. Do with that information what you will.